February began as a “maintenance month” for me — I had to read several books for contest judging, so that left less time for knocking books off my personal TBR — but I rallied in the last two weeks of the month, rewarding myself with titles like Angie Thomas’ stunning follow-up to The Hate U Give, On the Come Up. There’s a reason Thomas stays dominating the bestseller list. She has a gift for storytelling, for voice, for creating true-to-life teenagers like Starr and Bri who stay with you long after you’ve set her books down. I’m still bitter that the film adaptation of THUG got no major award nominations, because it certainly deserved a slew—Best Supporting Actor for Russell Hornsby and Best Adapted Screenplay, at the least. I can only hope that the big-screen adaptation of On the Come Up gets the accolades all of Thomas’ work deserves!

My other favorite read of the month was Deanna Raybourn’s A Treacherous Curse, the third book in her Veronica Speedwell mystery series. The fourth, A Dangerous Collaboration, comes out March 12. Raybourn has such smart, sharp, one-liners. I don’t think I go a page without laughing or mentally high-fiving Veronica for a solid burn. I enjoy books where the female protagonist is the smartest person in the room and isn’t afraid to show it. Her investigative partner Stoker may be big and broody and everything swoon-worthy, but Veronica carries this series. In A Treacherous Curse…she does so quite literally!

The Reading Rundown
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Renée Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, et al (anthology, young adult fantasy, mythology retellings)
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton (mainstream fiction, historical fiction)
Be Mine by Savannah J. Frierson (contemporary romance, erotic romance, novella)
Working out the Kinks by Misha Horne (LGBT erotic romance, BDSM romance)
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (young adult mystery, young adult fiction)
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (nonfiction, memoir)
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn (historical mystery)
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (young adult fiction)
Writing Her In by Holley Trent (out 3/11, erotic LGBT romance, contemporary LGBT romance)
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee (young adult fantasy, mythology retelling)

I didn’t do any backlist adventuring, but I DID reread a SFF favorite: Written in Red by Anne Bishop.

Currently reading: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang and Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty.

On the TBR/wish list:
Internment by Samira Ahmed (out 3/19)
The Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas
The Object of Your Affections by Falguni Kothari
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse (out 4/23)