February Wrap Up | IcthusBookCorner

I’ve had two whole months of reading time this year, and I cannot believe how much I’ve actually read in February. It’s been a great reading month with loads of books that I loved. I want to talk about the last seven books I read with all of you!

WHAT I READ

This February, I read seven books, and I know it might not be a lot for some, but for me it sure is. I’m so happy to see that I can read more than five books in one month! If I’m being honest, what helped was me not doing the work I had to do for my thesis…But we are not going to talk about that! Reading this much made me think of how much I actually love books and reading.

When it comes to statistics, I read 1 325 pages, which is way more than what I read in January. I read three books by Russian authors, two non-fiction books, one play, one poetry collection, one fantasy and four classics. I am surprised to see that I still read mostly classics and that all the books were written before 1950. No surprise, I read mostly physical books (6) and only one ebook, one of the physical books I borrowed from my local library. I gave five stars rating to four books, four stars rating to one book and three stars rating to one book, leaving one of the books I read with no rating. This month I read no ARCs because I wanted to focus on books I have wanted to read for a long time.

Overall, it was a great month, and I discovered amazing titles. However, I could read other things, for example, I have been in the mood for sci-fi and some historical fiction (so I need to pick those up).

TITLES/BOOKS

1. The Lower Depths, by Maxim Gorky – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (review coming soon)
2. Notes from Underground, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (review coming soon)
3. Three Guineas, by Virginia Woolf – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (review here)
5. The Magic Shop, by H.G. Wells – ⭐⭐⭐
6. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, by Judith Butler – no rating 
7. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (review coming soon)

I haven’t done one of these posts in such a long while I don’t even know how to finish it. 🤦

So, I have a few questions for you! How was your reading month in February? What was your best read? What are you currently reading? What books are you excited for this coming month? Let me know in the comments!

All I can say now is: Bye, keep on reading.

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• https://www.goodreads.com/margaridadesousa

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Mother by Máximo Gorki – Book Review

There is a story behind this book and I feel like I need to tell it before I review it. If you want to go straight to the review go ahead, I’ll use a line to separate this from the review.

The first time I ever saw this book I was probably around 12. It was on a living room cabinet, which meant it wasn’t my mother’s since her books have always been kept at our home office bookshelf. I remember asking my father what book it was and remember him saying it belonged to my grandmother. For 12 year old me this was meaningless and I just went on with my life.

I came across this book again about a month and a half ago (on my twenties). I once again asked my father about the book. This time the story was more detailed. You might not know but Portugal had a dictatorship that lasted about 41 years, which ended in 1974. My grandmother only ever lived inside this dictatorship, but I’d say she was pretty different from the women of her time.

This book was basically forbidden due to its socialist message, which means that if she had been caught with it she would have ended up as a political prisoner and most likely tortured to death. According to my father, she always kept the book under her bedside table just in case there was a swoop.

Even though I never met my grandmother I can for sure say that all my rebellion comes from her. Not mention that from the stories my dad tells me, she was probably an extraordinary lady who valued both education and culture, which is something I look for in every person I ever encounter.

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REVIEW:

Mother follows the life of Pelágia (Pelagueya for the English edition), Pavel’s mother as she enters her son’s world when he embraces socialism and starts bringing home forbidden books. The author describes a group of factory workers in the small Russian community at the beginning of the Russian revolution.

It’s mainly a story about a woman, from the beginning of the last century, overcoming her political ignorance to become involved in the revolution, and for me, she is the true protagonist of this novel.

It was slow at times but the reality brought out by the author was outstanding. The way the author described the struggle of the working class from the perspective of a mother, was honestly outstanding. I really liked his style of writing: having lines spoken anonymously by anyone in the scene, it’s like we are inside the characters minds. Given its revolutionary intentions nowhere does the book become preachy.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster but it is for sure not just another book to pass the time, you need to take time to connect with the characters. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone that likes history or is at all interested in this “revolutionary” type of book.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

Bye, keep on reading.