I also read a lot of picture books in February and as always fell in love with more PBs. I need to be better about tracking the PBs I love! (and I will maintain that you do not need a kid to read, enjoy, and be swept away by picture books)

A middle grade mystery thriller about art crime!? Sign me up. Read this one in a few sittings because I needed to know what happened. Also, FWIW, I am a major scaredy cat and I think scaredy cats can handle this one! bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Knew nothing about this book when I pulled it off the library shelf (a truly fun way to stumble on a good read) + it was more literary than my taste has been lately, but also SO GOOD. How does the author write characters so well?! Grief is a major theme, FYI.

bookshop.org/p/books/expo...

I now cannot wait to watch Ice Dancing at the next Olympics! Heard this compared to a teen soap + Wuthering Heights and it's delightful
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

And this MG by Claire Swinarski. Love interstitials in books.

Jodi Picoult's By Any Other Name. A doorstopper that I was worried would be a slog, but was more drawn in to the historical POV than expected. Super interesting take on the Shakespeare authorship question.

I finally broke the cycle of purchasing/returning when I was so sick of how unfun the returning process is... which in turn inspired this piece!

also: might I recommend these Vulture-approved creeps for all your holiday gift-giving needs!

bookshop.org/p/books/deep...

OMG what a great list!