Anticipated February Releases 2019!

Hello, readers!

I’m a little late with this post, but hopefully it can still give you a little bit of a guide to the YA novels coming out this month that I’m excited for!

I only have five books that I’m looking forward to this month, but they all sound amazing, so quality definitely beats quantity this month.

Let’s get started!

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1. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Release Date: February 5, 2019

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

2. Nick and June Were Here by Shalanda Stanley

Release Date: February 12, 2019

Summary: Nick and June were best friends for years, until their relationship suddenly turned into something more. Now, June is coping with a new diagnosis of schizophrenia, a secret she asked Nick to keep for too long. Between managing her symptoms and her parents, June is just trying to keep it together. Nick is a reluctant car thief, supporting his aunt with the money and focusing on his art whenever he can. But when June’s condition sends her to the hospital and Nick’s latest crime threatens to land him in prison, the two decide to run away. When the world is trying to tear them apart, can Nick and June find a way to stay together?

3. The Sisterhood by A.J. Grainger

Release Date: February 12, 2019

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Lil’s heart was broken when her sister Mella disappeared. There’s been no trace or sighting of her since she vanished, so when Lil sees a girl lying in the road near her house she thinks for a heart-stopping moment that it’s Mella. The girl is injured and disorientated and Lil has no choice but to take her home, even though she knows something’s not right. The girl claims she’s from a peaceful community called The Sisterhood of the Light, but why then does she have strange marks down her arms, and what—or who—is she running from?

4. The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee

Release Date: February 19, 2019

Summary: Slater, Kansas is a small town where not much seems to happen. Stella dreams of being a space engineer. After Stella’s mom dies by suicide and her brother runs off to Red Sun, the local hippie commune, Stella is forced to bring her dreams down to Earth to care for her sister Jill. Galliard has only ever known life inside Red Sun. There, people accept his tics, his Tourette’s. But when he’s denied Red Sun’s resident artist role he believed he was destined for, he starts to imagine a life beyond the gates of the compound…The day Stella and Galliard meet, there is something in the air in their small town. Literally. So begins weeks of pink lightning, blood red rain, unexplained storms… And a countdown clock appears mysteriously above the town hall. With time ticking down to some great, unknowable end they’ll each have to make a choice. If this is really the end of the world, who do they want to be when they face it?

5. Pretend She’s Here by Luanne Rice

Release Date: February 26, 2019

Summary: Emily Lonergan’s best friend died last year. And Emily hasn’t stopped grieving. Lizzie Porter was lively, loud, and fun — Emily’s better half. Emily can’t accept that she’s gone. When Lizzie’s parents and her sister come back to town to visit, Emily’s heartened to see them. The Porters understand her pain. They miss Lizzie desperately, too. Desperately enough to do something crazy. Something unthinkable. Suddenly, Emily’s life is hurtling toward a very dark place — and she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to return to what she once knew was real.

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Those are my five most anticipated releases of February 2019!

What are your anticipated releases of this month? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

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NEXT POST: January Wrap-Up

CR: Invictus by Ryan Graudin, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Currently Listening To: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

January Wrap-Up!

Hello, readers!

I feel like January is always my hardest wrap-up to do, because for me January sets the tone for the rest of the year.

For the past couple of years, my reading in January has really only been about two books, and then around that I buy and never read.

This January, though, I decided to do something different. I didn’t buy any books this month, and I actually managed to read five books.

Hopefully this trend can continue in 2019, so here’s to a good start!

Let’s get this wrap-up started!

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1. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Series: The Montague Siblings, #1

Rating: 3.8/5

Dates Read: January 6-12

Synopsis: Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men. But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy. Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Read my review here!

2. And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

Series: N/A

Rating: 4.7/5

Dates Read: January 19-20

Synopsis: With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba’s pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself…As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men.

3. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (*AUDIOBOOK*)

Series: N/A

Rating: 5/5

Dates Listened To: January 19-24

Synopsis: Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

4. Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar

Series: N/A

Rating: 2.7/5

Dates Read: January 20-25

Synopsis: Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen, a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined her to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger. She comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.

5. Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella

Series: Shopaholic, #8

Rating: 4/5

Dates Read: January 27-29

Synopsis: Becky’s father Graham and her best friend’s husband, Tarquin, have disappeared from Los Angeles saying simply they have “something to take care of.” But Tarquin’s wife Suze who is Becky’s best friend, and Becky’s mother Jane, are convinced the two men are hiding something and are in danger—their imaginations run wild. They must track them down! Hijinks ensue as husband Luke drives Becky, daughter Minnie, Jane, Suze and other favorite Kinsella characters across country from LA to Las Vegas in search of the missing men. Becky feels deeply guilty about ignoring her father while he was in LA, in addition Becky feels her enemy Alicia is threatening her friendship with Suze.

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Those are all the books that I read in January 2019!

I hope this sets a good pattern for the rest of the year, and hopefully I can read just as many books in February!

Thanks for reading!

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NEXT POST: Anticipated February Releases

CR: Invictus by Ryan Graudin, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Currently Listening To: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater