Linda Jo Martin

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Linda Book Lady’s January 2023 Reading Report & Diary

January 1, 2023 By Linda Jo Martin Leave a Comment

Happy New Year! What a great time for making new reading plans. I’ll be participating in a variety of bookish challenges in 2023 with strange names like “Historathon” and “Bookworms Take Shelfies” and “To Boldly Go.” Let’s keep reading fun and interesting! Be joyful! Be a bookworm.

Mother-Daughter Dance, by Linda Jo Martin

Word of the Month

Renewal

Bible Verses of the Month

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul…”
– Psalm 23:1-3

This month’s reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.

My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm

My reading list codes:
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
⇓ – I did not like it or finish it.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.


My January goals:

1. Reading – This is complicated. I’m doing a variety of book challenges.
2. Art – Daily sketchbook paintings using acrylic ink.

This video explains my many 2023 reading challenges!

Happy New Year, everyone!




⇗★ Nonfiction: How to Write Like a Writer, by Thomas C. Foster

I’m reading this for Netgalley and the publisher, and because I like to read books about writing.


⇗✓ Nonfiction: More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories, by Jen Maxfield

Riveting nonfiction by a journalist revisiting people involved in some of her most memorable news stories of the past 22 years. Finished reading on January 1. My review. ☆☆☆☆☆


⇗★ Christian Nonfiction: Braving the Thin Places: Celtic Wisdom to Create a Space for Grace, by Julianne Stanz

I’m adding this back into my reading plan.


⇗★ Christian Nonfiction: The Power of Praying For Your Adult Children, by Stormie Omartian

Adding this in at the end of the year. It will count toward my January goals.


✓ Classic Fiction: Middlemarch, by George Eliot

This is a thick classic novel! I’m reading this with a friend! **Buddy Read** … Finished: January 26 – what an exciting book! Middlemarch is an English village c. 1829-1832 – with plenty of characters ranging from the goodhearted and charitable to the selfish and devious. Here’s my review. Five stars.


✓ Historical Fiction: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, by C.S. Forester

This is book 1 of an 11 book series. There’s a Booktube readathon for this series in 2023! This video is from Faith, who started this readathon. She’s doing it with another Booktuber, Richardson Reads. Finished: January 5 – a wonderful book! Here’s my review. – Four stars. I took one star off because of the violence.


★ Local Fiction: Life Along the Applegate Trail, by Linda Lochard

Local fiction – from Southern Oregon!


★ History: The Lost Continent of Mu, by James Churchward

This is novel research, and I’m reading it for Historathon 2023!

Here’s where I’m keeping notes on this book and my research on it: The Continent of Mu: history or fantasy?



A video from Vin, the founder of Historathon 2023:


☆ California History: Camp Far West: A Memoir of Early California, by Randolph H. Pirtle

I’m reading this for my 2023 California Reading & Writing Challenge.


✓ Juvenile Literature: Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is a re-read for me. Finished: January 31: An awesome children’s novel for the pioneer spirit in each of us. My review. Five stars.


✓ Memoir: The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir, by Dee Williams

Inspirational reading experience. Finished: January 10 – Loved the memoir… it was more about Dee and her life than a how-to manual for people wanting to build tiny homes… however, it is very inspirational in its own way. Here’s my review. Four stars. I knocked off a star because of TMI speech and bad language.


✓ Historical Fiction: The Indigo Girl, by Natasha Boyd

A teenager on a plantation in South Carolina. Nice audiobook, for bedtime… Finished: January 14 – What a great book! Loved this one. Here’s my review. Five stars.


✓ Adventure Fiction: Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne

I’m on a world cruise, vicariously speaking. Finished: January 21 – Happy to say I’ve read this now. Here’s my Review. 4 stars.


✓ Classic: Turn of the Screw, by Henry James

This is easier for me to understand with the audiobook version. Finished: January 19 – what a terrible, dreadful story, but the writer’s skill… My review. Five stars.


✓ YA Historical Fiction: Calico Captive, by Elizabeth George Speare

I read this on the spur of the moment – all in one day. Finished: January 18 – my review. Five stars.


✓ Christian Historical Fiction: A Perfect Weakness, by Jennifer A. Davids

Fast audio-read for nighttime entertainment. Good Christian message. Finished: January 22 – I appreciate the Christian message but thought the writing style and audiobook narration could have been better. My review. Three stars.






My January 2023 Reading Diary

January 1 – While most people are celebrating a new year, I’m remembering my father because this was his birthday. I finished an audio-read I’ve been listening to for NetGalley: More After the Break by Jen Maxfield. Great memoir by a broadcast reporter who revisits people she interviewed years before. Five stars. My review.

January 2 – Dear me, what’s all that white stuff? I could do without that. I’ve been enjoying the new books on my list: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Middlemarch, and The Lost Continent of Mu.

My Historathon TBR video published today. (Recorded last night.)

January 5 – I enjoyed reading the Horatio Hornblower novel, first in a series of eleven. Here’s my review. Four stars.

January 7 – I started my reread of Little House in the Big Woods today. The first chapter was about all the work the family did to store up food in the cabin for the winter months. So much work! But necessary… and the parents were trained for that, from childhood.

January 10 – Today I finished an audiobook memoir… The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir. Here’s my review. Four stars.

Oh my goodness… I’m reading a chapter in Little House in the Big Woods and I came across a list of fiddle music “Pa” played on Christmas Eve, and this was listed – “Money Musk” – I’d never heard of it before so I looked for it on YouTube. What a great antidote for depression of any kind!

January 13 – I subscribed to Pureflix in December to watch Christmas movies. Tonight I found a good western there: The Legend of Five-Mile Cave. Five stars.

January 14 – I finished listening to an audiobook… The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd. What a great book about a strong young woman in South Carolina history. Historical fiction based on the true story of Eliza Lucas. Here’s my review. Five stars.

New audiobook/Kindle immersion to read: Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne. A classic!

January 18 – I admit I’m reading too many books at one time now. I need to cut back. It is snowing here again and I’m cold. I wish my furnace would work more reliably. The electric heater isn’t enough. If I can’t stay warm I can’t get in the mood for reading. Today I read Calico Captive without meaning to, and couldn’t put it down. my review. Five stars.

January 19 – Oh my goodness – what a dreadful but clever story… The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. My review. Five stars.

January 21 – I did it.. I finally read Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne! Happy… Here’s my Review. 4 stars.

January 22 – Finished an audiobook I got free from Audible because I’m a subscriber there. Great Christian message, but there were some shortcomings in the delivery. My review. Three stars.

January 26 – I finished Middlemarch! Supposedly 830 pages give or take a few hundred, depending on the publisher. What an amazing novel! Full of wisdom! Here’s my review. Five stars.

Also, I started another classic novel, almost as thick: North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell.

January 28 – A new video! This is about the “Around the World in 80 Days Reading Challenge.”

January 29 – Another new video! Those of us participating in the Hornblower Readalong are making videos about it this weekend. I decided that mine would include a listing of all the nautical novels I could remember reading.

January 31 – Finished Little House in the Big Woods – awesome story. Read it! My review. Five stars.

Similar Posts:

  • Linda Book Lady’s November 2022 Reading Report & Diary
  • Linda Book Lady’s February 2023 Reading Report & Diary
  • Linda Book Lady’s May 2022 Reading Report & Diary
  • Linda Book Lady’s March 2022 Reading Report & Diary
  • Book Lady’s September 2019 Reading Report



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About Me

Hi, I'm Linda, the Book Lady, and I'm excited about reading. A book is a gift you give yourself. It is so much fun to open that cover and discover what was hidden within. Books share the wisdom of the ages with us. Who wouldn't want that? So I read frequently and encourage reading. If you're a reader, let me know by becoming my friend on GoodReads.


My novel, River Girl, is about a girl living in the Klamath River Valley.

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The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience
The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience
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Hillinger's California: Stories from All 58 Counties
Hillinger’s California: Stories from All 58 Counties
by Charles Hillinger





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RSS My Most Recent Book Reviews

  • Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1)
  • Middlemarch
  • Gulliver's Travels
  • A Perfect Weakness
  • Around the World in Eighty Days
  • The Turn of the Screw
  • Calico Captive
  • The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir
  • Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
  • More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories

RSS Goodreads Status Updates

  • Linda Martin is 29% done with North and South
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