Yes! I’m posting this on a reasonable day of the month this time! So yeah, here’s my reading wrap-up for February 2026! I’m relatively happy with it, this time.
I read a couple of books, though as always, I wish I would’ve read more. Oh well, maybe in March I can do better. I think my problem this time around was that it took me a bit to get reading. My blog activity throughout February was pretty good, though, and I’m really satisfied with that.
Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
February Reading 2026
I’m gonna continue with what I started last month, and my general statistics here first before getting into the more specific stuff. Not everything was as high as in January – such as my page count and ratings – but I’m okay with it.
I read 📚 2 books and 📑 784 pages in February, and my average star rating was ⭐ 3.0 stars. Also, the average length of the books I read was 📈 392 pages and my average time to finish a novel was 🗓️ 2 days.
😐 MOODS: For this past month, my Moods were Adventurous, Mysterious, and Reflective, and all three slices of the pie chart were equal.
👢 PACE: The pacing of of the books that I read in February was 100% medium.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Concerning my average Page Number per book, all 100% of the novels were between 300 and 499 pages. So they were both the same in this aspect.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: Regarding the ratio here, the books I read were both fiction. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: The Genres I read in February were Fantasy and Young Adult. Both books were Fantasy and one of them was Young Adult.
📄 FORMAT: The Format was 50% print and 50% digital. So, one of the novels was a physical copy, and the other was an ebook.
📊 STAR RATINGS: I’ve already mentioned this above, but this is what it looks like on the graph. One novel I read I gave 2.75 stars (Stolen Midnights) and the other I gave 3.5 stars (Strange Animals), resulting in my average.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I didn’t read anything over the first half of the month, unfortunately, but I did during the second half. A decent amount, too. I read Strange Animals between the 22nd and the 24th, and then later I read Stolen Midnights at the very end of February on the 27th and the 28th. The last two days of the month were also my highest peak in reading.
So yeah, I would’ve liked February to have been a little bit better, but I’m overall not that disappointed. I’m really happy with my blog activity from last month, too. I just want to read more books per month.
In regards to my reading so far in March, I read Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews last week, and I’m planning to start Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan today (it just came out!). After that, I’m not as sure, but I definitely have a few ideas.
Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my February reading in 2026. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
Hey there, I hope you had a good week. It’s time for another Weekly Wrap-Up!
This past week was great! My blog activity was pretty high, and I read a book and a half! Woohoo! And I know the next couple of books that I want to read next, as well as have an idea of what I’ll probably read after them. (The latter could change of course – sometimes my reading whims are weird.)
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Tuesday 2/24: Top Ten Tuesday
Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Quotes From/About Books.
On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again – for like the fifth time in a row. Wow! I’ve never been on a roll like that before – and I’m not planning on stopping now!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
Last Thursday, I posted my review for Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson. It was an interesting new fantasy novel, and it featured cryptids, which I loved.
Despite the excessive purple prose and my other couple of criticisms about it, I thought that it was a pretty decent book overall. There were even a couple of things that I really liked about it. I gave it ★★★✬☆.
This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday again. Two weeks in a row! Not quite the streak that I have on Wednesday, but not too shabby. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.
So yeah, I’m really happy with last week, and I hope I can keep it up this week. I’m also feeling ready to read the next books on my To Be Read List, so I’m hoping that the slump I was in last year is officially over. Already I’m doing better than the first couple of months of 2025, though – four books in January and February as opposed to three. Fingers crossed! 🍀🤞
Concerning my blogging this week, I want to definitely post my book review for Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. I’m also going to do my interesting looking new books in March 2026 post, and I’m planning on doing that before today is out, actually. For other posts, I’m going to do my monthly reading wrap-up for February 2026, and hopefully a couple of the usual weekly posts I usually participate in. I’m also hoping to post more often on the weekends going forward – I just haven’t had the time the last couple of months.
Regarding my reading, Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews is next, and I’m definitely planning on reading it this week – probably even starting it tomorrow. After that, it’s most likely going to end up being Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan, which is releasing next week. Beyond that, I’m not super positive, but I have ideas. I’m thinking I might want to get back into catching up on the next arc of One Piece that my spouse and I left off at, sometime next week, as season two of the live action is coming out next week as well. Then, possibly the Dresden Files – I do want to get back into the series, I’m just not sure when I’ll get around to it.
Outside of books and blogging, the biggest thing my spouse and I did was watch a full playthrough of Resident Evil 9 officially known as Resident Evil Requiem, the latest main installment of the Resident Evil videogame series that came out last week. We just finished it and it was absolutely fantastic – we loved it. Other than that, we’ve done a few other things, but that was definitely the biggest highlight of the week by far.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures – and an unexpected home – in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.
Cryptonaturalist: one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.
After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.
When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.
As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here – and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.
But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.
Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.
My Review
“Empathy and curiosity take more courage than blunt force, but it is the wiser long-term path.”
Strange Animals was a pretty interesting book. It’s was one of my anticipated reads for February 2026, and thought it didn’t hit quite the way I’d hoped, I still liked it.
This novel was notably the first time I got to use the green highlighter on my Kindle, the newest color you can now use. I was actually excited about it, which is one of the reasons I mention it. I chose it for what I think is probably an obvious reason (I usually pick my color of highlighter to match the book in some way), the setting and the name of one of the characters. The other reason I’m bringing this up is because, if Kindle had a purple highlighter available, I might have picked that, for something I’ll get into more extensively later.
Anyway, the book follows Green. And no, I’m not sure if it’s his first or last name. Anyway, Green starts off the novel with an intriguing experience – wherein he has a brush with death – key word here being death, of course. Because of this, and the magic acorn that had appeared in his pocket, he decides to go find himself in the Catskill Mountains.
The Characters
“I hear you. You’re trying to make this a lesson about becoming comfortable with the unknown?”
Valentina set aside her coffee cup. “That lesson arrives most days whether or not we invite it. But we are not in the business of passively noting our own ignorance. We are in the business of finding out.”
I had some trouble getting a feel for Green’s personality here for some reason, but I did catch a few things about him. His trauma and confusion from his experience in the prologue, and his curiosity and interet in the new world order he’s found himself tangled up in are what stood out to me the most, though. He’s also kind and brave, as well. Honestly, nothing about him stood out to me as much, unfortunately, as I like to love the protagonists I’m following.
The other characters I found far more interesting. Valentina Blackwood is a mysterious woman who has lived on the mountain for seemingly forever, and is Green’s new cryptonatural teacher. She’s directly direct and intelligent, as well as very nononsence when it comes to being a cryptonaturalist. I absolutely adored her – she was so cool. The mystery surrounding her circumstances and why she became interested in cryptids was just as interesting as the things that happen to Green throughout the story, and I loved discovering the answers to them.
The rest of the cast doesn’t get too much page-time, but I still really enjoyed them. Dancer was fun and weird and I loved her character immediately. Clara Rodriguez was also pretty awesome, and I loved meeting her. I even really liked Alf and his two friends, even though they had the least appearance out of everyone. They left a strong impression, though. I also really, really liked another character, but I won’t get into him because of massive spoilers surrounding him.
The Story
“Fear has two fangs. The first is a pervasive sense of helplessness. The second is the enormity of the unknown. Today, we aim to armor ourselves against both. We are not helpless. We are not hiding in our shelters. We are actively seeking information to improve our position. The unknown does not root us where we stand. We are rejecting both helplessness and the premise of unknowability.”
The plot of Strange Animals was also quite interesting, even if the characters stood out to me slightly more. Green’s journey and encounters were very compelling. Not to mention cryptids have always been something fascinating to me, and it feels like they don’t show up in fiction in this way too often. The last time I encountered a novel focusing on them, it was Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith from forever ago – back when I was just about to start middle school. (It’s a great book though – I think I only read the first book, though I might have also read the second, I’m not sure though. It’s a four book series in any case.)
Speaking of books that I read in middle school, I loved seeing the shout-out to My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – one of my favorite books I read when I was younger (the entire trilogy is goated, honestly). I can definitely see that the author was inspired for Strange Animals, too.
The Writing
There, just beyond his windshield, the woods drank in radiation from a nearby star and used that energy to create oxygen, to reproduce, to send chemical messages in a language older than humanity, older than the warm blood of mammals.
I think the things I had the most mixed feelings about were the writing and the ending. Anderson’s writing style is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s almost too beautiful. The purple prose here is honestly too much – it was just heaps of it everywhere, in every chapter. It was incredibly distracting, and made some of the book feel incredibly overwritten. The author dabbled in poetry before this, and you can really tell.
Occasionally it even got to the point where my brain started digging up whenever I’d approach one of the heavy purple prose sections. I’m not a fan of it in the first place, so to see it so much in the novel brought the whole thing down for me somewhat. Despite all this, I do think that some of the writing was still very well done, and pieces of it were quite effective.
The ending was also kind of weird. I didn’t hate it, but one of the characters goes through a metamorphosis mostly off-screen and acts very differently to how they had been for the entire book before. And I didn’t really like that – I like to see my character growth and development happen in real-time, thanks.
Final Thoughts
I write to you today in a language you didn’t know on a page you will never see.
I’d say that Strange Animals was an overall positive experience for me, and I’m glad I read it. The plot and characters were both entertaining, and I really flew through the book whenever I sat down to read it, even despite the purple prose. I think that it was a pretty strong debut novel, too. And the cover is also absolutely stunning – I love everything about it.
As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
Happy New Week! It’s slightly later than I usually aim for, but I’m here with last week’s Weekly Wrap-Up!
This past week was pretty prolific for me, particularly on the blog. My reading wasn’t too shabby either though – I started a new book! Either way, I’m pretty happy with last week’s stuff.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Tuesday 2/17: January Reading 2026 / Top Ten Tuesday
Last Tuesday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for January 2026. Unfortunately, I posted it rather late in the month again. Ugh – I gotta stop that. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.
I also participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Books for Armchair Travelers, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I went with one from a TTT a couple of weeks ago that I missed – Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography.
On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again – two weeks in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday for the first time in a few weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.
On Sunday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.
Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was February, and its birthstone is amethyst. So the colors to pick from are shades of purple.
So yeah, last week was much better the week before. And two weeks ago as well, honestly. I hope to not only keep up the pace with what I managed to do this past week, but to hopefully surpass it. Just a little. As always, however, we’ll find out what happens.
In regards to my blogging for this week, I’m planning on at least one book review, participating in at least a couple of the usual posts I engage in, and possibly doing a Bewitching Book Covers post. I’m wanting to do at least three or four additional posts this week, aside from this one.
Concerning books and reading, I actually just finished up Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson, so I’ll be starting another book soon. And I’ve already decided which one – Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’m also pretty certain I know what book I’m going to read after that one – Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews. I’m also quite eager to read that one, too. After that, I’m not as sure, but I’m also reading Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan (the sequel to Darker By Four) when it comes out. So that’s on the horizon.
Outside of books and blogging, not much else went on last week. Just my spouse and I trying to be healthier, but that’s pretty much it. As usual on weeks like that.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson! 🌲🦋
This one looks pretty cool! It’s been forever since I’ve last read a book focused on cryptids!
An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures – and an unexpected home – in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.
Cryptonaturalist: one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.
After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.
When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.
As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here – and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.
But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.
Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.
Are you looking forward to Strange Animals? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?
As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!
Hey everyone and Happy February! Another month, another bunch of new books that are coming out! Yep, it’s time for The Most Intriguing New Books of February 2026.
Here’s the sitch if you’re unfamiliar: this is a monthly post about new releases. Specifically, it’s about new releases that I find interesting, which means they’re most likely all going to be fantasy or science fiction, since those are my favorite genres. There’s occasionally an outlier, though.
These are just books that look interesting to me, by the way. There’s no guarantee which ones I’ll read, or if I’ll even read half of them. We’ll see. Anyway, let’s get going! This month, six books have caught my eye!
RELEASING: February 3rd
This magical new YA romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of To Kill a Shadow will steal your heart. Set in Andalay, a world where the ruling Fates bestow gifts among the favored, a thief must join forces with the palace darling after he unwittingly steals a necklace with the power to change everything.
When Damien, a cold and hardened thief, is hired to steal a gift from the powerful Fates meant for Andalay’s sweetheart, Wren Hayes, he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets.
The gift? A locket containing his own phototroph.
Once the locket is opened, hidden truths unravel, ones that shed light on the ruthless ways of the upper-class society. Yearning for the three Fates and the magical gifts they bestow, the lords of Andalay will go to any length to keep their power—including murder.
Brought together by destiny, and fighting a temptation that neither understand, Wren and Damien navigate a seedy world where the truth can destroy not only their lives, but the city itself.
RELEASING: February 3rd
A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.
Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and swap designer bodies like clothes, Ana can’t afford to escape her tattered form. When she fails the entrance exam to the prestigious Paragon Academy, her last hope of earning a new body implodes. As the clock ticks down to her last breath, she’s forced to use her illusion magic to steal a healthy chassis – before her own kills her.
But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor’s smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.
With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters – and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.
RELEASING: February 10th
An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.
Cryptonaturalist: one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.
After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.
When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.
As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here – and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.
But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.
Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.
RELEASING: February 17th
From Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Heather Fawcett comes a healing and heart-warming fantasy with magic shops, rescue cats and a second chance at love.
All strays are welcome here.
Agnes Aubert is very fond of making lists. These lists kept her afloat when she lost her husband two years ago. And now, as the founder of a cat rescue charity, her meticulous organization skills feel like the only thing standing between her beloved cats – His Majesty, Banshee and sweet elderly Thoreau, to name a few – and utter disaster.
But when Agnes is forced to move the charity, she soon discovers that her new shop is being used as a front; right under her feet is the lair of the decidedly disorganised – not to mention self-absorbed and infuriatingly handsome – Havelock Renard.
Havelock is everything Agnes doesn’t want in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue, perhaps even romance. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats…
RELEASING: February 17th
Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper.
Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.
She just also happens to be a demon hunter.
Ever since her father’s murder, she’s been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider… Until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she’ll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.
But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about. Not when the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv’s father’s death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, and fast. All while trying to ace her classes, not fall for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?
RELEASING: February 24th
From the author of The Last Dragon of the East comes a sweeping fantasy adventure with a dash of romance between a nine-tailed fox and the demon-hunter who captures her, banished to the underworld together and forced to form a reluctant alliance in order to escape the circles of Hell.
Yue may be the last of her kind. At night, she stalks the streets of the capital city of Longhao, luring in unsuspecting victims with the mask of a beautiful woman, then consuming them in her true form of the nine-tailed fox.
When she is captured by a powerful demon hunter named Sonam and banished to Hell, she manages one final act of revenge: dragging him – and two of his subordinates – down with her.
Now trapped in an abyss with unimaginable terrors, they’ll need each other’s help to navigate Hell and bypass the gods who preside over each circle, each of whom presents the group with a unique and deadly challenge. Forced to depend on one another as they claw their way out of the underworld, both demon and demon hunter discover that there might be more to the other than meets the eye.
So yeah, these are all of the books releasing in February 2026 that I’m at least a little interested in. What books are coming out soon that you’re looking forward to? Do we share some of the same ones?
As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
