February 2021 TBR

I have gotten so many excellent book recommendations lately that I might have gone slightly overboard with my TBR for February. I picked books covering several genres, fiction and nonfiction, adult and YA. Many are books written by Black authors and feature Black protagonists in observation of Black History Month.

I have two book club meetings this month, one discussing Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and one discussing Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman. In addition to book clubs, I’m also trying to get more involved with buddy reads on bookstagram, so this month I will be reading The Confession by Jessie Burton with a couple readers from the UK. I’m so looking forward to being able to discuss the book with friends as we read, rather than trying to fit everything into one meeting as we do with book clubs.

I received several recommendations via booktube and bookstagram for Legendborn by Tracy Deonn and Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones, both of which are retellings of fantastic storylines. Legendborn is an urban Arthurian story centered around a high school student. One of the highest praises I’ve heard for Legendborn is the effortless inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color. I’m so excited to delve further into this and see what the hype is about. Characters of color and LGBTQ+ characters often feel forced or like token characters, so this sounds like a new standard to be achieved and Deonn just raised the bar! Wintersong was described to me as a retelling of Labyrinth, one of my favorite movies from my childhood. I am greatly looking forward to revisiting the Goblin King!

My husband recently bought me the selection wheel featured in the video and it was so fun putting it to use this month to select some Black History Month picks! For fantasy, I will be reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, first in The Broken Earth trilogy. Though it came out six years ago, it is still one that comes up frequently in conversations about favorite fantasy reads. For the non-fiction selection, I will be reading The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. Wilkerson is the author of the highly praised Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which I would also like to read this year. The Warmth of Other Suns tells the untold story of nearly six million black citizens who left southern states to move north between 1915 and 1970 and how this migration altered our country. For social justice, I will be reading Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. This is one that has crossed my path many times, but I just don’t prioritize non-fiction the way I would like to. Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative through which he served as the lawyer for Walter McMillian who was sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. Through Just Mercy, Stevenson presents his findings of the broken system behind the American death penalty.

This month I’m also hoping to finish some books started last month and last year including Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, Atomic Habits by James Clear, and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

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