February is a brief month that lingers. The days are short on sunlight and long on emotion. The newness of resolutions fades far more quickly than the piles of snow growing in the streets. Valentine's Day doesn't help matters, breeding dread in much of the population and causing emotions to run riot — despair, fear, love, and some unholy combination of all three.

The titles below are novels that embody February. Some are turbulent and choppy, while others are beautifully lyrical; some bleed hard truths, and some are easy reads. All of them are short and brimming with emotion.