Michelle's Musings: November 2022

30 November 2022

2023 Read with Michelle Reading Challenge

Good day to you,

I hope you are doing fantastic today! We are getting so close to the start of 2023. I realized today that I needed to get on my yearly reading challenge and so here it is for you.

Remember that I never want you to look at anyone's reading habits/achievements but your own!! You own your reading life. It is never about the number you read, or the genre you choose unless you wish for it to be that way. If you read one book a year, or 200, you are a success in your reading life!!

I release a challenge for fun. If you want to use it to motivate you, please do so. If you want to use it to inspire yourself, please, I would be honored if you did so. If you wish to bypass this post, then I support you in that too. My goal is for you to be a happy reader!!! I think you are a successful reader and I just want you to be happy!!!

I hope I do inspire you to get out of any box you feel you are in, and I encourage you to inspire me too!!! I would love to hear how your reading life is going, and new books that you love and I would love to hear about any books you think I MUST read.

I look forward to reading with you in 2023, thank you for your support.

27 November 2022

End of year book checklist-2022

I 100% admit that I am a stat lover when it comes to books. I keep them in many different forms, and an end-of-year checklist gets folded up inside my book journal every single year. For the last few years, I have been making a digital one that I have been sharing with others. My friend, Kristen was talking to me earlier in the year about using Canva for everything and I realized that she was correct, Canva would be a perfect way to showcase my book stuff...including my 2022 stats.

I have attached a copy here if you would like to print it off and use it with your end-of-year lists.

Here is the link if you would rather download a pdf (this link will disappear when the 2023 end-of-year list is published.

25 November 2022

Review: I'm Glad My Mom Died

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries

Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries by Tonya Kappes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs

Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs by John Bloom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Review: The Manhattan Girls

The Manhattan Girls by Gill Paul
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Review: Betty Ford: First Lady, Women's Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer

Betty Ford: First Lady, Women's Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer by Lisa McCubbin Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Review: Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder

Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder by William Shatner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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December book pick

When I was a high schooler, I did enjoy the required reading of The Scarlett Letter. I have probably read it 10 or 15 times over the last 35 years. This book attracted me because of the cover, and then I found out it was about the inspiration behind the telling of The Scarlett Letter.

Isobel married for what she thought was love, to a man she thought she would love forever. He was going to provide everything she needed and he dabbled in medicine. Isobel was a brilliant seamstress, almost witch-like with the needle she was which was fitting as she was descended from witches.

I won't tell you how she and her husband arrived in Salem, but they did. They lived in a little cottage in a town that once murdered "witches". Here is where Isobel meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and the sparks fly, the townspeople mention witchcraft and a book is born.

That's it, I will tell you no more.....just read this, it is a scandalous tale in so many ways, and beautifully written. The cover is equally attractive....look at this gorgeous thing!!

November Book Pick

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Gill Paul. I think I have loved every book she has written. My favorite is still the one about Wallis Simpson and Diana Spencer, The Other Woman's Husband, but I think this one might be my second favorite. I simply love to read about this time period, the Jazz Age. This book is about four women, three of which are writers, and one is an actress, that forges a deep friendship over a game of bridge.

They each have different experiences with romance and careers, but their lives still intertwine at every intersection and with every relationship. Three of the women have their lives more together than Dorothy Parker does, and they seem to always be there to help her in the latest crisis. Dorothy is pretty much all about sex, booze, and jazz, and every once in a while she puts together some brilliant writing.

I could not help thinking the whole time I was reading this, if Dorothy really lived this hard, I just can't imagine how she ever wrote a thing.

Oh, one more thing, one of the girls in this novel, in real life co-founded The New Yorker. I found that fascinating. ENJOY!!

Live Long and...What I Learned Along the Way by William Shatner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a typical Bill Shatner book. I enjoyed it because I adore Bill. If you are not a Shatner fan, you probably aren't going to like this one. Bill will tell you how he manages life and how to not sweat some of the small stuff.

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