The Book Bit: February 2020 Ed.

Hey, everyone! Was it just me, or did February absolutely fly by? I was doing my day-to-day things and started thinking about my daughter's upcoming birthday when I suddenly realized it was less than two weeks away! I, somehow, managed to read three books this month, though I have no idea how I found time. The whole family was sick off and on the entire month. Good news: we're officially on the mend and I'm hoping that was the last round of sickness until the fall. Stay tuned. This midwestern weather is tricky.

"Boy, Snow, Bird"- Helen Oyeyemi

When Boy runs away from her home at age twenty, she searches for a new start. A new life. She finds it, unexpectedly, with a jewelry craftsman in a close-knit community outside New York. Upon marrying Arturo, she inherits a beautiful daughter, Snow. Her journey in step-motherhood is, at first, quite blissful and fun. When she has a daughter of her own, Bird, the once strong relationship between Boy and Snow quickly becomes fragile.

Set in the 60s, when racial tensions are still on the line, this books dives into what it meant to be interracial at a difficult time in our country. Lines are drawn, ignored, crossed, and buried. The family Boy married into is more secretive and proud than she ever imagined.

Call me dense, but I absolutely did not get this book. It's supposed to be this close look at interracial families at a time when such things were very unheard of and frowned upon. I was thinking this would be like "The Help", but it fell short in just about every way possible. First, Boy, has this very complex family story, almost horror-esque, that we run from and creates a great base for the story. It falls flat after that. There is simply too many things fighting for light in this book for any one thing to be successful. We have a history of abuse, children without mothers, some undiagnosed psychological issues that are never (and I mean never) discussed, abandonment, growing up black in a predominantly white family, and the list could go on. There was a lot happening as well as an overstock of characters that were so lacking in description and relatability I had trouble telling them apart while reading. I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't.


"The Names of Dead Girls"- Eric Rickstad

This is a sequel to "The Silent Girls" (which was amazing!) and I've been putting off reading it for a few years. The first book freaked me out so much that I needed a little breather in between. Let me say, read these close together. The timelines bleed right into each other, so it's best to keep the first book fresh in your mind before moving on to the second one.

Rachel Rath is being followed, observed, she can feel eyes on her everywhere. And she suspects none other than Ned Preacher, the man who murdered her parents. How does a murderer and rapist get out of prison? How long will it take him to make a mistake? Detective Frank Rath isn't waiting around to find out. With more dead girls turning up in the woods, this time strangled, he has eyes on Preacher for the deed. With Detective Sonja Test in tow, together, they search for a killer and a way to land Preacher in prison forever.

I had high expectations for this book. The first book blew me out of the water, the second one was good but not its equal. With that being said, Rickstad still put out a really good book. You should definitely check out this series, it's worth every minute of your time.


"The President is Missing"- James Patterson and Bill Clinton

Probably the oddest author collaboration I've encountered, but they did manage to make a decent book. The President must get out of the White House. Now. With a viral threat looming on the horizon catastrophic enough to turn the U.S. into the largest third world country in existence, the President quickly learns their is a traitor amongst his inner circle. He pulls Presidents and resources from other countries in a scramble to find a solution to a problem that was never meant to be found. Can the President shut down this viral attack before it happens and find the traitor in the White House? A race against time with every obstacle stacked in the way, will America come out the other end unscathed?

A thrilling read, yes, but a bit lengthy and burdened with politics. This was an interesting concept for terrorism and I appreciated a new view, but it was a bit predictable. I'm interested to know, exactly, how Bill Clinton assisted in writing this book.


Not a bad month! With March already here, I should probably get busy with my next stack of books. Have a recommendation for me? I'd love to hear about what you've been reading. Remember to like, comment, and subscribe. I'll see you next month, book lovers!