Review: Satisfying Stitches: Learn Simple Embroidery Techniques and Embrace the Joys of Stitching by Hand

Satisfying Stitches: Learn Simple Embroidery Techniques and Embrace the Joys of Stitching by Hand by Hope Brasfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While I am an intermediate stitcher and not a beginner, I enjoyed the photos and descriptions that showed me how to do things. I think this book is perfect for a beginner and can challenge even the advanced. An advanced stitcher can skim over the instructions on how to knot and go right to the patterns. The patterns were fun and exciting and Hope teaches you how to transfer these fun designs to your material. Hope even shows us how to do some stitches, many I did not know, and was thankful for the step-by-step photos.

View all my reviews

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.  

************************************************************************************

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.  

************************************************************************************

Review: The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre

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



View all my reviews

Review: The Secret Society of Salzburg

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



View all my reviews

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



View all my reviews