Month: February 2026

Top Ten Tuesday | Books Covers with Interesting Typography

Posted February 2, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 39 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography  

Some of these books I’ve read and loved, some I haven’t read, some I’m not interested in at all, but I thought all of them had really interesting typography on their covers that caught my attention so I added them here. If you’ve read any of them and think they’re worth reading, let me know!

Top Ten Books Covers with Interesting Typography

  1. Falling into Place by Amy Zhang – I loved this book and rated it 5 stars. I read it twice and thought it was written beautifully about some difficult things.
  2. Moby Dick by Herman Melville – I just recently read this and enjoyed it even though it was quite long-winded. I listened to this on audio while occasionally refering to my physical copy. Unfortunately, this is not the cover of my copy.
  3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – This is one of those stories I know and love through so many pop culture references, but I can’t remember if I’ve read the actual book. I love this cover though!
  4. Find Me by Ashley N. Rostek – This is book 1 of a series and all the covers are beautiful. It’s new adult, reverse harem romance, which isn’t typically what I’m interested in, but it has great reviews so I might try it.
  5. One Two by Eliane Brum – I’m not interested in reading this book but I love how simple yet creative the cover is, especially because I work with yarn and I love how it looks on the cover.
  6. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer – This book intrigues me and I fully intend to read it one day. The cover is beautiful too!
  7. The Age of Perpetual Light by Josh Weil – I love the cover design! It’s a collection of short stories with a common theme about light. It looks interesting.
  8. Falls The Shadow by Stefanie Gaither – The premise actually sounds interesting, it’s scifi with clones, but I have no interest in reading it. I do love the cover design and how the letters create a different shadow.
  9. Dry by Augusten Burroughs – I remember the hype around his other book Running With Scissors and I still want to read it one day. If I like it, I might read this one too.
  10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Another popular book that I’m sure most people have heard of. I’ve read it but I don’t currently own a copy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find this cover if I decide to buy it.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | January 2026

Posted February 2, 2026 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 3 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

January 2026 Wrap Up

I had a great reading month in that I felt like I had a good balance between reading from my TBR and for bookclubs and buddy reads, and reading whatever I felt like in the moment. I binge read a bunch of romances that I’ve been sorely missing and it was so healing to my heart!

I think I also did pretty well with keeping up with my book reviews and replying comments. I haven’t finished writing all the reviews or replying all the comments, but I’m trying my best not to let them accumulate too much. It does feel a little challenging at times and I’m hoping this is not a new year’s thing that tapers off, but rather something that I’ll get better with in time!

My January 2026 TBR Intentions

I didn’t do too badly, I think. I’m also trying not to worry too much about reading from the TBR as long as my bookclub commitments get read! I’m keeping it chill. 😂

  1. Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
  2. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
  3. The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese
  4. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan
  5. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
  6. The Will of the Many by James Islington
  7. The Strength of the Few by James Islington

Books Read in January 2026

  1. The Will of the Many by James Islington
  2. The Strength of the Few by James Islington
  3. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
  4. The Kaiju Preservation Society by James Scalzi
  5. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
  6. The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
  7. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
  8. Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
  9. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
  10. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
  11. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
  12. Better Than Revenge by Kasie West
  13. The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
  14. The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens

Notable Books This Month

Firekeeper’s Daughter surprised me because for some reason I thought it was historical fantasy but it turned out to be contemporary fiction, and a really important story at that. I loved how nuanced it was and the story it told about Indigenous culture. It focuses on the current lives of Indigenous people, but it also shows how Indigenous history shapes what’s happening now. It doesn’t shy away from the difficult topics either and I think that’s important.

Everything Is Tuberculosis is another notable book for me this month because I learned a lot about how tuberculosis shaped history, and also a lot of infuriating things about how race, class, and money influence how cures are distributed in the world. I’m not surprised necessarily, just pissed off, but overall glad I read the book.

I’m also really just happy about all the romances I’m bingeing on. I feel like they are just what I need to balance out some difficult reads with some books that make me happy and lift my mood. I need some of that especially with all that’s happening in real life.

February 2026 TBR Intentions

I’m not as concerned with reading from the TBR anymore, but it’s nice to have some books in mind for what’s next. Plus, I do still have bookclub reads and buddy reads that I need to read and some nonfiction I really want to get to.

  1. The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese
  2. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan
  3. The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan
  4. Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
  5. The Mind-Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer, MD
  6. This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

How was your month in January? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful February with lots of great books!

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Book Review | Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

Posted February 2, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

A swoony new romance from the author of Sunkissed! When her football-player boyfriend and now ex lands the podcast job she’s been dreaming of, a girl takes matters into her own hands by enlisting the help of his nemesis to get revenge.

Seventeen-year-old Finley has only ever had one to become a famous podcaster. This includes coming up with the perfect pitch to land her on her school’s podcast team. But when her football-obsessed boyfriend, Jensen, decides to also try out—and uses her idea—she’s left confused and betrayed. 

Determined to get back at him, Finley and her friends try to find the perfect revenge scheme, but quickly discover that Jensen is almost-impossible to best. Keyword, almost. 

By chance, Finley discovers a knack for kicking and decides to take Jensen’s spot on the football team. To help her train, she recruits Jensen’s cute but conceited nemeses, Theo. Soon the two discover that their connection runs deeper than football. But Finley can’t let herself get distracted, and Theo has secrets of his own. Is true love really better than the perfect revenge?

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #48: Related to the word “nemesis”)

The Reason

Still in the romance binge-read mood.

The Quotes

“We all make mistakes. It’s how we deal with our mistakes that really define our character.”

“When are you going to realize that I just want to be near you, Finley? All the time.”

“I came here for you,” Theo said suddenly, an intensity in his voice. He pointed to the picture. “Your grandma’s story is interesting and I know how much it means to you, but…I came here for you.”

My Thoughts

Finley may be a high-school student, but her feelings and issues are so relatable, and I was feeling them all with her. I was incensed with Jensen, bittersweet about her grandmother, grateful for her amazing friendships, excited about her podcast, determined with her training, and fluttery about her closeness with Theo. It was such a journey going through all of it with her, and I especially loved her grandmother’s stories.

I loved Kasie West and she was an automatic read for me at one point, but it’s been a while since I read her books and I thought it might be because I aged out of her target audience. And I have, sort of. I’m no longer a teen or young adult, but I have realized that good books transcends age, era, and any kind of demographic people box them into, and so I’m just reading whatever I want and loving the good books.

Also, I believe stories are important for the purpose of allowing us to see from other people’s points of view and learning empathy. I never want to forget what it was like to be a young adult or dismiss a young person’s feelings about what’s important to them. I think this story is a great reminder of that because of the parallels of Finley’s story along with her grandmother’s. I loved it!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Posted February 2, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead… but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
TBD

The Reason

I was in the mood to binge-read some romance after finishing The Seven Year Slip by the same author.

The Quotes

“I began to realize that love wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t forever, either. It was something in between, a moment in time where two people existed at the exact same moment in the exact same place in the universe.”

“There is no happy ending, theres just. . . happily living. As best you can.”

“I hope you find yourself in a book someday. And I hope that book lives forever.”

“He hoped I asked for help because asking was not a weakness – but a strength. He hoped that I would ask more often because I would be surprised by who would come into my life if I let them.”

My Thoughts

It’s so funny because I read this book immediately after The Seven Year Slip, and one of the things I was thinking about while reading The Seven Year Slip was how it had such ethereal vibes and reminded me of the movie, Just Like Heaven, which stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo (yes, I know it’s based on a book too!), and now reading this book reminds me even more of that movie!

I loved this story between Florence Day and Benji Andor; their chemistry, their banter… I’m a conversation kind of girl, I fall in love through conversations, and I fell in love with them! A lot of Florence’s story was bittersweet, but also quite relatable, and I think that’s what makes these stories great. Just a touch of the extraordinary in otherwise ordinary people’s lives. I’ve read Ashley Poston’s books before but these two book have made me sit up and pay attention and I think I am now a wholely devoted fan. I need more!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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