February 2011 Recap

Here is the list of books I read in February: (The links will take you to my reviews)

1. Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf - Curtis Jobling (read in Jan, reviewed in Feb)
2. Unknown - Rachel Caine (read in Jan, reviewed in Feb)
3. If I Stay - Gayle Forman (read in Jan, reviewed in Feb)
4. Witchfinder: Gallows at Twilight - William Hussey (read in Jan, reviewed in Feb)
5. His Darkest Embrace - Juliana Stone
6. Siren - Tricia Rayburn
7. The Thirteen Treasures - Michelle Harrison
8. Soulless - Gail Carriger
9. Reveal Me - Cari Quinn (Novella)
10. Across the Universe - Beth Revis
11. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel (review coming soon)
12. Summer - Eden Maguire
13. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
14. Magic Under Glass - Jaclyn Dolamore
15. Tempest Rising - Nicole Peeler
16. The Valley of Horses - Jean M Auel (review coming soon)
17. Darkfever - Karen Marie Moning (review coming soon)
18. The Kissing Game - Aidan Chambers (review coming soon)

February Books of the Month:

My top 2 YA reads in February:

Siren by Tricia Rayburn (read my review here)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (read my review here)

My top adult reads in February:

Soulless by Gail Carriger (read my review here)

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler (read my review here)

Event Reports:

I've been lucky enough to attend a few fab events in February, if you'd like to read my event reports you can find them here:

• The RHCB blogger brunch was actually in January but I only got my event report posted this month.  We found out about some fantastic new releases that RHCB have planned for 2011 and got to celebrate the release of The Iron Witch with debut author Karen Mahoney.  You can find out all about the event here
• I was also very excited to attend the Simon & Schuster blogger event where we were given the chance to chat with 7 of their authors - Justin Somper, Michelle Harrison, Sophie McKenzie, Craig Robertson, Milly Johnson, Helen Warner & Kevin J Anderson.  It was a great evening & you can read my write up here
• Another event I was incredibly excited to attend was organised by Hodder & Stoughton to celebrate the release of The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M Auel (the last book in the Earth's Children series) and held at the National History Museum.  During the afternoon a group of fans of the series were invited to help an artist create a picture of the main character Ayla.  The first print run of The Land of Painted Caves will be released with a special cover that you can hold up to a webcam to see a special 3D version of Ayla based on the picture we came up with.  Then in the evening there was an event with Jean M Auel and Professor Chris Stringer from the NHM talking about the science behind the series followed by a book signing.  I have been a massive fan of the Earth's Children series for about 10 years now so attending this event and getting to meet Jean Auel was incredibly exciting.  I'm planning a big blog event about the series so you'll have to wait a little longer before you can read my event write up but hopefully it will be worth the wait!

Author's Animal Antics:

We had a couple of great posts for the Author's Animal Antics so this feature this month (you can find out more about the feature here).  I'd like to say a massive thanks to all of the authors who have taken part in this feature!

• Beth Revis tells us how her dog got his name
• Julie Kagawa talks about the the cat who inspired Grimalkin

Challenge Updates:

So these are the challenges I've decided to sign up for in 2011 (I may well end up adding others as the year goes on but we'll see what happens)

2011 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 25/100
2011 Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge - Read 14/24
2011 Support Your Local Library Challenge - Read 4/25
2011 Debut Author Challenge - Read 8/12
2011 British Books Challenge - Read 9/12
2011 New Author Challenge - Read 16/50
NAC Mini Challenge - Steampunk (Feb 2011) - Read 2/5 COMPLETE (This challenge was to read up to 5 steampunk books in February, I knew I wouldn't have time to read 5 so I'm happy with my total of 2)