February Reflections

February is overflowing with Agatha Christie, for fourteen of the twenty-two adult novels I read were Christie mysteries! You can see my obsession with a new-to-me genre didn't lessen! (Other mysteries included Carrie Bebris' The Intrigue at Highbury and Helen Grant's The Vanishing of Katharina Linden.)  However, I still managed to read fourteen new authors this month: Keith McGowan, Ellen Booraem, Veronica Roth, Beth Revis, Helen Grant, Benedict and Nancy Freedman, DC Pierson, Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall, Lloyd C. Douglas, Kimberly L. Smith, Laurie Alice Eakes, and Kimberly Stuart.

This month I read 53 books! My longest book was Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. My shortest book was The More We Get Together by Caroline Jayne Church. 

As far as challenges go, I was able to read at least one book for each of these challenges: New Author Challenge, 2011 TBR Challenge, TBR Pile Challenge, Chunkster Challenge, 42 Challenge,  Historical Fiction, Victorian Literature Challenge, Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge, Cruisin' Thru the Cozies.

Board Books: 5; Picture Books: 5; Children's Books: 2; Middle Grade: 2; Young Adult: 3; Adult: 22; Christian Fiction: 8; Christian Nonfiction: 3; Poetry: 3.

Review Copies: 27; Library Books: 24; Bought-Books: 2.

My favorite first lines of February 2011: 

There is one mirror in my house. 

I love children. Eating them, that is. I've eaten quite a few children over the centuries. You may wonder where I get them all. The answer is: I get them the traditional way. From parents, of course. 


My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded.
 
"You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" The question floated out into the still night air, seemed to hang there a moment and then drift away down into the darkness towards the Dead Sea. 
 
Daddy said, "Let mom go first." 

My top five:

Our Mutual Friend. Charles Dickens.
The Moving Finger. Agatha Christie.
The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma's Match. Carrie Bebris.
Divergent. Veronica Roth.
North and South. Elizabeth Gaskell. 

Reviews at Becky's Book Reviews

A Murder is Announced. Agatha Christie. 1950/2006. Black Dog & Leventhal. 288 pages.
4:50 From Paddington. Agatha Christie. 1957/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 288 pages.
The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma's Match. Carrie Bebris. 2010. Tor. 317 pages.
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden. Helen Grant. 2010. Random House. 304 pages.
Mrs. Mike: "The Heartwarming Classic Story of the Boston Girl Who Married A Rugged Canadian Mountie." by Benedict & Nancy Freedman. 1947. 284 pages.Cards on the Table. Agatha Christie. 1937. Penguin. 224 pages.
Cards on the Table. Agatha Christie. 1937. Penguin. 224 pages. 
The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To. DC Pierson. 2010. Random House. 240 pages.
Appointment with Death. Agatha Christie. 1937/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 256 pages.
At Bertram's Hotel. Agatha Christie. 1965/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 272 pages.
Cat Among the Pigeons. Agatha Christie. 1959/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 272 pages.
Sad Cypress. Agatha Christie. 1939/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 256 pages.
And Then There Were None. Agatha Christie. 1939/2000. Buccaneer Books. 192 pages. 
The Moving Finger. Agatha Christie. 1942/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 208 pages.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Agatha Christie. 1926/2006. Black Dog & Leventhal. 288 pages.
A Caribbean Mystery. Agatha Christie. 1964/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 256 pages.
The Big Four. Agatha Christie. 1927/2001. Penguin. 208 pages.
Our Mutual Friend. Charles Dickens. 1864/1865. 880 pages.
Wyrd Sisters. Terry Pratchett. 1980/2001. HarperCollins. 288 pages.
Night of the Living Trekkies. Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall. 2010. July 2010. Quirk Publishing. 256 pages.
Evil Under the Sun. Agatha Christie. 1940/2006. Black Dog & Leventhal. 224 pages.
Taken at the Flood. Agatha Christie. 1948/1984. Penguin. 256 pages.
North and South. Elizabeth Gaskell. 1854-1855. 452 pages.
My Forever Friends (Friends for Keeps #4) Julie Bowe. 2011. July 2011. Penguin. 224 pages.
The Witches Guide to Cooking With Children. Keith McGowan. 2009. Henry Holt. 192 pages.
Small Persons with Wings. Ellen Booraem. 2011. Penguin. 304 pages.
Divergent. Veronica Roth. 2011. May 2011. HarperCollins. 496 pages.
Delirium. Lauren Oliver. 2011. February 2011. HarperCollins.  441 pages.
Across the Universe. Beth Revis. 2011. January 2011. Penguin. 416 pages.

Reviews at Young Readers

All Kinds of Kisses. Linda Cress Dowdy. Illustrated by Priscilla Lamont. 2010. Scholastic. 24 pages.
Tucker's Valentine. Leslie McGuirk. 2010. Candlewick Press. 28 pages.
I Love You Always and Forever. Jonathan Emmett. Illustrated by Daniel Howarth. 2010. Scholastic. 24 pages.
The More We Get Together. Caroline Jayne Church. 2011. Scholastic. 12 pages. 
You Are My Sunshine. Caroline Jayne Church. 2011. Scholastic. 12 pages.
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit. A Book of Changing Seasons. Il Sung Na. 2011. Random House. 24 pages.
Quick, Slow, Mango! by Anik McGory. 2011. January 2011. Bloomsbury USA. 32 pages.
Have You Seen Duck? Janet A. Holmes. Illustrated by Jonathan Bentley. 2011. Scholastic. 24 pages.
Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party. Melanie Watt. 2011. Kids Can Press. 32 pages.
Without You. Genevieve Cote. 2011. Kids Can Press. 32 pages.
I Broke My Trunk! (Elephant and Piggie) Mo Willems. 2011. Hyperion. 64 pages.
Cousins of Clouds. Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy. 2011. [February 2011] Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 32 pages.
Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Kristine O'Connell George. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 47 pages.
Twosomes: Love Poems From the Animal Kingdom. Marilyn Singer. Illustrated by Lee Wildish. 2011. Random House. 24 pages.

Reviews at Operation Actually Read Bible

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas. Introduction by Andrew M. Greeley. 1942/1999. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 528 pages.
Bible Stories for Girls. American Bible Society. Scholastic. 2011. January 2011. 18 pages.
Bible Stories for Boys. American Bible Society. Scholastic. 2011. January 2011. 18 pages.
Passport Through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances. Kimberly L. Smith. 2011. David C. Cook. 256 pages.
When Calls the Heart. Janette Oke. 1983/2005. Bethany House. 224 pages.
Lady in the Mist. Laurie Alice Eakes. 2011. Revell. 402 pages.
The Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years of the Most Influential English Translation. Leland Ryken. 2011. Crossway. 272 pages.
The Imagination Station: Voyage with the Vikings. Marianne Hering. Paul McCusker. Adventures in Odyssey. 2011. Tyndale. 128 pages.
The Imagination Station: Attack at the Arena. Marianne Hering. Paul McCusker. Adventures in Odyssey. 2011. Tyndale. 128 pages.
Operation Bonnet. Kimberly Stuart. 2011. David C. Cook. 272 pages.
Don't Call It A Comeback: the Old Faith For a New Day. Edited by Kevin DeYoung. Foreword by D.A. Carson. 2011. Crossway Books. 256 pages.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews