Best of the Bunch (February 2026)

Today I'm sharing the best book I read in February.

Of the 7 books I read this month, I had two 5-star reads:

It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

These were both great! It's hard to choose between them, but ultimately the one that I'd like to spread the word about more is my Best of the Bunch for this month.

I could have used It's OK That You're Not OK a while back, but I'm still incredibly grateful for it now. Devine has written a reflection of what grief is actually like, especially "early" grief (which has no timeline), without the rush to try to make the pain better or part of a greater story of meaning or growth. The distinction she made between pain and suffering was incredibly powerful for me — in a nutshell, pain is the actual pain and grief of loss, while suffering is everything that makes living with that pain harder, whether self-judgment, unhelpful comments, or lack of adequate food or sleep. As she says, grief is normal in the face of loss and is not a problem to be solved, and everyone who treats your grief like it's a problem to be solved ends up instead heaping suffering on top of your pain.

There's so much here that's helpful, including a chapter that's specifically for giving to the people who truly want to support you but don't know how, which is why I'm recommending this broadly; everyone will experience loss and grief at some point, but it's even more likely that you already know someone who's gone through a loss even if you haven't, and this book will give you the best possible window into that experience that you could ask for.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Belly of the Beast, It's Perfectly Normal, and The Penderwicks at Last
Five years ago I was reading: Record of a Spaceborn Few, How to Be an Antiracist, and James and the Giant Peach
Ten years ago I was reading: Watchmen, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, and The Book of Mormon

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