What I Read in February 📚 some favourites, some DNFs 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@jenvcampbell]

As mentioned in my previous video, if you can, please support Fight for Right, assisting disabled Ukrainians right now: www.gofundme.com/f/help-disabled-ukrainians x

[@lisag2680]

Does depression and anxiety count as a disability? It has to be. I’ve been living with that weight for so long. Books are my escape. Thank you for your channel!

[@munglejoela]

I read The Christie Affair and honestly didn't expect it to have as much depth as it did. I really enjoyed it.

[@YourTrueShelf]

I *still* have Blue Monday out from the library, and have done for weeks!! Whoops! On another note, my kids and I started El Deafo last night and we all loved what we've read so far, we had to force ourselves to stop, so thanks for the recommendation xx

[@Wolfhailstorm]

Jane: A murder sounds heart breaking:( the fact that her mother convinced herself of this phone call... gave me chills:(

[@rosegreensummer]

finally reading r c sheriff the something manuscript after your recommendation, it's brilliant

[@RomySews]

What Feelings Do… looks so adorable, I need it! I read Red, White and Royal Blue in February and totally loved it. Was utterly invested in the romance by the end and wish there was a sequel 🥰

[@quirkydee45]

I didn't fully grasp the brilliance of the cover design of Supper Club (which I havent read) til you described the book and it clicked... it's a take on the iconic Fight Club imagery, but with oozing fruit instead of melting soap. On an entirely different note, looking forward to checking out some of the poetry collections you recommended!

[@aneweliseonlife]

Thank you for all the nature writing/poetry recommendations ♥️ I now really need to take a look at Emily Berry!! I love love loooove Déjili Clark’s Cairo series. The amount of atmosphere he can put in such short novella is astounding. And I adore his full length novel. I hope you enjoy them too if you ever read them

[@lya0portia]

Great video as always! Had exams last month, so didn't do much reading, but my favorite was Guards! Guards! and I'm now excited to fully delve into Discworld

[@jenvcampbell]

Hope your exams went well x

[@FromEarthfornow]

Great channel, nothing better than switching off the mobile and just reading a good book

[@nolawernicke9078]

Thanks Jen, I'm reading The Blue Salt Road by Joanne Harris and Wanderers: A History of Women Walkers by Kerri Andrews (which is where I found out about Dorothy Wordsworth being confined to her bed) and you mentioned Recovering Dorothy by Polly Atkin, so now that will be on my list.

[@Gagging4Lit]

I have the pink cover of Supper club. Wish i'd had the blue cover! A friend recommended Supper club to me. I thought it was ok in general. I agree some of the writing was nice. I remember the narrator sitting in front of her grimy window with her 'heart winding tentacles around the city' - or something to that effect

[@nymeria941]

As usual, your video's given me lots of new ideas and inspiration for reading. Thank you

[@asunnybooknook]

great wrap up!!

[@jenvcampbell]

Let me know if you've read any of these books, and what you've been reading recently :) xx

[@anise8975]

Why is it always so much more fun to hear about someone’s DNFs than about the books they did like???

[@jenvcampbell]

Ha! Well, sometimes I think it’s easier to articulate why a book didn’t quite work for you rather than why you loved a book (case in point: Emily Berry’s book, which I adored but which left me with feelings rather than words, ha). I’ve definitely been known to buy a book after hearing someone describe why they didn’t like it because, in that instance, it illustrated exactly why I would like it x

[@alexisegan1887]

Definitely want to give Ring Shout a read now. Thanks for your recs!

[@curioushmm9027]

long maybe...too long? definitely not...excited to see you starting the hill series..i love it...afraid i read the first one far too long ago to remember..anything about the killer..

[@mradcaqbdb]

Oh, it’s a shame you didn’t get on with 56 Days. I enjoyed it. I listened to all 5 of her books in the last year and really liked them all. The narrator is brilliant. Your description of The Christie Affair has me thinking I’ll read the similar book by Marie Benedict first, which seems more on point about Agatha’s disappearance. I ordered The Need from the UK (for the cover) immediately after watching your reading vlog. I’m waiting for it to arrive and can’t wait to read it. Last night I finally finished The Fell by Sarah Moss after having started it last November. I powered through the last 120 pages. I adore her writing. I absolutely hated the stream of consciousness, run-on sentence style of The Fell and I hope she never returns to that style. But putting that major issue (for me) aside, there was a lot of good in this book about the pandemic and I came to care about the characters. So a mixed bag for me, but I ended up giving it 4 stars. I flew through The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley last week and really enjoyed it. And I read a little book called The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers and absolutely loved the stories and the illustrations. My favorite was the last story. Well done, Jen! ❤️

[@jenvcampbell]

May have just been the time and place - such is the way with books sometimes. I'm glad you enjoyed them :) Let me know what you think of the Benedict book - so funny that they came out so close together! x

[@megjshark]

"for fans of Dark" is all i needed to hear, immediately added The Need to my libby holds :)

[@jenvcampbell]

Let me know what you think of it ☺️ x

[@Wanderful1]

You mentioned a new poetry collection in one of your recent vlogs and I can't find it? It was by a female poet and i think it was a red cover? You really loved it.

[@jenvcampbell]

I’m not sure. If you look on my StoryGraph (linked in description of videos) you can scroll through the books I’ve read x

[@thesunandtheforest]

I've been reading Moomin comic strips. They are quite different from the books, so I'm not quite sure how I feel. Two other books I'm reading are Severance by Ling Ma (from your booktubers vlog) and When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. From the list of books you mentioned here, I'm interested in What Feelings Do When No One's Looking; it sounds like a potential gift to my nephews.

[@jenvcampbell]

It’s such a lovely picture book ♥️ let me know how you get on with Severance x

[@lisag2680]

Loved the Simon novels by Susan Hill! I read them years ago, so I’m sorry I can’t quite remember much besides I enjoyed them. I am probably your mom’s age. They came out in 90s, I think.

[@daffodil6055]

Susan Hill is still writing Simon Serrailler novels. I read the latest, A change of Circumstance last week.

[@gilliansawers4593]

Hi Jen have you read Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales, Scottish Mythical Creatures and Scottish Castle Legends By Theresa Breslin and Kate Lepier. Beautiful books that I have been reading to my eldest. I have read a few books in February but my favourites were Sleep by C. L. Taylor and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi I am currently reading Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud.

[@GreenBitterfly]

Is that the same Theresa Breslin who wrote childrens books? If so, I loved her childrens books as a child.

[@gilliansawers4593]

@@GreenBitterfly the Scottish books are children’s but I had a Google and she has written a lot of children and adult books so I would think it probably is the author you read as a child not a popular name either. Do you remember any of the books?

[@GreenBitterfly]

@@gilliansawers4593 I think there were two based around a female character called Kessie (I think that it was how it was spelt!) and there was one that had Graveyard in the title.

[@gilliansawers4593]

@@GreenBitterfly thank you I will have a look at those. I sometimes find it difficult to find books for my 9 year old son, I still read to him as he is possibly dyslexic (not fully diagnosed yet) and finds reading hard so it’s good to find books we both enjoy.

[@jenvcampbell]

Gillian, are you aware of Barrington Stoke? They specifically publish books with dyslexic readers in mind. They're great: www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/ x

[@Kathadrion]

Aw, I loved 56 Days! But it's definitely a relationship focused thriller, which I know isn't everyone cup of tea (it's usually not mine either; for some reason this one just worked for me). You might like Howard's The Nothing Man better; it's quite different from 56 Days but I liked it just as much.

[@jenvcampbell]

Thanks for the recommendation x

[@sandeesandwich2180]

I just checked the audio of the Susan Hill book out from the library -- I am putting my faith in your mother's judgement. :) I read and listened to a ton of stuff in February -- so much so that many of them are all blurring together. In print, I finally finished Matrix by Lauren Groff, which I made myself read to the end despite not liking it (for a medieval set book, I would recommend Hild instead). I have been reading Chouette, but I find I can't read more than a couple of pages before putting it down and I think I am going to DNF it (220+ pages of the same metaphor is too much for me). I've been reading and listening to a ton of M.C. Beaton (Marion Chesney) books, some of which are great, some merely okay, but all soothing, which is good medicine right now.

[@jenvcampbell]

A lot of pressure on my mum’s judgement from many of us 😂 fingers crossed we love it, too! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on the other books x

[@sandeesandwich2180]

@@jenvcampbell I have mixed feelings so far, but I'm only maybe a tenth of the way through. So your mum is safe (which she will be no matter how I feel about the book!)

[@mollyllewellyn8509]

I’m reading Heather O Neill’s new novel ‘when we lost our heads’ at the moment, it’s a shame you didn’t like her short story collection :( 📚✨

[@jenvcampbell]

I wouldn’t rule out reading other books by her in the future, but this one didn’t do it for me this time x

[@queenlucysroyalmaid1]

I just bought The Need because I NEEDED IT (I'm hilarious) also because Dark is my favourite tv show. Weirdly specific book recommendation request: My therapist asked me if I knew of any specific books in which disabled people were processing or "come to terms" (I hate that phrase) with their disability, their anger and frustration, and coming to love their disabled body because at aged 31 it's still something I am grappling with. I have read Keah Brown, Rebekah Taussig, and am slowly making my way through Disability Visibility, but thought you might have some more recommendations, if you don't mind! Thanks in advance!

[@jenvcampbell]

I'd recommend The Coward by Jarred McGinnis, and Sick Magazine because it has such a variety of voices. xx

[@ToddsBookTube91]

Another nice video!

[@ametrinemoon]

I recently heard an audiobook which was about Agatha Christie called The Lost Days of Agatha Christie by Carole Owens.

[@jenvcampbell]

There are quite a few of them out there :) x

[@cindibrumpton1768]

I love the Simon Desraillier (sp?) Susan Hill series. I need to reread them and do not remember such specific details …. I am sorry. 😄

[@jenvcampbell]

That’s ok, thanks for commenting ☺️ and glad to hear you love the series x

[@jorjastonej]

I read The Christie Affair. I wasn't as easygoing about the narrator's POV and a few other quirks, but overall enjoyed it. Here's my lil' GR review: I liked this story. I liked that it took the forever mysterious 11-day disappearance of Agatha Christie and brought women’s issues of the day into the narrative. But it suffers with rough transitions and awkward points of view. These issues paused my suspension of disbelief at times. In the end, I’m glad I read the entire novel.

[@jenvcampbell]

I think perhaps it’s one of those books that I like thinking about/dissecting a bit more than the reading experience itself. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you really have to be in the mood for that x

[@ozeana2009]

Dear Jen, my daughter (11) is really interested in Africa right now and we are looking for books for her age written by African authors or set in Africa. We would love to hear about your recommendations:)

[@whatlauraread]

it’s not a video by jen unless there’s at least one mention of nicci french 👌

[@jenvcampbell]

Indeed, ha. x

[@MaryAmongStories]

💛🌻

[@hanaalfayez7150]

💖💖

[@deborahwager5883]

Ha! Being deaf means I don't hear the extraneous noises!

[@Nickelini]

Sorry Daydreams For Angels didn’t work for you. I loved that one

[@jenvcampbell]

I think I would have enjoyed it more when I bought it (which was about five years ago), but it’s not what I’m looking for right now. Book enjoyment is inextricably tied up with time and place ☺️ I’m glad you enjoyed it, though! xx