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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Review: The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre by Natasha Lester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Secret Society of Salzburg

The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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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.  

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.  

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!!

Review: Hester

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity

Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity by Bill O'Reilly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: The Paris Daughter

The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: Live Long and...What I Learned Along the Way

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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Review: Only the Beautiful

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century

Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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October book pick

 Good day to you all,

I am so excited to bring my October book to you, I read this book many months ago and found it thrilling!!!  Actually, today, September 20, is the publication day for this book! 

It is by Susan Ella MacNeal, the author of the Maggie Hope book series (if you have not read Maggie's books and like WWII fiction, check them out).  Susan Ella has written a stand-alone book this time around that kept me on my toes and had me constantly turning the corner and seeing a new surprise. 

The book starts out in a controversial way, the daughter, Veronica is caught up in some drama with a married man.  Mom, Violet, sees they have no choice but to relocate to California to start a new life in every way imaginable.  Once WWII breaks out, each of the women gets caught up in espionage involving the war effort.  

Here is my review on NetGalley....

I am going to tell you one thing that you must know, if you have not read one of Susan Ella MacNeal's novels, you must remedy that soon.  Every book that she writes is full of intrigue and moments where I go "NO, that can't happen!!".  

This book is NOT part of the Maggie Hope series, this one is about a mother and daughter who have to leave their life in New York for a new life in California.  Almost immediately they become entangled in a web of Nazi sympathizers and have to figure out a way to bring them down, and enter the spying.    

I was not happy I had to go to work because I would have loved to finish this book in one sitting.  This is perfect for an afternoon by the pool or an excellent road trip accompaniment.