Books Read in February 2021

 I feel like my blog has become a place where I just talk about the books I'm reading or movies I'm watching because that's about all I've got to talk about at the moment😄. My life currently revolves around writing my dissertation but seeing as that's not interesting enough to talk about on my blog, all I'm left with are books, movies and tv. I really hope to be getting out and seeing people again soon but as that is still currently looking very unlikely, I'm stuck in my little home-life bubble for now.

Anyway, here are the books I read in February:

Overcome Shyness and Social Anxiety by Dr. Matt Lewis

I was hesitant to include this book in my wrap up as it is a self-help book rather than a fiction novel but I decided to include it anyway as it was a book I read through this month. This book explains a lot about social anxiety, what it can stem from and actions to take in helping to work through anxious feelings in social situations. Ever since high school, I've struggled with what I just called shyness and have really only recently finally accepted that I have/deal with social anxiety. I've touched on it a little in blog posts but mostly just tried to put it all down to just shyness but I've had to realise/finally just fully accept that I'm socially anxious and that it's perfectly okay to admit to rather than just play it off. This book gave some good advice and I actually did learn from it. I don't think I've  "overcome" my social anxiety but this book is a good first step in understanding it all better and in helping myself. 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

"In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival - scratching numbers into his fellow victims' arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust. Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale it was love at first sight and he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did, too."

This book had been on my 'To Read' pile for a couple of years now and I finally decided to give it a go this month. This book was based on a true story of a Holocaust survivor which made it that more intense. It was such a harrowing story but I was drawn right into it all. However, I do feel like there was a lot more to the story than was told though as I felt the he writing style to be a little simplistic and not too detailed which meant i almost felt like I was a passive viewer to the story taking place. But I think the main purpose/main focus of the story was to tell the tale of two prisoners falling in love rather on the actual atrocities that happened within the concentration camp. 

99 Days by Katie Cotugno

"Last year, Molly Barlow did something terrible. Then, her mother wrote a book about it. Everyone in their tiny hometown found out that Molly cheated on her childhood sweetheart with his brother. After spending senior year at a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, Molly now has ninety-nine days to endure back in her hometown before she can escape to college. 99 days of being the most hated person in town. 99 days to heal the hurt she's caused. 99 days to figure out what she wants, and who she loves..."

I read this book a couple of years ago and as I was looking for a quick easy read, I decided to read it again. I res through this in just under two days. It's a perfect book if you're looking for something quick as the chapters are fairly short and the storyline, although cheesy, is so easy to get caught right up in.

P.S I Still Love You by Jenny Han

"Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. They were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean has to learn what it's like to be in a real relationship and not just a make-believe one. But when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him suddenly return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?"

I read the first novel of this trilogy last year and honestly hadn't thought too much of it at the time. I think it was because I'd seen the first two movies before reading any of the books and so had been comparing them as I was reading (something I don't like to do because I like to always try and separate the movies from their books if I can😄). Because of this, I hadn't really thought much about the other two books but as the third movie came out this month, I decided I wanted to read the rest of the series and I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed the second book. I'm currently reading the last one.

North Child by Edith Pattou

"Rose was born into the world facing north, and as a north child, superstition says that she will be a wanderer, traveling far from home. This prophecy is fulfilled when she is taken on the back of a white bear to a mysterious empty castle, where a silent stranger appears to her night after night. When her curiosity overcomes her, she loses her heart, and must journey to a land east of the sun and west of the moon to reclaim it"

This was one of my favourite books when I was younger and as I hadn't read it in a number of years, I decided to re-read it again. I loved it just as much - if not maybe even a little more - now than I did when I was younger. The storyline for this book actually comes from a Norwegian folk tale called 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' which I thought was pretty interesting. I loved a few of Edith Pattou's books when I was younger and since re-reading this one, I now want to read a couple of the others I still have.

What book did you enjoy this month?

Bye for now, xo