Ah, February. It’s always the speediest month after the decade of January. This week is, as many of us are (sadly) aware, Valentine’s day. Fun fact: the day that follows is Single’s Awareness Day, apparently. Anyways, the ramblings of a single girl on Valentine’s Day belong on HBO and the pages of my personal journal. I promise you are still on Bookstr and not a Sex and the City script excerpt. So, what have you missed this week? Let’s find out.

If you’re WEEKS behind, here‘s what we’ve been up to recently.

black history month

February is Black History Month and everyone here at Bookstr is working hard at writing about, designing for, and (most importantly) reading the work of authors of color. Here are five female authors of color with some exciting releases. There’s a bus making the rounds in conjunction with members of the NBA. Barnes & Noble did their take on popular covers for the month’s commemorations. Lauren is filling us in here. Keep an eye out for some features coming up this month, like the 5×5 series kicking off with Black History Month as it’s inaugural theme.

every day is someone’s birthday

Wow, we really can’t go a week without it being somebody else’s birthday. How many can there possibly be? It’s almost like there’s more than 365 people in the world. This week saw bestselling author Ransom Riggs celebrating his 41st birthday. James Joyce’s birthday would also have been this week, alongside the publication date of Ulysses.

via GIPHY

 I know. These GIFs are getting less relevant as the weeks go on but I just can’t resist.

Not my president

Don’t worry, this isn’t about Trump. (He really isn’t my president, FYI, Ireland has Micheal D. Higgins.) This week we learned a little more about George Washington in a new biography. There’s a new book set for release this summer, taking a look at what could have been. If Hilary Clinton had never married Bill, where would she be now? Would 2016 have ended differently?

Three to read

I’m not sure how I’d frame my week if it wasn’t for the one constant of Nehal’s bookish wisdom. She’s back with some gems this week and they perfect for this crazy weather. Is it raining? Warm? Snowing? Who knows. You won’t care because you’ll be so engrossed in your new reads. Check it out here. For some more weather-appropriate books take a look at Kali’s recs here.

Miscellaneous/just for fun/harry styles

Was it the Harry Styles that got you? Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. Kathryns got us sorted for a HS fix here. Have you ever wondered what star George Orwell was born under? Satisfy your astrological interest here. We’ve got some exciting YA releases recently that are as fun as they are anticipated (aka A LOT). Take a look here. Match up your fave 90s film with a book here, courtesy of Gina. Match up your fave bagel with a book here, courtesy of Kathryn.