Today I’m sharing what I read in January of 2023. I’m reading so much more, and it’s one goal I have been very consistent about this year. And Im pretty darn excited about it! I’ll warn you, though. My selections are a real mixed bag and all over the place when it comes to genre. Haha! I have a lot of interests and curiosity; what can I say?
What I Read in January 2023
(1) Spare(2) Beach Home Beginnings: Romantic Women’s Fiction (Cliffside Point, 1)(3) Sea View Cottage: Romantic Women’s Fiction (Cliffside Point, 2)(4) Sugar Beach Sunsets: Romantic Women’s Fiction (Cliffside Point, 3)(5) No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful(6) Dear Dana: That time I went crazy and wrote all 580 of my Facebook friends a handwritten letter(7) Beyond Blessed: God’s Perfect Plan to Overcome All Financial Stress(8) One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are(9) Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life
Harry needed therapy after losing his mother, and I can only hope the decisions he’s made in his life after the fact will serve him well, although I’m a little pessimistic about it. I’m honestly afraid he has burned too many bridges, and I hope regret will not be an emotion he has to live with down the road. In any case, it was a good read. I feel weird offering my opinion on an autobiography, as clearly the person who writes it is offering the details of their life, but there it is. If you’re a Royal watcher, you will be glad you read it, but it’s not offering up any deep, dark secrets that haven’t already been discussed in the press before or by Harry and Meghan themselves.
(2)The funny thing about the book Beach Home Beginnings by Ellen Joy is that I got this book free on Kindle through my daily Kindle freebie email list. Guess what? I fell in love with all the characters and LOVED this book! It’s the best thing I read all month. And then to read to the end and discover it’s a whole series?? I’M HERE FOR IT!
This book centers around a middle-aged author who lost her husband five years previously and decided to go on a single’s cruise. She meets two other women, and in a strange twist of fate, they pretty much turn into a version of the Golden Girls! Add in a cottage on Martha’s Vinyard, finding romance with an old boyfriend, adult children, and their issues, and I promise this is such a fun, easy read. I loved it so much that I immediately downloaded the second book,(3) Sea View Cottage, AND the third, (4)Sugar Beach Sunset! You will fall in love with the characters and the setting.
(5) No Filter by Paulina Porizkova was a book I have wanted to read for ages, and I finally decided to purchase it. I’m sure many of you (if you’re around my “MTV-glory days’ era” age) remember Paulina Porizkova as the beautiful woman in The Car’s music video “Drive.” In this book, she details her early life as a model, meeting and marrying Ric Ocasek, and the aftermath of her separation and Ric’s death. At 57, Paulina is still gorgeous, I wasn’t sorry I read this book because I did learn some interesting things about her and her marriage. Like I mentioned above, I hate giving my opinion on something a person writes about their own life, but I did feel sorry for Paulina because, reading this as an adult woman, I could see so many red flags going up when it came to her marriage and work, etc. But she was very young when she made those choices, and don’t we all wish we would have done some things differently in hindsight? It was a good read.
(6) Dear Dana by Amy Weinland Daughters was probably the book I didn’t enjoy the most this month. I honestly thought this would be a light-hearted true story about a woman who wrote every person on her friend list on Facebook a handwritten letter. The author did this, but the book turned anything but light-hearted pretty fast, and I wasn’t expecting the book to be the way it was. This was due to the book synopsis given when I purchased the book in a Kindle deals email. It was very hard to slog through some parts, and there were a couple of times I wanted to abandon it, but I kept going. The book’s premise is wonderful, and the friendship established because of the letters is heart-warming, but it wasn’t what I expected. Please note that if you decide to read this, it deals with the death of a child. This is plainly stated on Amazon, but again, something I wasn’t aware of when I purchased it.
(7) Beyond Blessed by Robert Morris- I enjoy listening to Pastor Robert Morris’ podcast, so I decided to check out his book Beyond Blessed and wish I had waited to read it after his first book, The Blessed Life. I started the latter last year and just never finished it. But I finished this one, and I did enjoy it. I still have so much to learn about being a good steward of money and tithing, and this book explains all of this in an easy-to-understand way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about what the Bible says about money.
(8) One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp was another book I did not enjoy this month. I got this book for ten cents at a thrift store. I had heard nothing but rave reviews when it first came out years ago, but it was just one of those books I never got around to reading. While I can get behind the message of the book (that every day, gratitude should be found), and I was indeed inspired to start a gratitude journal, it was the super flowery writing in this book that I did not enjoy. It felt like word-stuffing on every page, and what the author had to say could have been said much more plainly with the same effect. I also slogged through this book, and I was left feeling a little disappointed when I finished.
(9) Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend was a book I started reading last November or December, if I recall correctly, and I just got around to finishing this month. It was a technical, long read, and some chapters didn’t apply to me, but it’s a solid book to have in your arsenal of people-skills books. I picked this book up because I sometimes have a hard time saying no to requests from others, I often “take on” and feel the problems of others very deeply, and I just found myself feeling very dissatisfied with some friendships that were no longer serving me well. Setting good boundaries in all kinds of relationships is a very good thing. It’s a skill I wish I had learned sooner in life.
I rarely read fiction books, so I was glad I stretched myself to include some fiction in this month’s book picks. I’ve also decided to permit myself to abandon a book if I’m not enjoying it. I want more time to read the books I do enjoy!
Did you read any great books this month? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
Hi Mandy! I really enjoyed your reviews and like you, even if I’m not really into the book, there’s that part of me that makes me have to finish it to to the end. I’m not a reader at all. I hate when someone hands me one and says, “You’ve GOT to read this, it is great!” Noooooo, thank you. I like think, light stuff when I think I should sit and read a real book, not Country Marketplace magazine. Anyway, your post inspires me to pick up a book of interest (for me it has to be ‘fluff’ ~ historical romances to be specific. I bought a couple recently while at ‘my’ thrift store so I am ready….sorta. Have a wonderful week! I plan on it too!
I got so off track with my reading. I hope to get back to it. I found the Ann Voskamp book to not be a favorite of mine. I like the idea of writing what you are grateful for, but the book left me a little less than as well.
You read quite a few books this month! Well done! I haven’t done a lot of reading lately. Should try to get back to that habit of reading.
I’ve heard a lot of chatter about Harry’s book, but haven’t read it or seen the documentary. I really like that show The Crown. Maybe one day soon the seasons will catch up with the present time and I can watch it there. Haha!!
Hello! Thank you for your reviews! I have not read Spare yet; as you said, I have already heard almost everything he writes about. I have followed the Royal Family forever and am saddened by their troubles. They are a family like any other family and will have drama like all families. Unfortunately, their drama plays out for the world to see. Great post!
I read one thousand gifts several years ago and felt the same as you. I don’t know if I’ll ever read Spare. I think Harry may have regrets. Maybe if I read it I’d feel different, but I feel like Megan is not a nice person and has swayed him. We’ll see.
I’m still trying to finish the book I started back in 2022. LOL Honestly though, I’ve always loved to read but have never been a fast reader. I have to allow time to actually get into the story, not just read words and race to the finish line. I used to read more when I was working than I do now that I’m not, oddly enough.
As, Spare. I used to like Harry. I used to love the show Suits but even then Megan Markle sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I was absolutely in love with them getting married, and LOVED their wedding. Then all their weirdness started and I pretty quickly got fed up with them. (Let’s be honest, fed up with her.) Maybe I’ll read this some day far down the road, but for now, nah.