January Reads

 

This will technically be "books" of the month - I decided to share my reads with you at the end of each month. This will be a way to recommend great books (or tell you what I think you should avoid) and I'll be able to look back at all I've read in the year! 

I made a goal for myself for 2023 to read thirty-five books and I made a pretty great starting effort for the month of January! I read a nice variety of books and enjoyed them all quite a bit!

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Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of The Crown

 - Written by Anne Glenconner

"Discover untold secrets with this extraordinary memoir of drama and tragedy by Anne Glenconner - a close member of the royal circle and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret."

This book offered an inside look at the life of a member of British nobility that served as a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and lived life between the United Kingdom and the island of Mustique (yes - she and her husband are the couple Margaret visits on Mustique - they own the island). The inside look was quite fascinating and the lifestyle her family had was almost; at times, beyond belief. It must be nice to be landed gentry in the UK, ha-ha!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

A Flicker in the Dark

- Written by Stacy Willingham

"When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the Summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and her and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath."

I really enjoyed this book; it was good to get back into reading a nice thriller and this one delivered. I will say that I saw the twist coming, even with the misdirection that the writer offered. I still absolutely enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bringing Down the Duke

- Written by Evie Dunmore 

"England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain’s politics at the Queen’s command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can’t deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn’t be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn’t claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring…or could he?

Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke…."

I confess I started this book back in late October/early November and couldn't quite get into it! However after picking it up this month, I sped through it over the course of a weekend! It was a fun and saucy romance and I was swept up in it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Night Swim

 - Written by Megan Goldin

"A true crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town's dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before."

This book was hands down the best read of January! The twist and turns in the book were unexpected and the plot just kept building on itself; it was hard to put this one down! It had a great conclusion and I can see why it has made so many "best of" lists - it's an excellent read!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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I am currently in the process of reading two books! I started The Night Train to Berlin (written by Melanie Hudson) and my women's Bible study group is slowly but surely making our way through Good Boundaries and Goodbyes (written by Lysa TerKeurst).

So - I'm well on my way to knocking out six of my thirty-five books and I can't wait to keep sharing my monthly reads with you!