February felt like the longest and shortest month ever – which I guess kind’ve makes sense since February is the shortest calendar month. This is was an intensely busy month for me grad school wise. Once I finish and submit a major assessment for my master’s in early March, grad life *should* get slightly more calm before I graduate in May. We also got a ton of snow where I live in the US – I actually don’t think location matters too much because everywhere in the US seems to have been slammed by snow over the past few weeks – which meant a few more remote work days and plenty of trips out to my car to clean off snow. 

I am super excited though that the weather seems to be warming up, and it’s staying light out for longer at night. Going for walks and runs after school and getting fresh air to such a big stress reliever for me, so I’m really looking forward to spring weather. As you can probably tell below, the biggest stress reliever for me in February was reading and watching TV & movies. I was definitely on more of a reading kick early on in the month, but I totally admit my HBO Max subscription got to me and I leaned into TV and movies way more than usual. 

I’ve so far read 8 books in February, which I’m pretty content with considering my school schedule and that I’m currently reading a certain 700+ page fantasy read. I have reviews coming or already published for all of the books below, so I’ll just be sharing my star ratings. 

Love in English by Maria E. Andreu (ARC) | 4/5 Stars

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes | 4.5/5 

Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman | 4/5

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel (ARC) | 4/5 

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha | 4/5

A Court of Frost & Starlight (ACOTAR #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas (reread) | 5/5

When We Were Infinite by Kelly Loy Gilbert (ARC) | 3/5

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens | 4/5 

Currently reading: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

It’s probably no surprise to discover that I am LOVING A Court of Silver Flames. I don’t necessarily want to rush through reading it because I love Sarah J. Maas’ writing and savor any new books of hers…but knowing me, there’s a chance I’ll have it finished by the end of the weekend. 

To All the Boys: Always and Forever (Netflix) – I realized after sharing my Always and Forever review that the Netflix adaption of Jenny Han’s Always and Forever, Lara Jean wasn’t exactly titled after the book and is instead To All the Boys: Always and Forever. I have a full review, but overall I thought this movie captured the heart of the book so well and will probably become a comfort film I turn to again and again. 

Sex and the City S1 & S2 (HBO Max) – I like having 30 minute or less TV shows to turn to while taking homework breaks or eating meals on my own, which has led me to re-watching Sex and the City. I would watch reruns on cable in high school and I’ve seen both films, but it’s been really fun to start from the beginning and catch on to plot lines I forgot or details I never realized in the moment. 

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (HBO Max) – I am very much still leaning into travel YouTube – I was just watching some of Kara and Nate’s Turkey travel vlogs before writing this post and I recently subscribed to Eamon and Bec – but I’ve now extended my current obsession with travel content to Anthony Bourdian: Part Unknown. Like my experience watching Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, I’ve been watching episodes at random depending on my travel mood – I’ve watched his Vietnam, Israel, New Jersey, and Copenhagen episodes so far. While food is at its heart, I really like the emphasis on culture and history as well. 

Happiest Season (Hulu) – Yes, I am that person who has no problem watching Christmas movies year round. I loved the cast of Happiest Season so much – I will watch basically anything with either Dan Levy or Aubrey Plaza in it, so it was amazing having them both in the same film – and the story was the perfect blend of comfort and slight comedy I love in holiday films  

Birds of Prey (HBO Max) – I had heard rave reviews for Birds of Prey, and while I wasn’t necessarily blown away by it,  it ended up being a light and fun watch. I’m always awed by Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn. 

Locked Down (HBO Max) – Locked Down was my only ‘meh’ watch this month. The film is set during the pandemic and stars Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who play a couple living in London on the brink of breaking up during the pandemic and end up working on a heist together. There was a ton of build-up to the action and found myself having trouble following the plot throughout. 

Continued Watching: WandaVision (love, LOVE this show) (Disney+), Below Deck S7 (Bravo), The Bachelor S25 (ABC) 

Reviews

Always and Forever, Lara Jean Film Review

LOVE & LANGUAGE BARRIERS: Love in English Review

FEMINISM MEETS GOTHAM CITY: Black Canary Review

Bookish Fun

Spring 2021 Most Anticipated Releases: YA Edition

Spring 2021 Most Anticipated Releases: Contemporary Romance

ANTICIPATED BOOKS & LIBRARY READS: February 2021 Book Haul

Top Five Wednesday: Favorite Book Covers on my TBR

Popular Goodreads Romances I Haven’t Read: Romance TBR

Valentine’s Day Book Recs Based on My Recent Reads

A BOOK CLUB PICK & NEW BOOKS: February 2021 TBR 

What did you read and watch in February? Have you read any of the books or watched any shows & movies I mentioned?