![Do you have any decor-related holiday traditions? 🎄
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A Christmas village has been part of my annual decorations for as long as I can recall! My mom put them on top of my piano when I was a little girl, and when I got older and moved out, I received some pieces of my own (with a few from my childhood mixed in). 🤎
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When I chose to renovate my living room this year, I knew I’d need to find the perfect new space to display my village, come Christmas-time. This gorgeous @sauderusa cubby shelf felt like it was *made* to show off all my favorite pieces! 😍 It has been so much fun to find new ways to #SauderStyle these shelves over the last few months! 🙌🏼
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Each evening, I turn the lights on and feel a little bit of Christmas spirit come to life inside my heart. ✨ Which pieces would you want in your holiday village? 🏘️
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#cozyaesthetic #cozyhomedecor #thepursuitofcosiness #cozytime #holidaydecor #holidayhome #homedecor #hyggestyle #quietshadesofbrown #cottagecore #ofcosymoments #christmasdecor #ltkhome #modernorganic #farmhousedecor #cottagedecor #gifted #christmashome #christmasvillage [ad]](https://theespressoedition.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Love Month was filled with lots of hits (and an almost equal number of misses). It’s time for me to fill you in on my February 2023 reading stats.
My goal for February was to read as many romances as I could stuff into just twenty-eight days, in honor of Valentine’s Day. I certainly did that, but I also wound up rereading more than expected, and I crammed in several fantasy and alternative genres as well. It was a bit of a chaotic reading month and I DNF’d (did not finish) more books than I think I ever have in such a short period of time. Years ago, I would’ve kicked myself for stopping mid-book, but now I’ve come to the realization that it’s not worth my time to read books I don’t enjoy. In fact, I wish I had put down my two lowest-rated books as well!
I’m no longer forcing myself to review every single book I read, but I did read several truly wonderful books as well! It was a lot of fun to reread a few older fantasy favorites as well as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Now that I’ve wrapped up my February 2023 reading, I’m planning for March – and I had to laugh a little at myself for how many series I’m going through next month! So far, I’ve only planned for one stand-alone, which is super unlike me. It’ll be fun to see what I think of both my upcoming rereads and all the new titles as well. I can’t wait!
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The 20 Books I Read in February 2023
If you’re interested in more bookish content, follow my StoryGraph account for live reviews and reading updates, and take a look at my bookstagram – where I share aesthetic coffee and book photos!
February 2023 Reading Stats
Books That Got a 5-Star Rating (*rereads)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo*
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2)*
by Leigh Bardugo
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2)*
by V.E. Schwab
Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)*
by Suzanne Collins
Books That Got a 4 or 4.5-Star Rating
Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail (Bright Falls #2)
by Ashley Herring Blake
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
by Talia Hibbert
In the Weeds (Lovelight Farms #2)
by B.K. Borison
Ten Rules for Faking It (Jansen Brothers #2)
by Sophie Sullivan
Never Been Kissed (Boy Meets Boy #1)
by Timothy Janovsky
Books That Got a 3 or 3.5-Star Rating
Books That Got a 2 or 2.5-Star Rating
Books That Got a 1 or 1.5-Star Rating
The Roughest Draft
by Emily Wibberly, Austin Siegemund-Broka
Books That Got No Rating
Books I DNF’d (*will pick up later)
Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies #1)*
by Lynn Painter
March 2023 TBR
A Conjuring of Light (A Darker Shade of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab [reread]
Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #3) by Leigh Bardugo [reread]
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins [reread]
Mixed Signals (Lovelight Farms #3) by B.K. Borison
How to Love Your Neighbor (Jansen Brothers #2) by Sophie Sullivan
One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) by Rachel Gillig
Mysteries of Thorn Manor (Sorcery of Thorns #1.5) by Margaret Owen
Queen Among the Dead by Lesley Livingston
The Liar’s Crown (Dominions #1) by Abigail Owen
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner
A Brush With Love (A Brush With Love #1) by Mazey Eddings
Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert #1) by Olivia Dade
100 Cupboards (100 Cupboards #1) by ND Wilson
Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give #0.5) by Angie Thomas
Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N.K. Jemisin
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glass teapot | coconut wax bookish candle (ESPRESSO10) | single-serve French press | cappuccino mugs & saucers | faux autumn foliage | jute twine | wooden cake tray | faux pine cones | sweater | pillow
I used to be apprehensive over DNFing books too, but now I am much pickier and I enjoy my books a lot more! I am glad you were able to read so much romance there! I want to wait until Lore Olympus is finished to make sure it has a HEA before I pick it up lol but I know so many love those.
You had a wonderful month of reading. I really should DNF more books as there is just too little time in life for a book I’m not enjoying!
I like how you described your February as a chaotic reading month…I feel like that’s how my month went as well! Looks like you had a good reading month, though. I stilllll need to read Seven Husbands. I was hoping to find it used at a library sale since the library holds list remains incredibly long; but ever since it was announced as a future film there’s no used copies to be found. Might have to go the PangoBooks route for that. Happy reading in March!
(P.S. I just followed you on IG and StoryGraph!)
It was definitely a month of romance reads! I am looking forward to reading The Roughest Draft, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it.
ajkhjhfdsfh STEPHANIE HI!!!!! i landed here only just a couple days back through hopping off of all the post comments AND HELLO IM SO GLAD ABOUT IT?? YOUR BLOG IS LITERALLY THE MOST STUNNING PLACE IN EXISTENCE AND IM IN LOVE WITH THE COZY-BUT-ALSO-GORGEOUS AESTHETIC and could basically spend the rest of eternity reading your posts. THEY’RE THE BEST.
also you OBVIOUSLY have good taste since you love evelyn hugo OH MY GOSH HELLO!!! and twenty books in twenty-eight days IS WILDNESS?? but shh im living for it. ALSO YAY ON SO MANY FIVE STARS!!!!!! im slightly sobbing you didnt enjoy the roughest draft and better than the movies though 😭 i havent read either of them, but a lot of my friends have LOVED IT AND I HAD HIGH EXPECTATIONS LIKE THAT?? but yay to a great reading month <33 i hope you have the best ever march and LOOK I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ON ENCYCLOPEDIA ON FAERIES AND LEGENDS AND LATTES OH AND ALSO CONCRETE ROSE AND I CANT WAIT TO TALK MORE AND FLAIL OVER YOUR FUTURE POSTS!!!!!!!!!
20 books is amazing! I love how you’ve done your reading stats, the charts are so creative. Hope you have just as great a reading month in March too!
No but you read SO MANY books in Feb! Go, you!
And interesting see that you really didn’t like Better Than The Movies. I’ve seen good reviews and it was on my TBr for a while. For some reason, I picked up another book by the author and DNFed it so I removed this as well and wondered if maybe this was very different. Maybe not haha.
Hope you have a great reading month in March with all the series!
Glad you had so many 4 and 5 star reads in February! My favorite last month was One Night Only by Catherine Walsh.