If I read a ton of booksin January, know that I did not keep up that momentum in February. Don’t get me wrong, I read a lot more than I ever did before I made books my livelihood but not as many as I’d like. Wanna get into it? (Full disclosure: all links lead to Libro.fm and sales through those links will go to support our bookstore.)

Started in February, but I finished With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. And with that, I’ve read all of the books for our Project Lit Mac meetings! I love Project Lit and I’m going to miss it over the summer while it’s on hiatus.  With The Fire on High is such a fun YA novel about Emoni–a senior in high school who is trying to juggle it all. Including a toddler, a part time job, college applications, and all the rest. Cooking is her passion and when a new culinary arts class opens up, she is excited to take it! But the class (and the cute classmate who keeps looking at her) are going to require so much more than she might be able to give.
I thought this book was cute. I gave it three stars.  YA isn’t my go-to genre but let me tell you, it was a treat to read a story about a teen mother that wasn’t completely steeped in trauma and struggle. They exist! But this story has a happy ending and that’s no spoiler.

Next up got five very enthusiastic stars from me. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (I listened to this one on audiobook). Every year, on her birthday, Oona time travels to another point in her own life. She just wakes up in her body at another point. Maybe she’ll be older this year? But also, maybe be younger? Who knows??
It broke my heart to finish this book. I fell so hard for Oona and everyone in her life. I’m not usually the kind of person who cares for a series but if Margarita Montimore would bless us with a follow up, I’ll happily eat that up as well. I just want to know more and more and more about Oona and the people she comes across in her, literally, out-of-order life.
You know, when it was all said and done, Oona Out of Order was a love-letter to the ride or die relationships in our lives. It also made me think about all the life lessons that I’ve learned through the years and how grateful I am to have the perspective of age.

A two-star read coming up! The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons.
Thomas didn’t die. He… kinda died but in the process of dying, something went wrong and now he’s a ghost? Temporarily. Once his paperwork goes through, he’ll be officially dead but for the 90 days until that paranormal red tape gets all wrapped up, he’s gonna need to just hang tight on earth here for a while longer. Oh… and then he starts to develop a crush on someone. Ohhhh and she has a crush on him, too. Oh boy. What to do? The premise was very cool and exiting. The execution was… uh… honestly I don’t know what compelled me to even finish this book except that it started so strong and I hoped it would end that way, too. This book has a lot of graphic sex. Which I did not expect with that sort of a premise? Again, I do not know why I finished it.

I also, re-read Over The Top by Jonathan Van Ness. I’m helping to lead a virtual book club and this was our first discussion! I love JVN. My love for him is strong and my respect for the way he tells his story is deep. Four happy stars!

What have you been reading? Anything that you loved as much as I loved Oona Out of Order?