Books Read in February
Books I read in February 2026
The Names by Florence Knapp
The book opens in 1987 as a woman is choosing a name for her newborn son. She wants to call him Julian. Her daughter wants to call him Bear. Her abusive husband insists on Gordon — after himself. From the day the name is chosen, the novel revisits the boy every seven years to trace how a single word shapes an entire life. I'm not quite finished yet but I'm absolutely riveted. If you like quietly devastating literary fiction that plays with fate and identity, this one will get under your skin. Loving it!
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
A memoir about a woman's marriage — what she thought it was, what it actually was — told in the aftermath of having the rug pulled out from under her. It reads like a juicy Vanity Fair article, and it sparked some controversy because of exactly how much she was willing to say.
Well, you know what Anne Lamott would say, right? "You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better."
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Arthur Less is a mid-list novelist who, to avoid his ex's wedding, books himself a round-the-world tour of literary events that any author of repute would turn down. I’m a total sucker for a novel about a novelist, and this one is great. The globetrotting adventures make for a story that’s fun, fast, and surprisingly tender. Read it if you like novels about writers - but I have a feeling I might forget I read this book by the end of the year.
How Yoga Works by Geshe Michael Roach
A parable about the living the philosophy of yoga, so that you don’t actually have to read The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This was required reading for my yoga teacher training and… well, it does what it says on the tin. If you're a yoga practitioner who wants to understand the deeper philosophy without your eyes glazing over, this is your book.
Still Writing by Dani Shapiro
Part memoir, part craft guide, this is Dani Shapiro's love letter to the writing life. I have a stack of creativity books that I look at whenever I’m in need of inspiration or understanding - this will go on the shelf (see my Creativity Bookshelf on Goodreads). And as it turns out, Shapiro has a serious yoga and meditation practice which she weaves through the book in the most wonderful way. It’s a must read if you are a writer. But if you aren’t, then it’s probably not your thing.