February 2026 Reading Wrap-Up

Hello and welcome to my February 2026 reading wrap-up!

Thanks to a number of shorter books that I read for the Olympicsathon (readathon hosted by YouTube’s ClumsyCharlott during every Olympics), I managed to complete 15 books during the shortest month of the year. I also had a couple of DNF’s, both of which were Canada Reads finalists (It’s Different This Time and The Cure for Drowning). They just weren’t my kind of thing, and I have too much else to read these days that I’m excited for.

But let’s focus on the 15 books I did finish! They’re ranked below in order from my least to most favourite, and I’ve included some brief thoughts and opinions on each.

PLEASE NOTE: The title of each book links to its corresponding Goodreads page in case you want more information. Beside each title are affiliate links to each book on Bookshop.org (a great resource for Americans and Brits who would like to order books online but still support their local independent bookstores) and (for the first time!) also on Booksellers.ca (the Canadian version of the same concept). I just recently became a member of Booksellers.ca’s affiliate program, and I’m so excited to be working with them! If you don’t want to click on the affiliate links, I totally understand. But if you do, I’ll receive a small commission from any purchase you make through them, which I will put towards paying the blog bills. And maybe buying books. (And by maybe I mean almost definitely.)

My least favourite reads of February

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐

This book has reminded me why I generally don’t read coming-of-age stories. I just don’t care about adolescent jealousies and competitiveness and crushes and identity crises. I might have been more interested in Lila’s point of view, but I found Elena annoying, and the story was stretched out way too long. It really didn’t need to be a 4-volume story! Even Ferrante’s competent writing couldn’t make this enjoyable for me. I think I’ll pass on the rest of the series.

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐

I’m surprised and disappointed to say that I didn’t like this.

It started out great. I was hooked on the characters and the situation, and the narration by each character was vague enough to make me wonder what exactly was going on. Somewhere around halfway through, though, I got really tired of the vagueness, figured out a major twist, and started to wonder if everything would come together at the end in a way that actually made sense. Everything came together, alright. But in a way that made sense? Not really.

(Not to be too spoilery, but there’s some questionable medical stuff here and there that really pulled me out of the moment. And the ending was… weird. Heavy-handed, maybe? Saccharine, definitely.)

Yeah, this was a miss for me. But lots of people are giving it 5 stars, so what do I know?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for providing me with an advance copy for review consideration.

Strange Houses by Uketsu (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐

Yeah. I don’t think I liked this. Cool concept, and I’m interested to read the other books in the series. But to me, this felt like a whole lot of telling-not-showing, and the plot was over-complicated and contrived. It wasn’t for me.

Some middle-of-the-road reads

Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐

Clara Hughes has long been one of my favourite athletes, and I know she’s been through a lot in her life, so I was excited to pick this up. Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy it. She paints herself in kind of a negative light, and, while I admire her honesty, I found it disappointing. I came away from this memoir with the feeling that I wouldn’t like her much in person. I guess it’s a good thing I’ll never have to find out.

Really liked the section where she talked about her charity work, though.

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐

Not me thinking this was a comedy. 😅 Can’t say I loved it, but I’m glad I finally read it. It’s good to be getting back into my world classics this year!

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐

Gee golly gosh and Jehoshaphat! Asimov had a great imagination for futuristic technologies, but not so much for futuristic slang, and that makes his novels both endlessly entertaining and also kind of irritating. His characters tend to talk like the cast of Leave It to Beaver is play-acting sci fi.

Anyway, this is a murder mystery in which a human detective and a human-like robot team up to solve the murder of a high-profile roboticist. There are a lot of interesting conversations in here about human distrust of robots, whether it’s healthier for humans to live controlled lives in cities (the “caves of steel” of the title) or to live more free and loose in open air, whether we should focus on improving life on Earth or colonizing other planets, etc. It’s decent sci fi for its era, but I found it dragged on a little bit too much, and the dated dialogue mentioned above grated on my nerves. Not one of my favourites from Asimov, but I’m still going to continue the Robot series.

Finished one for Canada Reads

Foe by Iain Reid (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is exactly the kind of experimental, mind-gamey novel I love. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on for the first 99% of it, but I was hooked, and I found the ending very satisfying. I hope it goes far in Canada Reads. It’ll probably be my pick for the winner.

Another world classic

Zadig and Other Stories by Voltaire (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’m a huge fan of Candide by Voltaire, so I was excited to receive this little collection of Voltaire’s stories for Christmas. I really enjoyed most of them.

Zadig – 2.5 stars. This was the longest, but imo the weakest of the collection. Voltaire couldn’t seem to decide if this was a work of philosophy, a satirical social commentary, or a dramatic adventure. Whichever it was, it didn’t quite capture the magic of Candide.

Micromegas – 4.5 stars. I’d read this before in French, but reading it in English was MUCH easier. This is a 300-year-old science fiction story, basically Gulliver’s Travels but with aliens. And it’s full of philosophical gems like “I have seen none who have not more desires than real wants, and more wants than they can satisfy” and “it is right and proper to quote what we do not comprehend at all in a language we least understand” and, my personal favourite, “he scanned the pair of celestial visitors from top to toe, and maintained that they and all their kind, their suns and stars, were made solely for man’s benefit. At this speech, our two travelers tumbled over each other, choking with that inextinguishable laughter which, according to Homer, is the special privilege of the gods.” I love Voltaire. 🤣

Jeannot and Colin – 3.5 stars. This one has an interesting satirical conversation about what type of knowledge is or is not useful for a young man of wealth to learn. There isn’t much of a story, but Voltaire’s wit and wisdom shine through.

The Story of a Good Brahman – 4 stars. I’d read this before, too. The question this extremely short piece examines is whether it’s better to have reason and be miserable or to have happiness and be a fool.

Memnon, the Philosopher – 3 stars. A philosopher figures out exactly how to live a perfectly wise and prudent life, and then fails spectacularly to live up to his own standards.

The World Is Like That, or The Vision of Babouc – 3 stars. An angel tells Babouc that he’s going to either destroy or punish a whole city, and Babouc gets to decide which. Kind of a retelling of the Jonah story from the Bible. This story includes the most relatable line ever – “he sent for some new books in order to soothe his indignation.” Apparently bookish retail therapy has always been a thing!

A couple of 4-star thrillers

Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really really enjoyed 99% of this book. Loved the author’s sense of humour peeping through the thriller/horror vibes, loved the integration of Indigenous lore and modern Canadian living, and loved Taylor’s writing style in spite of the occasional weakness. I was all set to give it 5 stars. I just wasn’t all that happy about the ending. Still a really fun ride, though!

Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Claustrophobes beware: Taylor Adams’ writing is incredibly vivid, and this book is almost entirely set in the narrow tunnels of an underground cave. It gets pretty intense. 😅

I have a lot of thoughts (and a couple of rants) about this one, but… I don’t know. Maybe I should keep those to myself. In terms of thrillers, this is a great one. Some of the twists were a bit predictable, but still well done. The atmosphere and the vibes were impeccable. I really really enjoyed the vast majority of this ride.

The 5-star masterpieces

Dead in the Water by John Marrs (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I reviewed this one on my blog here, my one and only blog review of the month. I had so much fun with this book!

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was goooood. I’d been struggling to stick to one book for a while, flitting back and forth between about 7 and not feeling completely hooked by any of them. Once I started this one, though, it was all I wanted to read.

Maktub by Paulo Coelho (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow. This was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me a lot of The Analects of Confucius, but for a modern world. And just like while reading Confucius, I had to stop every couple of pages to really drink in what I’d just read. Loved it.

And my tied-for-top-favourite…

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don’t even know what to say anymore. Stephen Graham Jones is a horror genius.

But you have to understand when you sit down to one of his books that you’re not going to get a mindless slash-fest. No matter what the “monster” of the book might appear to be, the true horror in most SGJ stories is just… humanity. I’ve always felt that to be true of the real world, which I think is why I love his writing so much.

Anyway, this novella is fantastic, and I loved every second of it. It first came out a few years ago, but it was out of print for a while until now. Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for giving me a free digital copy for review consideration!

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson (on Bookshop.org | on Booksellers.ca)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I first watched The Miracle Worker movie with Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft when I was a kid, and it blew my mind. Certain scenes have stayed with me all these years, and I think it may have been responsible for my lifelong passion for language and cross-cultural communication. I stumbled upon the play script at my local library and thought I’d give it a try. I don’t usually like reading plays, so I wasn’t expecting much.

But WOW. The way Gibson wrote the conflict sequences between Helen and Annie was breathtaking. It was every bit as powerful as watching it performed. I think this just took the title from Hamlet of My Favourite Play of All Time.