If you know me, you know I love to read. My to be read (tbr) list on Goodreads is up to 437 and I always have at least 3 books going at one time. I have books on my night stand, books on the end table where I sit in the living room and I am always bringing books home from where I work, part time at the public library. Did I mention I am a retired school librarian? So I guess it is just a job hazard to have access to so many great books. I love recommending books, sharing books, and picking out books for my friends. I even have a good friend I used to teach with that called me her personal librarian. I get a kick out of putting reserves on books for her that I think she will like and she gets a surprise phone call from the public library that her books are ready.
So, when I set my reading goal for 2021, I decided to try to read 100 books this year. I thought about doing a reading challenge of selected books, I even researched special reading lists, but then that didn't happen. I have wonderful goals lately, but Covid-19, the winter blues, and menopause seem to make decisions FOR me lately. So, in January I just finished reading whatever I had started in December. For February, I tried to be more purposeful and chose books by black authors or romance books. I liked the idea of doing monthly themes plus I get to read some books I maybe wouldn't normally pick up this way, so I thought I would share with you the books I read in February.
So already I am going to cheat a little bit, the first book I finished the last day of January so I am going to count it with this collection I wish to share with you. It was titled Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. The author is of Bangladeshi origins but his book is about two families of different races and ages, forced together in one home over a long weekend. What started as a vacation in the country in a nice "airbnb" type home with a pool, turns into a weekend with both the vacationers and the house hosts family staying together unexpectedly due to a strange phenomenon going on with the electric grid. A white couple with two teenage kids and an older black couple, the owners of the home, learn a lot about each other, and their own fears and preconceived ideas. Believe it or not, the strange phenomenon is not the main focus of this story, it is more of a self reflection for the characters. Not what I was expecting when I chose this book, but an interesting read.
photo from Amazon.comNext, I read a young adult novel with a romance/drama feel to it. It was You Have a Match by Emma Lord. Three teenage friends, two girls and one guy, decide to do a DNA test for their school family history project. One of them discovers they have a sibling they did not know they had. This makes them question why their parents kept it a secret all of these years. Since this is a friendship triangle, there is also some romantic feelings between two of the friends, but has been kept secret. This story has misconceptions and deals with sibling drama. I really feel like teenagers will be able to relate to these main characters. I know I no longer work in a high school library, but really still enjoy reading YA novels.
cover photo from HooplaThe next two books I want to talk about are in a series. I am really not a big romance reader, at least I didn't think I was. There is something about these books that are just fun to read. If you know what cozy mysteries are, you have a small town, fun characters, a pretty easy plot to work through, well, these are cozy romances. They are part of the Love at First Sight series by Karla Sorensen. I read Baking Me Crazy and Batter of Wits. These are fun books because they allow you to just escape and enjoy the characters. I was attracted to the first novel because of the title. I am a baker and love to cook, so I thought why not read about a romance in a bakery. It was so much more. The main character was in a wheelchair. I liked the inclusion of someone in a wheelchair as the main character. You don't see this often, especially in a romance novel. I grew attached to the main character because I loved learning how she dealt with people and how they treated her in her wheelchair. Books allow us to take a walk in another person's shoes and they are great for building empathy. I was looking forward to seeing what continued with Jocelyn in the next book in the series, but the second book was more about some of the minor characters in the first book. It is a cute series and the books make for a great escape. They are a little steamy without being too vulgar.
cover photo from Hoopla With a similar theme, The Secret Ingredient by Nancy Naigle was a fun romance based on a bakery. This was a Hallmark Movie romance novel, so I knew it would be a little sappy and a fun, easy read. Sometimes you just need something light to read, especially during this past year with being quarantined. This was a story about a small town Tennessee girl who worked at her parents' restaurant with her high school sweetheart. Her boyfriend, who also cooked at the restaurant, has an opportunity to go to Paris to learn with some of the best in culinary and decides to stay, even though they are engaged. Does she go to France with him or stay and fulfill a dream she has of owning her own place? This is a light romance that you can almost envision on the Hallmark channel as you read it.
cover from bn.comMy last two books were by black authors. The first one, The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory is part of The Wedding Date series. I didn't realize that until I had started reading it, but apparently you can read them out of order. This was #3 in the series and I haven't read #1 or #2. I think it just continues with some of the same characters. This was also a cute romance but it was just a little more naughty than the Hallmark channel romances. Nothing to make me blush, but just so you are aware if you choose to read it. I really enjoyed the characters and couldn't wait to see how this one turned out. I think it is classified as a modern romance genre; worth a try if you like this genre. The last book I am sharing was an ebook I read titled Whiskey & RIbbons by Leesa Cross-Smith. I not only chose this one because she was a black author but she is from Kentucky. I enjoy reading local authors because the vernacular is so familiar and I love reading the story with local settings. This is kind of a love story/drama. It is about a set of brothers, secrets from the past about their parents, and a bond between one brother and his sister-in-law. If only there was a man as sensitive as Dalton in real life. I have thoroughly enjoyed these February reads.
cover from thriftbooks.com 
cover from shop.brainlairbooks.comEven though February is the month of all things chocolate, I really didn't cook anything chocolaty during the month. I did try my hand at some air fryer apple hand pies. My grandmother used to make homemade apple fried pies when I was a kid. She would make her own dough, or as she got older, she used canned biscuit dough, rolled it out, put her apple filling in and fried them in her cast iron skillet. They were so delicious that my grandfather wouldn't even let one go when he accidentally dropped one in my grandmother's dish water. He fished it out, dried it off and ate it. That was my Papaw Carman. I definitely get my sweet tooth from the Carman side of the family. When I found a recipe to make this delicious treat a little more healthy in the air fryer, I had to try it. I found my recipe, of course, on Pinterest. https://pin.it/2nkwwoZ It is very simple. I didn't have apple pie filling in the house so I made my own filling. I had some apples from my Misfit Market box that were starting to get spots on them, so they were perfect for my filling. I found a filling recipe on Pinterest as well. I knew what to put in the filling, but it helps to find a recipe for the proper measurements. https://pin.it/7Lc1iD6
Once you make your filling, you just use pie crust. You can make your own, I have tried making homemade pie crust with no luck. I have no problems using the pie crust sold in the refrigerator or freezer sections at the local Kroger. I even like the Kroger brand of pie crust. Take one pie crust and roll it out. I used a 6 inch biscuit cutter, you can just make your own circles with a knife if you like, but the biscuit cutter makes them more of a perfect circle for me. I was able to get 3 or 4 circles our of one pie crust. I then took the scraps and rolled them out to make a smaller pie. It isn't as pretty, but taste just as good.Put a spoonful of apple filling on one side of the cut out dough circle. Then fold over the other half of the dough and pinch the edges together making a half moon. Thus how these delicious treats got their name from country folks, like me, of half moon pies. You can also use a fork to close the edges together if you wish. Once you have made your little pies, then give them an egg wash. Just beat up an egg and using a pastry brush, brush on the egg to one side of the hand pie. Sprinkle a little decorator sanding sugar on the pie then place it on the frying tray. Do this to each hand pie then give them a light spray with whatever cooking spray you use, like Pam. They air fry on 350 degrees for 5 minutes then turn them over and air fry them for 5 more minutes. They come out crispy and delicious. Careful, filling is hot. :)
