Welcome to my February 2023 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. There is still time left in the month so it is possible I will read more 5 star reads before the end – in that case they will be included in my next wrap up post! You can see the first half of my February reading here and I will share the rest of my February reads next week. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: Code Name Sapphire
Author: Pam Jenoff
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Park Row, 2/7/23
Source: TLC Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pam Jenoff writes amazing historical fiction books set around World War II which highlight strong women of the time period. This one is about Lily, who lives in Belgium and takes in her cousin Hannah, who was forced to leave Germany. Hannah gets involved in the resistance movement, let by Micheline and her brother Mateo. Each of these women share their viewpoints.
“1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind. Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named Micheline and her enigmatic brother Matteo. But when a grave mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and slated for deportation to Auschwitz, Hannah finds herself torn between her loyalties. How much is Hannah willing to sacrifice to save the people she loves?”
When Lily and her family are sent to a prison, Hannah sets out to rescue them. As she cannot get them out of the prison, her last option is to stop a train bound to Auschwitz. This is something that did happen in Belgium for real. This book had me researching Belgium in that time period and wondering how Hannah managed to escape imprisonment herself! I felt that the book read almost like a thriller and it kept me turning pages and wanting to find out what would happen to the three women and their families.
Title: Planning Perfect
Author: Haley Neil
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA, 2/14/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Planning Perfect is about Felicity, who is a perfectionist and tends to over think things. The author does a great job of getting you into Felicity’s head and making you feel her thoughts. When Felicity’s mom lets her plan her wedding, Felicity ends up trying to plan her version of a perfect wedding – but not what her mom actually wants. Her mom didn’t do a great job of telling Felicity how she wanted the wedding to be or to help her get out of her head. Another part of the story is that Felicity is on the asexual spectrum and is confused by her feelings for her close friend Nancy.
“Felicity Becker loves watching an event come together. Whether it’s prom, graduation, or just the annual Arbor Day school dance, there’s something magical about crafting an experience that people will remember. So when her mom gets engaged, Felicity sees the wedding as the perfect opportunity to show off her skills. After Felicity’s long-distance friend Nancy offers up her family’s apple orchard as a venue, wedding planning gets even better. But the more time Felicity and Nancy spend together dress shopping and hunting for just-right mismatched china, the more it starts to seem like there might be something besides friendship between them. Felicity isn’t sure how she feels. As someone on the asexual spectrum, what would dating even look like for her? And would Nancy be open to dating when Felicity doesn’t even know what she wants from a relationship? Suddenly the summer is a lot more complicated. Especially when Felicity finds out that one of the wedding guests is an event planner with a prestigious internship available. Can Felicity wrangle her irresponsible mom, juggle her judgmental grandmother, figure out her feelings for Nancy, and plan the perfect wedding? Or will all of her plans come crashing down around her?”
This book reminded me of Gilmore Girls in a lot of ways. It also includes Jewish rep – Felicity’s comfort food is Matzah toffee, what we call Matzah crack over here! I wasn’t the biggest fan of how Bubbe was shown to be a caricature of the Jewish mother. I loved the way the book ended and overall I enjoyed it a lot!
Title: Looking For Jane
Author: Heather Marshall
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books, 2/7/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved this book set in Canada in three timelines and following three women as each is effected by the importance of having reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. In 1971, Evelyn is in a home for pregnant teens who are forced to give up their babies. Later, she becomes a doctor who provides abortions safely and is found by Nancy, who she helps and then joins her work. In 2017, Angela finds a letter to Nancy and sets out to make sure she receives the letter. This letter makes a huge impact on all three women.
“2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane. 1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had. 1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.”
This was such a different historical fiction than I’m used to that at first I assumed it was World War II related – it is not! It was so interesting and important history to learn about. It is, of course, sadly still relevant in the U.S. today.
Title: The Sweet Spot
Author: Amy Poeppel
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Atria / Emily Bestler Books, 1/31/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved this book so much. The Sweet Spot is about a trio of women who connect with one another in a complicated and amusing way. When Lauren gives advice to Felicity that causes Russell to leave Melinda, Melinda throws a fit which gets Olivia fired. Olivia ends up helping Lauren with her kids (who I loved so much!) and since Melinda works at their school, they all intersect.
“In the heart of Greenwich Village, three women form an accidental sorority when a baby—belonging to exactly none of them—lands on their collective doorstep. Lauren and her family—lucky bastards—have been granted the use of a spectacular brownstone, teeming with history and dizzyingly unattractive 70s wallpaper. Adding to the home’s bohemian, grungy splendor is the bar occupying the basement, a (mostly) beloved dive called The Sweet Spot. Within days of moving in, Lauren discovers that she has already made an enemy in the neighborhood by inadvertently sparking the divorce of a couple she has never actually met. Melinda’s husband of thirty years has dumped her for a young celebrity entrepreneur named Felicity, and, to Melinda’s horror, the lovebirds are soon to become parents. In her incandescent rage, Melinda wreaks havoc wherever she can, including in Felicity’s Soho boutique, where she has a fit of epic proportions, which happens to be caught on film. Olivia—the industrious twenty-something behind the counter, who has big dreams and bigger debt—gets caught in the crossfire. In an effort to diffuse Melinda’s temper, Olivia has a tantrum of her own and gets unceremoniously canned, thanks to TikTok. When Melinda’s ex follows his lover across the country, leaving their squalling baby behind, the three women rise to the occasion in order to forgive, to forget, to Ferberize, and to track down the wayward parents. But can their little village find a way toward the happily ever afters they all desire? Welcome to The Sweet Spot.”
Also involved are Lauren’s mom Evelyn and Lauren’s husband Leo’s eccentric father Phillip. Although there are many characters, there was never a time when I felt confused by who was who. I think the genius of the book is how you get a first impression of each character and as the story goes on, you see how they really are. They bond together to take care of a baby and as they do, they come to understand each other as well.
Title: I Let You Go
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Sphere, 11/9/14
Source: Purchased
Why I Read It: Clear your shelf challenge
My Rating: 5 Stars
I bought this book in 2019 after hearing all the good things and finally read it and loved it. This book is about Jenna, who moves away to Wales after a tragic accident. She is haunted by her grief and memories but begins to build a new life for herself.
“On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street…I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.”
We also read the viewpoint of Ray, the detective on the case of the hit and run accident. I can’t tell you much more at the risk of spoilers, but this one is twisty! It also does contain domestic violence, sexual assault, and the death of a child.
Title: Yellow Wife
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1/12/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review / Buddy read with friend
My Rating: 5 Stars
This historical fiction novel is about Pheby who was raised on a plantation, taken care of by her mother and taught by the master’s sister. She is in love with another enslaved person and was promised her freedom when she reached the age of 18. Instead, everything goes wrong and Pheby is sold to the jailer at the Devil’s Half Acre.
“Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world. She’d been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold every day. There, Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailer’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit him, and she soon faces the ultimate sacrifice.”
This book was violent, immersive, and reveals the truths behind America’s awful history of the treatment of enslaved people. Pheby proves to be a strong and smart character who will do anything to protect her children and those she loves. This book is based on the real story of Mary Lumpkin and is a highly recommended read.
I am impressed that three of my favorite reads this month were historical fiction! Come back next week for the rest of my February reads – and possibly more favorites!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?
