First Read with Michelle book pick of 2023

If you are returning to my book pick list, thank you for coming back.  If you are new to Read with Michelle, thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some inspiration.  Whichever category that you belong to, please be sure to return to my Facebook page and share your thoughts on this book, or any book for that matter, sharing is caring!!! Near the last day of every month, I would love it if you would share all your books that you read that month, whether it is one book or twelve, please just share your love of books!!! 

 

*If you are looking for a way to sum up your 2022 reading life, I have created a list here.  I find it fun to rate the books I have read in a top ten list and other random facts. I have been making top ten lists since 1996 and it is fun to look back on some of these books and smile at the memory or wonder why did I choose that one? 

*If you are looking for a challenge in 2023, here is my reading challenge. I encourage you to be creative with the prompts and remember to read what you like.  If you don't like a category, change it!!! 

*Follow me on Goodreads if you want to learn about books that are soon to be published, I read a lot of fiction books before they hit your shelves and many of them will end up as a monthly book pick before the year is over.  

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Now for January's book pick.  I was looking for something fresh and different and NOT a World War II book.  What I found was a book about a future First Lady that I found unique and worthy of a share.  

Imagine reading about an icon before she was a household name? We all know her name, Jackie Kennedy, but do we know how she became "Jackie Kennedy"? 

  Jacqueline Bouvier wasn't sure what she wanted to do outside of spending a year in Paris.  Somehow she convinced her mother to let her go to school in Paris for her junior year of college.   It would be a year that Jackie would experience freedom from her home life and what was expected and she could just be Jackie.  While she is discovering her path, she is traveling through a countryside that still felt the sting of WWII.  You will see the characters weave in and out of areas still feeling the destruction from the Occupation and see the strength of Parisians during the rebuilding.  I couldn't just quit the WWII books that easily :). 

It was nice to see a Jackie that I didn't know, a carefree young woman discovering who she wants to be and experiencing love with Paris as a backdrop.  

Thanks again for stopping by, I hope you will enjoy this year's monthly books. There are many on this year's that are simply spectacular!!! I will try to publish the next pick around the 20th of each month, just in case you want to read the book during that month, but feel free to skip around, mix it up, and do your own thing.  Come back and share what you thought on the blog or the Facebook page, Read with Michelle.  

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How to keep a book journal

I should probably change the title of this, I was going to, but I thought, "no, this is how I got to my journal, so it is my story."  As in life, my story may not work for you and that is fine.  Whatever system (that is if you even want a system) you choose is what is best for you.  I just want to give you advice....you don't have to stick with the system you choose.  I started my book journal in 1996, and it has evolved drastically.  As a matter of a fact, I am about to have a new stamp made because I have decided to change it up one more time.  

In 1995, I bought a book at the US Post Office store in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I paid way too much for the book, especially since I didn't journal, but it was adorable and I wanted to do something with this adorable book.  I needed to do something special because I am telling you, it was not a cheap book. 

I used this book for a few years until I decided to keep more stats and then I added more information.  I found a book stat chart on the internet and made a similar one in Excel.  I realized quickly that you can do lots with Excel and I started a journal there, I still kept up my paper one, but this one had numbers. I don't even like numbers, but I loved this part.

My Excel sheet

After adding formulas to count my books for me and a few other columns of stats, I edited my paper journal chart once more and decided that I couldn't print off my Excel journal anymore. I wanted a journal similar to where I started, a journal in an already bound book.  This is when I developed my stamp.   I ordered it from rubberstamps.net (they have made a lot of custom stamps for me, they are quick and very good).  

Here is that first book, a very expensive (like $25) pet stamp journal book

The insides of the pet stamp journal

The pet stamp journal book took me to 2013 to fill because I wasn't keeping much information on my books at that time.

These are inserts I clipped to other journal books of the first chart that was created in Excel

2014-2021 stamp

This last one is the new stamp that I just created.  I was hoping for a simple layout that tracked the DNF books and was in the order of Goodreads as far as the information.   The empty box next to Borrowed is where I will write the library or person's name that loaned me the book, I did add a heading because it was too cluttered. I was going to put "source", but I had little room to write.  

I would love to see what you fellow readers do to track your books, please share.