What I Read In February 2025
The year of January is done (seriously, why was this month SO long??) and I am thrilled to say I started 2025 off with some stellar books. Take a look at everything I read below to get some recommendations for what you should pick up next!
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This book healed my inner child, made me feel hope for the world and opened my eyes to a new way of looking at love, both for myself and for others.
All About Love is bell hooks’ self-help book that is, well, all about love. It explores how she believes society’s focus on capitalism has affected how we love one another, examples that are shown as love that aren’t truly love, and more.
I didn’t agree with everything hooks had to say, and I found some of her statements about Monica Lewinski and Nicole Brown Simpson to be victim blaming. That being said, there were so many profound parts of this book that made me rethink and reflect on love in my life, and I truly enjoyed it as a whole.
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All Fours follows a queer woman in perimenopause as she explores her sexuality and sensuality as an aging woman and tries to figure out what freedom can look like for her.
This is one of those bizarre books I spent the entire time questioning what was going on and if I liked it, only to finish it and say, “Well, that was a sort of masterpiece.” It’s an unapologetic look at the messiness of life, love and aging as a woman. I thought it was brilliantly done.
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This book might just end up being my favorite memoir of the year (and yes, I know it’s early to say that but it really is just that good). Patric is a diagnosed sociopath, or someone who processes emotions differently from your average person. The book follows her as a young child coming to the realization that she’s different from others to adulthood, where she grappled with her diagnosis and the lack of research on sociopathy. It’s humorous, fascinating, educational and un-put-downable.
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This was a cute little rom com for the middle of my month. It follows an overachiever who’s down on her luck and grieving her grandmother’s death. When she discovers her grandmother’s first love is still alive, she goes to meet him - and finds out he’s the grandfather to her high school competitor and someone who she believes has his life all together. They end up on a road trip together to re-create the honeymoon their grandparents never got the chance to go on, and you know how it goes from there.
The banter was cute, the steam was pretty steamy, and overall I enjoyed this little love story.
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Yes…. again. I had to re-read it after the third book in the Empyrean series was released in January. My original review hasn’t changed - I loved it. Here’s what I said about it in January:
Here’s the thing… if you’re going into this book hoping for tons of romance and action, you might be disappointed. Onyx Storm was chock full of world building and pertinent information and I enjoyed every second of it. This might be my favorite book of the series yet, particularly because I loved Violet’s growth and her relationship with Xaden. All of that is not to say you won’t be stressed reading it. But I wouldn’t say it was the most action-packed or steamy book, which is why I think others have felt disappointed. For me? This was a win and I cannot wait for book four.
Trigger warnings: War, violence, death.
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This book has been on my shelf forever and I’m so glad I finally picked it up. Frederick Douglass’s story is as heartbreaking as you would imagine, but it was also very approachable, matter-of-fact and honest. Given that it was written so long ago I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it easy to understand, unlike other “classics.”
A must-read for everyone.
Need other recommendations? Ask me for some ideas!