February 2026

my reading goals for the month were about LOVE stories, which i think the four books i finished all qualify as. i am close to done with The Song of Achilles which was intended to be part of the informal syllabus for the month and will soon start Dayspring, which i am thrilled to be returning to to help kickoff my jesus novelizations for march.

anyway, real winner of the month is The Pairing, which confirms 1) that romance novels can be GREAT, and 2) cece can give me, specifically, top tier recommendations in that space. The Pairing became an immediate entry on my draft “Top 100 Books” list, which doesn’t happen that often.

movies are all over the place, ending the month with miracle (2004), in honor of the olympics, which is going to be the launching point of cec and i’s march-movie-watching-project of connecting every movie we see to the previous one with at least one recurring actor! we’ve accidentally done this a few times and always been delighted by the serendipity and have joked about intentionally doing a series of watches built around it, and now that joke is becoming a reality! i’ll report back in a month on the results.

The Knight and the Moth (2025), Rachel Gillig

A fun start to my month of intentionally reading love stories. I was not quite as wow’d as I had hoped from some of the particular praise I’d read for this, but it was fun. I liked the fantasy stuff more than the romance, which felt a bit eye-rolly in its integration, particularly the interiority and inner monologue/narration of it, which can be the strength of a especially well-written romance. anyway, it didn’t ruin the book by any means, just bugged me a bit haha.

not sure if i’ll pick up the next installment(s) when they are published, we’ll just have to wait and see

The Pairing (2024), Casey McQuiston

absolutely fell in love with this—a funny, charming, tender, achingly romantic, deeply sexy, moving, wonderful love story. the writing is engaging and beautiful, the POV switch is structurally so smart and literarily executed practically perfectly, and everything just works together so well to tell kit and theo’s story.

i laughed, i gasped, i cried, i cheered—and that’s ROMANCE, baby!

Many Waters (1986), Madeleine L’Engle

love the way L’Engle mixes biblical narrative with all sorts of other stuff—unicorns that only appear and persist when believed in? manticores that are cowardly and shout “hungry!” all the time? fascinating shapeshifting seraphim and nephilim? awesome.

the overall narrative arc here and being stuck in noah’s time was a little underwhelming for me, but love the imaginative, syncretic worldbuilding and possibilities suggested by it!

Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Courage, and Grace (2020), Carey Wallace and Nick Thornborrow

I flipped through this reading a good handful of entries carefully, but wanted to include it for posterity—and to help me remember to return to it! a beautifully illustrated book (style is reminiscent of the irish folklore trilogy from cartoon saloon), with some weird wild stories, which is just what i wanted! perhaps more devotional than my ideal-ideal, but not in a way that takes away from the weirdness in a lot of these stories, especially the early ones.

The Swan Princess (1994)

increasingly love this little movie

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

now THIS is how you use your medium to maximum effect! just breathtaking and awe-inducing animation here. a fantastic ride.

top 100

Noah (2014)

so weird! love it.

Toy Story (1995)

a classic peppered with incredible one-liners. thrilled the kids dig it.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

any movie featuring a live ska band in the diagesis gets an immediate 10/10 trombones from me

About Time (2013)

what is there to say about this? it’s perfect. an incredible example of a movie that starts off with you thinking it’s going to be one thing and then quietly leads you along until all of a sudden you’re hit with a shocking emotional gut punch, wondering how this silly time travel rom-com ended up teaching you something profound and beautiful about love and mortality and grief

incredible film.

top 100

“Wuthering Heights” (2026)

BIG DUMB [non-derogatory] FUN

honestly wish it had gone even farther in its melodrama and angst and over-the-top aesthetics but had fun as is—the movie is [insert professor bhaer from Little Women (2019) voice] uh not good but watching and reacting along with a sold out crowd was a DELIGHT

production and set designers (and margot’s costume designers) were deliciously unwell

Mulan (1998)

Lunar New Year Watch with the kids. a classic.

Red Cliff Parts One & Two (2008/2009)

adopted this Lunar New Year tradition from the great Chris Wei and it is so rewarding! Just a delight to revel in and luxuriate in John Woo’s epic in its fullest form (the original two part, 286min total version, 2hr 25min and 2hr 21min respectively), after filling ourselves with homemade dumplings and Chinese takeout.

we were joined this year by one of my brothers, and it was great to be able to introduce him to these. so much to love here—the slow mo, the birds, the trickery, the cleverness, tony leung, etc etc etc.

top 100

Train Dreams (2025)

an aesthetically beautiful film. lots to love here, particularly joel edgerton’s quiet, contemplative performance. there’s a malickian energy, which, unfortunately, mostly made me want to watch a hidden life or the thin red line instead. not that this film is thematically or narratively much like those, but there’s a cinematic similarity.

for whatever reason, this one didn’t quite hit for me, which is not to say that i think it’s bad or anything like that, just sits in that quite accomplished, good all around, but didn’t speak to me for unknown reasons.

yet, i’ll try to articulate some of what didn’t land—the voiceover felt too on the nose and not quite earned, the overall vibe was almost a bit too calm/meditative in a way that was perhaps a bit distanced from the emotions being portrayed, but no doubt a significant portion is tied to watching with my very awake, lively, playful not quite two-year-old, who definitely prevented me from quietly taking in what the movie had to offer.

Toy Story 2 (1999)

one of the all-time best sequels for sure

Eddie the Eagle (2015)

evidence that olympians are bonkers. has the same kind of plucky, absurd, committed to the bit british energy as perhaps my favorite story from the moth of all time. the movie probably could have leaned even more into this tbh

Miracle (2004)

peak sports movie

the least kurt russell could do for patricia clarkson after practically abandoning her to pursue olympic gold is be present at the goshdarn costume party