Hello and welcome to damppebbles. I know what you’re thinking. It’s probably something along the lines of ‘Huh?’. For those of you new to damppebbles I expect you’re wondering why I’ve suddenly introduced a monthly wrap-up post. For those of you who have been around a while, the ‘Huh?’ is probably accompanied by you shaking your head in dismay – as in ‘Huh? Why on earth is Emma trying to resuscitate her monthly wrap-up post?’. And that’s exactly what I am doing. I’m trying to resuscitate an old post that I have been quite dismal at maintaining in the past!

#CaseClosed first appeared on damppebbles in February 2017 when I was a fledgling blogger, just over a year into owning and running a book blog. It’s now been eight years since damppebbles was first launched. Which is eighty-four opportunities to post a monthly wrap-up post. And I’ve managed a measly fourteen 😂 My last #CaseClosed post was June 2020 – nearly four years ago. I’m not feeling confident BUT I do want to mix things up a little on damppebbles. I love writing reviews but I’m keen to include some other bookish content (such as the Top Ten Tuesday posts I started last week).

Anyhoo, somehow we’re in March. Which seems strangely unbelievable. I know February is a short month (slightly longer this year) but where have the first two months of the year gone? And more importantly, how is your 2024 reading going? Mine is going pretty darn well! I am loving virtually (nearly-ish 🤔) everything I’ve picked up since the start of the New Year. I don’t ever remember giving out so many five star ratings in quick succession before! YOU get a five star rating and YOU get a five star rating and YOU get a five star rating!! I don’t normally hand out five star ratings so easily, please note, it’s just the quality of books being published at the moment is very, very high. But we’re here to recap February’s goings-on on the blog…

During February I read SEVEN books (which is fine – I would have liked a couple more but I’m not a fast reader so seven will do for now). Those books were:

➡️ Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney
➡️ Those We Drown by Amy Goldsmith
➡️ Sharp Scratch by Martine Bailey
➡️ What We Did in the Storm by Tina Baker
➡️ The 13th Girl by N.V. Peacock
➡️ The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
➡️ Original Sins by Erin Young

One of those books was for a blog tour and all but two have already been reviewed on the blog.

There were a few books I read in January but reviewed last month. They were:

🖤 The Traitors by C.A. Lynch
🖤 Lethal Vengeance by Robert Bryndza
🖤 True Crime by Georgina Lees
🖤 The Stranger in Her House by John Marrs

I also posted four WWW Wednesday posts where I share my previous read, my current read and what I plan to read next.

🟧 Wednesday 7th February 2024
🟧 Wednesday 14th February 2024
🟧 Wednesday 21st February 2024
🟧 Wednesday 28th February 2024

And finally, there was my first Top Ten Tuesday post (which is going to feature ‘occasionally’ on damppebbles)

⚪ Tuesday 27th February 2024

My most popular post on the blog for February was a review from 2022. It’s my review of The Watchers by A.M. Shine which is due to be released as a movie in the Summer. I’ve seen the trailer, it looks terrifying! The book is excellent by the way and well worth a read before you see the film.

My most popular new post was my review of The Stranger in Her House by John Marrs. If you’re looking for a book to really get under your skin then this is the one!

Out of the seven books I read in February I only gave one of them a FIVE STAR rating. Which is really surprising, I thought there were more (see my earlier comment…YOU get a five star rating and YOU get a five star rating….er, no actually. Only one of you does 😐😮😂).

So without further ado, my book of February 2024 is……

Those We Drown by Amy Goldsmith

Definitely the best cover of the month as well, closely followed by The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff.

So that was February on damppebbles. I hope you have a wonderful bookish March full to the brim of the best books and I will see you very soon.

P.s. If you’re looking for your next read then check out the hashtag #fivestarflashback on Twitter / X. I’ve been re-sharing all of my old reviews from the dawn of time itself (or 2016 if you prefer). It’s been so much fun digging in the DP archives! There are around roughly five reviews posted a day so lots of lovely book suggestions if you’re in need of inspiration.