End of February reading update

So it's almost the end of February and once again I have this sense of having survived a month. So much stupid illness, for me and the boos. I am still congested from the last bout, but feeling better every day. It would be nice if we didn't get another virus right away, knock wood. I feel energized by the great visit we just had from Aunt Barbara and looking forward to other family visits coming up in March.

I read 10 books in February, so have now read 20 books so far this year, very much on track to read 100. And just like last year, I didn't read any Barbara Pym, my usual February staple. I dipped into some of my favorites, read snippets, but no full books. Maybe it's because I've read her entire oeuvre so many times I have it memorized (but that was never a problem before). Maybe it's just Ridgecrest.

Here is my February reading list:
11. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. What a cool book, thoroughly enjoyed it. So funny, and of course you're never sure how well the humor was translated from the original. I'd love to discuss this with a native Japanese speaker.
12. How to Write a Mystery by Larry Beinhart. An oddly meandering book. I thought I'd never finish it. Some useful stuff.
13. The Knox Brothers by Penelope Fitzgerald. Miss Fitzgerald is one of my top 10 favorite authors, maybe top 5. This is a sort of biography of her father and his 3 brothers. Fascinating, heartbreaking.
14. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I wanted to reread this. It didn't hold up well (I was perhaps 11? when I first read it) but maybe it would still appeal to a young person. So many unanswered questions. Can't decide whether I want to read the sequels now.
15. High Country Fall by Margaret Maron. This begins a little orgy of mystery-reading. It was pretty good.
16. Rituals of the Season by Margaret Maron. Another pretty good mystery.
17. The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald. I'd never read any Travis McGee. How portrayals of women in novels have changed!
18. Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald. More Travis McGee, and that's probably enough for me.
19. Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron. Another OK mystery.
20. A Season in Hell by Marilyn French. Just finished this today. A memoir of how she survived esophageal cancer (which no one survives). In some ways just a ridiculous book, in some ways very insightful. I'm still digesting it.

I have a stack of books ready for my March reading. Tomorrow I think I'll just read Barbara Pym. And of course one of these days I need to write something myself again. Or get a job.