What I’ve Been Reading: January 2023

Hello!

Well, I decided to use this A to Z Reading Challenge to guide my reading this year. So far, I’m just reading what I want and marking the letter. Eventually, as it fills up, I guess I will have to be a bit more specific with what I read.

This month I read three books which tends to be my average most months.

{As always, book summaries are from Goodreads…}

Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories

Summary:

An instant New York Times bestseller from Kelly Ripa–a sharp, funny, and honest collection of real-life stories showing the many dimensions and crackling wit of the beloved daytime talk show host.

In Live Wire, her first book, Kelly shows what really makes her tick. As a professional, as a wife, as a daughter and as a mother, she brings a hard-earned wisdom and an eye for the absurdity of life to every minute of every day. It is her relatability in all of these roles that has earned her fans worldwide and millions of followers on social media. Whether recounting how she and Mark really met, the level of chauvinism she experienced on set, how Jersey Pride follows her wherever she goes, and many, many moments of utter mortification (whence she proves that you cannot, in fact, die of embarrassment) Kelly always tells it like it is. Ms. Ripa takes no prisoners.

Surprising, at times savage, a little shameless and always with humor… Live Wire shows Kelly as she really is offscreen–a very wise woman who has something to say.

Quick Thoughts:

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this book…and I had to remind myself that this wasn’t a memoir of Kelly’s entire life, but really what the subtitle says: long-winded short stories. For example, there was no mention of the Michael Strahan years, which I was curious about.

I have fond memories of watching Regis and Kelly. I actually remember in college watching the day that she was a guest host and the psychic said she was pregnant. Of course, I was disappointed that Kelly and Regis weren’t as close as they seemed on tv. That being said, that might have been more of Regis (and his ego’s) doing…than Kelly.

Even sharing that she and Mark don’t have a perfect marriage which I kind of thought they did was interesting to me.

I think my favorite chapters were the ones where she sent her kids off to college. While I have a few years until that happens, it’s something that I think most moms can connect with…just giving your kids “wings to fly.”

If you like Kelly or the show, I’d say this is an interesting read. I used Christmas money to buy it, and my suggestion would be to borrow it from a friend or from the library.

Rating:

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️1/2

The It Girl

Summary:

April Coutts-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.

Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the second, April was dead.

Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide… including a murder.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of One by One returns with an unputdownable mystery following a woman on the search for answers a decade after her friend’s murder.

Quick Thoughts:

I started reading this book on my Kindle in November. I had read about 30% of the book when it had to be returned. So, once it became available in January, of course I wanted to finish it.

I’ve read a few books by Ruth Ware, and this one was just as good as the others. I enjoyed the characters, the flashbacks, and the pieces of the puzzle. With about 100 pages left, I thought I knew how it was going to end, but I was wrong…which actually makes it a better book.

Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Summary:

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Quick Thoughts:

I could not have loved this book more. I instantly loved both Tova and Marcellus. This book will tug at your heart-strings and lift you up. It’s hard to imagine loving a book about an octopus, but he had such a sweet connection to Tova and their stories were woven together so beautifully. There were other characters and subplots as well.

I bet this will be one of my favorite books of 2023.

Rating:

My first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️book of 2023.

How many books do you hope to read in 2023? My goal is 40.

I hope your week is off to a great start.