February 2018 Wrap-Up & Favorites

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Hello fellow readers! It's March already and it's time for another belated wrap-up and favorites. Surprisingly, I read quite a lot in February. I read a total six books last month and on the verge of finishing one. So, without further ado, here are the books I read in February.

Books read in February

	Fly on the Wall - E. Lockhart (★★★)
	I first heard about Fly on the Wall from a booktuber. She loves this book and she recommends it. Moreover, this book doesn't have many pages which is why I decided to try picking it up. This book has an unusual premise. Basically, it's about a girl named Gretchen who wished to be turned into a fly on the boys' locker room. Be careful of what you wish for, because her wish came true. Through this strange experience, Gretchen learns a lot about boys and just people in general. I went through this book fast because like I said, it's not a thick book. If you want to know more about my thoughts on this book, I've written a full review which will be posted here.
	Horrorstor - Grady Hendrix (★★★★)
	Horrorstor is my favorite book of February. I like reading horror for the thrill of it, but rarely become my favorite. Horrorstor is different because it's fun and presented in an unusual way. Horrorstor is a mash of horror and comedy in one place. In some parts, it parodies retail industry and consummerism culture. In other, it's a full blown classic haunted house horror story. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun horror book to read. I talked more about this book on my full review which will be posted later this month.
	Silence - Akiyoshi Rikako (★★★)
	Akiyoshi Rikako is one of my favorite authors. Of course when I learned that another book of her was going to be translated into Bahasa Indonesia, I just have to have it and read it. It's different from Akiyoshi Rikako's other books which is a good thing because you don't want to read the same thing over and over again. It's not my favorite, but it's still a good read.
	Almost Midnight - Rainbow Rowell (★★★★)
	Almost Midnight is a collection of Rowell's two short stories. One of which, titled Midnight, has appeared in the holiday short stories collection My True Love Gave to Me. Midnight is about Margaret and Noel, two best friends who first met each other at a New Year party. The story then follows Noel and Mags on every New Year party that they went to through their high school year. It's short (of course), sweet, and somehow has a nostalgic quality in it. Perhaps because it has flashbacks. But it's relatable and while reading it, I can imagine that kind of story happens to anyone in real life. The second story is titled Kindred Spirit. It's about a girl who went to camp in front of a movie theater for the newest Star Wars movie opening. Again, it left you feeling nostalgic and you can't help but root for the characters. I haven't read Rowell's full novel, but reading these two shorts makes me want to read her full novel.
	Desire: Vintage Minis - Haruki Murakami (★★★★)
	This book is a part of Penguin Book's newest collection called Vintage Minis. It's a collection of short stories taken from Murakami's various books. There's no new story here, they all are already published but if you want to start trying to read Murakami you could start with this book.
	Anya's Ghost - Vera Brosgol (★★★)
	Anya's Ghost is a graphic novel about a girl who befriends a ghost. I'm not sure if it's intended for children or young adult because it's quite scary. Anya's ghost friend is not your friendly ghost Casper. This graphic novel talks about identity, acknowledging your roots, and self acceptance. Though it's a bit scary, Anya's Ghost is still an enjoyable read. Full review of this graphic novel will be posted on this blog later.

Review Posts in February
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen-Yang
Journey under the Midnight Sun - Keigo Higashino

February Favorites

Books

Horrorstor

Almost Midnight

Movie

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (that's quite a mouthful) is a movie about a grieving mother who rented three billboards to taunt the local police department after they failed to catch the suspect of her daughter murder. Things get more complicated when people discovered that sheriff suffered from terminal pancreatic cancer. The townies opposed Mildred and started to threaten her and her son. It's a morbid movie but funny in a sarcastic way. If it wasn't for Oscar, I wouldn't even know that this movie exists. I'm glad that I watched it. Instead of the murder mystery, this movie focuses more on the people affected by the murder. If you're into that kind of movie, I recommend to watch it.

Music

Monthly playlist is back! One song is of course comes from Black Panther's soundtrack. I stopped listening to Maroon 5 after What Lovers Do because that song can get old easily. But I was surprised when they came out with Wait and I started to listening to it. It's addicting AF. The same goes with Dua Lipa's IDGAF and that's all I've been listening to in February.

That's all I read in February. I started a mission to watch all of Oscar's best picture nominations for 2018. So far, by the time I wrote this post I've watched The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Lady Bird. I enjoyed all of it. I'm genuinely excited to watch the rest of the nominees. As for the reading part, I'm planning to finally read Night Film. Also excited for that one, I've heard many good things about the book. All in all, that's my February wrap-up. How about you? Did you watch good movies? or did you read good books?