February 2024 book haul

Hello friends!! Welcome to the February 2024 book haul!! A post where I talk about all the books that I bought and received in the previous month.

Ahh February… the shortest month of the year. Although this year it’s only the shortest by one day because it’s a leap year. Somehow I managed to purchase THREE TIMES the number of books I did in January though, so I more than made up for it being a short month. (Also, is it just me, or does anyone else feel like the leap year day should be a public holiday? You know, because it’s special. And I want another day off.)

Of course, the main goal for the year is to buy less books than I read. As I trying not to increase my TBR each year, although I seem to inevitably fail every year anyway. And, as per normal, there is a round up of TBR increase/decrease at the end.

So, let’s go see the books (and games) I hauled in February!!

February 2024 book haul

Book haul categories are as follows:

• • book boxes (monthly/quarterly subscription or special edition book boxes)

• • review copies (book mail, digital and gifts)

• • book purchases (book mail, in-store and ebook*)

• • video games

* Not counting Kindle Unlimited

I subscribe to a bunch of book boxes that I occasionally skip (I used to skip more but they have limits on these things now). I also buy sequels and other special edition versions from these companies.

And in January/February this year I regretted skipping some past ones, so I then bought them from other subscribers, and they all turned up in February… There were four of these, but they’re all going on here because they are book box special editions. Although maybe I should just make a special editions section… (This is going to be outrageously wild and I apologise in advance.)

In February 2024, I had twelve books arrive:

• Voyage of the Damned by Frances White (Illumicrate book only sub for January)

• The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan (OwlCrate special edition)

• Faebound by Saara El-Arifi (FairyLoot Adult book only sub for December)

• The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (FairyLoot Adult book only sub for March 2023 — via Facebook)

• The Unkmaing of June Farrow by Adrienne Young (FairyLoot special edition)

• Ninth House and Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (Illumicrate special editions — via Facebook)

• The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker (FairyLoot YA book only sub for November 2023 — via Facebook)

• This Cursed Light by Emily Thiede (FairyLoot special edition)

• A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen (FairyLoot Adult book only sub for February)

• The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli (Fairyloot YA book only sub for February) (this is the UK title of the below book)

• Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli (OwlCrate YA book only sub for February) (this is the US title of the above book)

As always, photos link through to photo owner’s instagram and show extra details such as sprayed/stenciled edges, custom end pages, naked hardcovers, reversible dust jackets, etc. One exception this month is for the Ninth House / Hell Bent books. The photo is owned by Illumicrate, but links to a reel as I couldn’t find any photos of the special editions.

During February, I purchased eight ebooks (five were short stories though), one physical book, and had two other special editions arrive in the mail — not from the above companies.

The Shadow of Kyoshi
Author: F.C. Yee / Michael Dante DiMartino
Series: The Kyoshi Novels #2
Released: Jul 2020
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Hardcover
(non special edition)
Read: No
Goodreads link

Worst Wingman Ever
Author: Abby Jimenez
Series: Improbable Meet Cute #2
Released: Feb 2024
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Rosie and the Dreamboat
Author: Sally Thorne
Series: Improbable Meet Cute #3
Released: Feb 2024
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Drop, Cover and Hold On
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Series: Improbable Meet Cute #4
Released: Feb 2024
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

With Any Luck
Author: Ashley Poston
Series: Improbable Meet Cute #5
Released: Feb 2024
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Royal Valentine
Author: Sariah Wilson
Series: Improbable Meet Cute #6
Released: Feb 2024
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Love, Theoretically
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Series: N/A
Released: Jun 2023
Genre: Romance
Format: Paperback
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

The Fake Mate
Author: Lana Ferguson
Series: N/A
Released: Dec 2023
Genre: Romance / Paranormal
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Magnolia Parks
Author: Jessa Hastings
Series: Magnolia Parks Universe #1
Released: Jul 2021
Genre: Romance / Contemporary
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

The Summer Girl
Author: Elle Kennedy
Series: Avalon Bay #3
Released: Jul 2023
Genre: Romance
Format: Paperback
Read: No
Goodreads link

Twisted Love
Author: Ana Huang
Series: Twisted #1
Released: Apr 2021
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Read: Yes
Goodreads link

Argylle
Author: Elly Conway
Series: TBC
Released: Jan 2024
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Format: Hardcover
(signed special edition from West End Lane)
Read: No
Goodreads link

Heartsong
Author: TJ Klune
Series: Green Creek #3
Released: Oct 2019
Genre: Paranormal
Format: Hardcover
(signed special edition from Goldsboro)
Read: No
Goodreads link

I received zero review books in February!! This is going to be very light on this year because I am only requesting books that I genuinely want to read immediately.

game purchases

YAY!! Games that I bought!! This is a new sub-heading because sometimes I just enjoy screaming about games that I play. And by sometimes, I mean frequently. And while I am terrible at finishing (and then reviewing) games, this gives me another opportunity.

In February, I bought no games. This is probably because I was spending all my money on the ten thousand books that I bought instead.

physical TBR tally

So… what does this all mean for my TBR in 2024? Thank goodness I now have a giant TBR spreadsheet, as well as an even bigger spreadsheet of ALL of my books to figure it all out for me. If you want to check out the spreadsheets you’ll also see that I have new columns for digital (ebook and audiobooks) books. They count for my Goodreads goal of reading, but not my physical TBR counting. Mostly because they don’t take up any space in my home library, which is expanding at an unprecedented rate… So, the numbers now stand at:

• Commenced 2024 with physical TBR: 545
• Previous month’s TBR score: 545
• Increased physical TBR this month by: 17 (ouch)
• Subtotal physical TBR: 562
• Read physical books: 1
• Unhauled physical books on my TBR: 0
• TOTAL PHYSICAL TBR: 561
• TBR variance: +16

My goal in 2024 is to not increase the physical TBR number. Which means that whatever I bring in this year, I have to equally read that number of physical books. However, I’m actually going to allow myself a small window of 5 books and set my cap at 550 for 2024. Let’s see how long this lasts… Especially after this month. (To note, I did read 14 ebooks and 1 audiobook this month. But I do need to work the physical TBR down.)

What was in your February 2024 book haul?