I finished five books during February, which feels a bit like I slacked after January’s ten. But that’s how it goes…

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

A middle-aged magazine advice columnist commutes into London every day with her dog. She doesn’t make eye contact. She certainly never talks to anyone, even if she does recognize the regulars on her route and form judgments based on what she observes. Until one of those regulars starts choking in front of her and she has to get involved. And once one of those rules fall, she finds herself unable to put the lid back on, intermingling with a bullied student, a nursing student, a young woman starting her career, and men having marital and career woes. A heartwarming story for those who love found family stories. Some of the twists are telegraphed early, but you never mind.

Library. Audio.

Winter: The Story of a Season by Val McDermid

A short collection of personal essays about the winter season in Edinburgh, starting at Halloween and carrying on until snowdrop season. She stops in on Christian, pagan, and national celebrations, as well as touching on seasonal markers that we all use to help us get through the season of darkness, creativity, and rejuvenation. She shares bits of how holidays have changed since her post-WWII girlhood, as well as personal stories about traveling to other places, such as New Orleans, during holidays and how that differed from what was familiar to her. A gentle work from one of Scotland’s most noted thriller writers.

Library. Paper.

Charm City by Monica McCallan

I wanted a romance to listen to in February and decided on the flight home from Connecticut that I should quickly download one. This Valentine’s Day-themed lesbian romance set in Baltimore ticked the boxes, so I went ahead with it. An upbeat event planner approaches a struggling bar and asks if they’d be willing to partner with her on a week of Valentine’s-themed activities. The bar owner agrees and gets his taciturn bar manager to work with her, pointing out that if they don’t find a way to turn things around he might have to close. In the weeks leading up to the event, the two women grow closer. It felt like a too-fast transition for someone with the bar manager’s backstory, the grumpy-sunny romance felt a bit forced, and the best character is a fellow bartender, not either of the main characters. It was fine and scratched a holiday itch, but failed to explore the depths it introduced.

Library. Audio.

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller
The elementary school-aged daughter of New York City laundromat owners finds lost socks and tacks them up on a bulletin board, hoping to reunite them with their people. When a white woman comes in and criticizes it, the girl’s new friend (the daughter of a friend of her parents, recently relocated from California), proposes they take a more active approach to getting the socks back to their owners. And as they do, Magnolia gains confidence, introducing Iris to her city and the people who live there, including bodega owners, barbers, and a girl who lives in a penthouse raised by staff. It is not all sunshine and rainbows: there are covert and overt acts of racism that both girls have to deal with, and Iris’ backstory hints at darkness. But it offers ways for the girls each to share their feelings, even when those are complicated, and the adults in their extended world clearly care about them. A sweet children’s contemporary.

Library. Paper.

Alice with a Why by Anna James

After World War II, Alyce is staying in a big house in the country. Her father, an engineer, has died during the war, and her mother is called away to care for her own sick parents, leaving Alyce in the care of her paternal grandmother, Alice. But when Alyce finds a torn message that seems to be addressed to her and falls through the pond into another land, she learns her eccentric grandmother might have been doing more than spinning yarns to entertain her and the soldiers who’d convalesced with them. While in Wonderland, she must stop a war between the Sun King and the Moon Queen with the help of some familiar faces and some new friends. A fun retelling with the same sort of word play and misunderstandings that we loved in the original.

Library. Paper.