Monthly Wrap-Up for February 2022

Monthly Wrap-Up at Introverted Reader

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Monthly Wrap-Up at Introverted Reader

Welcome to my monthly wrap-up for February 2022!

I started using (and heavily customizing) Book Riot’s Reading Log because Nicole at BookWyrm Knits always has beautiful charts and I wanted some of my own for this post. But I’ve just realized that all my charts are for the entire year. Limiting them by month will take time I don’t particularly feel like spending right now. Stay tuned next month!

Travels/Exploration:

If you’re new here, you should know that my husband is a traveling healthcare professional and we travel the country in our RV. He works three months or more at one hospital and we have fun exploring the area on his days off. Our permanent home is in Asheville, NC. My husband is currently working in Charleston, SC. Here are the places we visited this month.

Home to Asheville for a couple of weekends. My dad’s birthday was February 6 and we went back at the end of the month just because.

Fort Moultrie National Historical Park I shared a few pictures in my Weekly Update for February 13

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site You can see pictures in my Weekly Update for February 20

Caw Caw Interpretive Center You can see pictures in my Weekly Update for February 27

James Island County Park We haven’t had time to look at our pictures. We saw something leave the dock and swim across the river that neither of us could positively identify. We think it might have been a long-tailed weasel. Of course we didn’t get clear pictures of it.

I went for a few walks on Sullivan’s Island Beach but haven’t had time to sort through or post pictures. I know I took a couple of really nice ones though!

Reviews Posted:

5 Stars

Hello, Star by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

North American Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the Continent by Matthew Bucklan & Victor Cizek, illustrated by Jack Dunnington

4 Stars

Notes from a Young Black Chef (Adapted for Young Adults) by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein (2021 Cybils Nomination)

3.5 Stars

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by David Roberts

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf

3 Stars

The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner, read by Ana Clements

Bookish Posts:

Ten Dynamic Duos

Ten Excellent Books I’ve Never Mentioned on My Blog

Ten of My Husband’s Favorite Books

Best Book of the Bunch:

I may not do this every month, but I’m giving myself permission to choose a fiction and nonfiction title as my favorite reads this month.

5 Stars

North American Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the Continent by Matthew Bucklan & Victor Cizek, illustrated by Jack Dunnington

4.5 Stars

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Other Books Read:

4 Stars

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky

The Feast of Roses (Taj Mahal Trilogy #2) by Indu Sundaresan, read by Sneha Mathan

Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, written and read by Rob Sheffield

3.5 Stars

The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, edited by Caroline Kennedy

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf

Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World by James Cheshire, Oliver Uberti

3 Stars

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber (Bloody Jack #12) by L. A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren

Reading Challenge Update:

2022 Reading Challenge Buttons

Challenge title links go to my personal progress page and host links go to the relevant sign-up page.

Watched:

Shows I Watched in February 2022
5 Stars

All Creatures Great and Small Season Two on PBS–My face seriously hurts from smiling after I watch an episode of All Creatures. It’s full of love and charm. (Yes, I have read the book series multiple times.)

3.5 Stars

Hawkeye on Disney + I had high expectations because I like Hawkeye and we’ve never gotten many details about his background in the movies. Unfortunately, Kate Bishop, the new archery hotshot, annoyed me. She’s way too privileged and headstrong. Hopefully she’s learned some lessons by now. The series sets up several new characters and conflicts so it seems important to the MCU.

3 Stars

The Book of Boba Fett–I’m not gonna lie–the first four episodes were not exciting. But then the last three episodes were basically The Mandalorian Season 2.5. If you love The Mandalorian (and who doesn’t?), you have to watch this.

Cooked:

I don’t particularly like cooking but my husband loves it. That served us well when we were both working but now–well, now it doesn’t make sense for him to cook after he gets home from a long day at work. So I make dinner a few nights a week. Luckily, neither of us minds leftovers. Here are a few things we cooked this month.

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Lentil Soup
  • Lemony Brussels Sprouts Pasta

All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2022

I need to put my husband in charge of the food photography. As an indifferent cook, I’m also indifferent to presentation!

  1. Trisha’s Chicken Tortilla Soup This recipe has been in our regular rotation for a year or two. My husband makes it because it takes more time than I have patience for.
  2. One Pot Creamy Spinach Lentils Don’t skip the splash of red wine vinegar at the end. We’ve each cooked this quite a bit this winter. It makes enough for leftovers and then we still freeze a couple of servings.
  3. Lemony Brussels Sprouts Pasta I surprised my husband with this dish after he got off work on Valentine’s Day. It was a hit! I did add some ground mild Italian sausage, which was a suggestion in the recipe.

The Monthly Wrap-Up is hosted by Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon at It Starts at Midnight. Best of the Bunch is hosted by Jessica at A Cocoon of Books. Weekend Cooking is hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader and Baker. Link your post each month!


Other Posts You May Enjoy:

11 Comments

  1. We have just been talking about the fact that it is coming into soup weather here. Maybe we should try making a tortilla soup.

    I agree that the first four episodes of Boba Fett were a bit slow, but the last few episodes were definitely great and the last episode pulled it all together nicely!

    Thanks for joining in with Weekend Cooking!

  2. What a great reading month and you have got a good start on your reading challenges. Have a great week!

  3. I’m using the same reading log as you, but I keep forgetting to update it when I start & finish a book. I think it will be handy at the end of the year.

    Love tortilla chicken soup and plan to make it later in the week. Actually, I’m hoping to make a few different soups throughout the week so I don’t have to cook dinner every night. We love leftovers, but they tend to go quickly since there are three of us and we eat lunch at home every day, as well. I’ve started using my air fryer a bit more and I’m always surprised how tender the meat (chicken, pork or steak) turns out. Easy clean-up, too.

    Have a good weekend!

  4. Yay more bookish spreadsheets! Though, the charts that I’ve used have always been yearly in the past. This is the first year that I added monthly charts and graphs. 😉

    Also, that Brussels Sprouts Pasta sounds really good. I’m going to have to look into that recipe.

  5. In my family we split the cooking chores — I plan meals and do the shopping, and my son cooks. Sometimes I’ll do some baking on the side; I’ve gotten into no-knead breads so I’ll provide a loaf or do the pitas for soups or other things that we like to clean our plates with.

    I like all the good nonfiction recs you give!

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