The One-Book Month
February was... quieter. Not in life - absolutely not in life - but in reading.

I finished one book.

And instead of pretending that didn't happen, or dressing it up as something hyper-productive, I want to be honest about it - because this year I'm trying to let my reading life reflect my actual life.

📊 By the Numbers
Books read: 1
Pages read: 1,184
Average rating: 5 stars

That's it. That's the stats.

🌧️ What February Actually Looked Like
February was a month of:

Mental health wobbling in ways I didn't fully anticipate
University deadlines looming and then arriving all at once
Settling into a new job (which is good, but still takes energy)
Keeping up with tennis, because of course I am

And somewhere in the middle of that… a reading slump
Not the dramatic, “I hate books now” kind. Just the soft, heavy kind where picking up a book feels like one more task instead of an escape.

And I've learned enough about myself to know that when that happens, it's usually not about the book.

It's about bandwidth.

📖 The Book
The one book I finished in February was Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid - 368 pages of sharp tension, aching intimacy, and characters who completely took up residence in my brain.

But here's the thing: while I only finished one book, I didn't only read one book.

I read 1,184 pages in total this month. I started things. I dipped in and out of stories. I got halfway through books and then set them down because my brain needed something different.

February wasn't a no-reading month. It was a no-finishing month.

And that feels like an important distinction.

Heated Rivalry just happened to be the one that carried me all the way to the end - the one that held my attention when my focus felt fractured. There's something fitting about a romance built on long-term tension being the story I could commit to in a month where everything else felt unsettled.

🧠 Reading Slumps & Soft Expectations
I'm trying not to measure my reading in productivity terms.

Eight books in January doesn't make me “better” than one book in February. It just means January had more space.

This year - especially with university and work balancing each other out - I want my bookstagram and blog to reflect reality, not output. Some months will be chaotic stacks and genre deep dives. Some months will be one dog-eared paperback and a lot of late nights staring at ceilings.

Both count.

🌱 Looking Ahead
If February was about surviving and stabilising, maybe March can be about rediscovering joy.

No pressure. No strict TBR. Just following whatever mood feels gentle and manageable.

If you also had a slow month - you're not alone. And if you devoured twelve books, I'm cheering for you too.

Reading seasons shift. We're allowed to shift with them.