Month in Review: February 2015

It’s the last Sunday in February, which means it’s already time for another ECBR review. My months for review purposes are not the same as calendar months, but I’m ready for February to be over anyway. Come on March, bring me some spring!

The most popular post this month was my Book Blogger Discussion Challenge topic, Why do so many books have the same title? Here I got to vent about certain title trends that I find are getting a bit out of hand. Check it out to see if you agree with me.

Otherwise, I focused more on books from the last few years than has been my wont lately, reviewing a couple of new releases and working my way through some of the finalists for the Cybils Awards. I’m glad to feel a bit more up-to-date in my reading now, though I still love discovering classics from the past as well.

Books I reviewed

• An Appetite for Violets – A delicious new historical mystery with a culinary slant.
• How To Be a Heroine – This reading-oriented memoir was a delight.
• Shadows on the Rock – Willa Cather’s historical novel about 17th century Quebec is sure to be one of my favorite books of the year.

Other features

• The Witch Hunter’s Tale – I interviewed the author of this new “midwife mystery” set in York, England at the time of the English Civil War.
• Sampling the Cybils – My impressions of the seven finalists for the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category.

Other books read

• Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Mattheson
• The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay – Back to the Classics challenge
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood  – Review to come 
• West of the Moon by Margi Preus
• Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan – Review to come
• Shirley by Charlotte Bronte (reread)

Some favorite posts from other bloggers

• A stunning wood-panelled library in Mystic, CT, from Wildmoo books.
• An interesting post about stone circles from Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.
• The Well-Read Redhead did a post about her life in libraries. I would love to see more of these!
• At Bookish, a helpful summary of tips on how to request review copies, followed by a series of  interviews with actual publicists.
• A post about the elusive author Hope Mirrlees, who wrote Lud-in-the-Mist, one of my favorite fantasies, at A Gallimaufry.

Other cool things

• Issue Number Four of Shiny New Books is out! And I was thrilled to have two of my reviews included in it: The Road to Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead and The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam. The whole issue is splendid as usual; please have a look.
• A special Valentine’s Day feature, two weeks of posts about Falling in Love with Books at Bookish Illuminations. (My post on Beauty by Robin McKinley can be found on February 11!)
• Did you realize the 1960s was (were?) a golden age of children’s literature? In honor of their 50th anniversary, here’s a list of some of the best fantasy/adventure books from 1965.

I’d love to hear about your month! Please leave a comment or link to your review post.

Linked in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer