Books to Check Out: What I Read in February 2022

February was a slow reading month for me. Normally I can bang out a few books left and right, but I really slowed down and paced myself this time around. As a result, I only have two books to recommend for February, but that’s still fine. They were both good, long reads that gave me a lot to think about and savor. Take a look and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Finally. I’ve tackled the Witcher series. WOW do I understand now why this series is so popular nowadays. I have my mom to thank. She’s obsessed with the Witcher, (and Henry Cavill), and decided she would surprise me on my birthday weekend by dropping off a bag with all the books in it. I couldn’t say no, so there I was, sitting down with The Last Wish, which was missing the cover and chewed to hell by the family dog. Anyway, here’s why you need to start this series.

The Last Wish is the first book (chronologically, I’ve been told) that tells the tale of Geralt and his travels. Geralt is a witcher. In a broad sense, he hunts monsters and gets into all sorts of nasty trouble in a medieval-type fantasy world. It feels more Dungeons and Dragons than Game of Thrones, and I love the book all the better for it. There was no one plot that went through the whole book. It was just a collection of different monsters Geralt comes across, and how he deals with the human issues and politics that come with these monsters. I can't even pick a favorite, they're all so fun to read.

Geralt is a fun character. He’s tough and matter of fact. For me, there’s something great about seeing a relatively stoic and collected character tackling all kinds of weird and wonky creatures, and Geralt gives me that in spades. I haven’t watched the show yet, but the books might make me dive into it. On the flip side, if you’ve watched the show, I imagine this would be a fun reading experience for you as well.

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

What a mammoth of a book. This was a 28-hour audiobook, and I was engaged through every second of it. Killing Commendatore, one of the most recent books by Murakami, is the told in the first person. Our narrator takes us through a magical realism tale of paintings, history, human connections, and otherworldly feelings. A bit vague? Yes. All for a good reason. I started this book only knowing that it was about a portrait painter living in another more famous artist’s house, and what happens when he discovers a never-before-seen painting in said famous artist’s home. This is really all you need to dive into Murakami’s masterpiece.

Now, when I call this a masterpiece, I mean an absolute masterpiece. Everything about this book is fantastic, and it was hard to put down. The story is riveting and compelling, the characters are beautifully fleshed out and fully realized, and the writing is off the charts. What I love so much about this book is that even though the pacing was slow, it didn’t feel dragged out. The story took time to develop the tone and all of the relationships between the characters so that when the magical realism elements pop into the picture, it isn’t jarring.

Overall, it takes massive talent to keep a person completely enraptured in a story for almost 30 hours. Killing Commendatore was such an incredible read, and I can’t recommend this one enough.

My February reads are books to savor. It’ll take multiple nights to really digest them and enjoy every sentence. I was happy to have a month when I wasn’t blazing through books like a maniac, so this little breather was a good one for me. Happy reading! Check out January’s recommendations here.