2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge - Update #2

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to my second 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge update with mini reviews!  In February I completed 7 books for a total of 16 out of 50 books for the 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge. I've made some great progress!  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the book I read in February:

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I'm glad I decided to finally try Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) by Robin Hobb.  I've been sitting on this series for way too long and I really enjoyed it.  It took me a bit to get into the style of the story, but by the end I was hanging onto every word. I need to catch up on the rest of this series asap because I have a feeling that it's going to become an all time favorite.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree was absolutely delightful. I need more cozy fantasy novels like this!  I wouldn't mind stepping back into this world in the future either.  I will definitely be reading more from this author asap.  If you're a fan of T.J. Klune, Drew Hayes, and T. Kingfisher, I have a feeling you'll want to try this author.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Paris Library by Janet Skelien Charles sounded like it had a lot of potential as a bookish historical fiction novel set during World War II.  Plus, it's based on the story of the librarians at the American Library in Paris during the war.  I will say that I was definitely more interested in Odile's 1930s-40s era story than the stuff in the 1980s-1990s.  The novel is slow to start and is also a little too long.  It easily could have been edited down to a tighter page length.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I'm really glad I decided to listen to World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks on audiobook because the format and the production is excellent. The full cast is very talented and even the author himself provides the voice of the interviewer. If you're a fan of Train to Busan, you may want to try this. I've never seen the movie adaptation of this book, but I may try it.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo is a nonfiction book that's been on my radar since it was released.  I'm glad I finally decided to read it for myself.  Honestly, this should be required reading.  It's a good stepping stone to begin learning.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I've read a lot of Stephen King books, but somehow I had never gotten around to The Stand.  I've consistently heard a lot of great things about it, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to.  I don't know, but I think I like the idea of The Stand by Stephen King a little more than I actually liked the final product? Maybe I shouldn't have read the unabridged version?  Normally I don't complain about long books, but this was just a bit much for me.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I really loved how The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean started off but I became less interested in the story as it went along.  The world building was pretty cool and so was the atmosphere.  That said, maybe if I liked the cast more than I did I would have been hooked all the way through.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Have you read any of these books?  Are you participating in this reading challenge?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!