February 2024 Reading Recap

Somehow, the month passed, and some books were read and now that my award committee work for 2024 is really kicking off..this is probably my last month of low numbers. I’m not disappointed in myself for my low-reading levels this month, because I felt like this month beat me up in general, but I KNOW I can do better.

A few check-ins on some of my reading goals for the year:

• Continuing my book buying ban EXCEPT for my March book of the month club box (ordered on Feb 29th or whatever), because I had a credit I just kept rolling over, and now I can actually cancel.
• I am still not done with the Flannery O’Connor short stories. I’m not enjoying them, but I will finish eventually.
• There were 2 Newbery Honor books this year I had not read yet, and this month I read one of them, and my hold on the other came in. My goal was to read all the Caldecott/Newbery/Geisel winners I had not read, and I am one middle grade novel away from completing this goal.
• Current Library Checkouts: 19, with 11 ready to return.

So now, let’s talk about my reading for February 2024. Second month of the year…and we all start to flag a little, right? I had a crazy workload of CRAP this month both for real work and non-work work, so I’m impressed I read 35 books total, even if now I’m behind on my picture book reading. The 35 books included:

• 4 novels I reviewed for Booklist Magazine
• The 3 2024 Geisel winners (re-reads) for a Geisel Guide Blog
• 1 PD Book: Reading Picture Books with Children by Megan Dowd Lambert
• 4 Graphic Novels, including the final Amulet and the new Kayla Miller
• 7 audiobooks–all of them Who HQ or short children’s books, which are perfect for walks!
• A novel I’d been wanting to read for awhile: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
• And a handful of picture books, easy readers, etc.

Upon reflection, I didn’t do a lot of reading FOR ME this month,and that’s probably why I felt so “bleh” when I started writing this post. I’m wearing a lot of hats right now, and I know I need to keep being uber intentional with my reading to keep it fun but also accomplish my goals.

So, in March here’s what I’m going to do…

• Start by PD book earlier in the month—probably doing How to Read Picture Books, which was referenced a lot in the PD book I read in February.
• Read at least 10 O’Connor short stories.
• Read Eagle Drums, the last Newbery Honor book I haven’t gotten to yet!
• Finish my 2 next Booklist reviews and enjoy taking a break for 2 issues.
• Make some time to just sit down each week and read a ton of picture books. My picture book goal for March is 50…and that’s assuming publisher boxes don’t start showing up at my house.
• Keep more audiobooks downloaded so they are ready to go

How was your reading in February 2024?