Sarah Anne’s Bookshelf – January 2023


I had a lot of good fiction to read in January as I had held off on reading several during December while I read holiday books. I still got in a biography, a parenting book and a book on boundaries. It was fun to read a book about the Karate Kid movies and series. Here’s what I read in January:

Mila is a history student and a single mother when Germany invades Russia. She had gotten her marksmen badge so she could teach her son to shoot, but with that training, she feels the immediate call to join her country’s fight. Soon, she is one of the most feared Russian snipers with a tall getting close to 300 official kills. Her success has her put on the delegation visiting America for support where she becomes friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. Diamond Eye is a historical fiction novel based on a real Russian sniper. Diamond Eye is fascinating and I really enjoyed the journey the book took me on.

While this book was published in 2004, it has good reminders for today’s busy women, especially those married with children. A Woman’s Secret to a Balanced Life proposes there are seven main areas of life that women should pay attention to and put specific priorities in to have a balanced life.  The areas are faith, marriage, motherhood, hospitality, finances, friendships and community. I enjoyed the reminders in this book as a way to make sure I’m focusing on the right things in life.

Waxing On is a memoir by the main character of the Karate Kid series. While I enjoyed reading some trivia and details about the movies and filming that I didn’t know, the book really seems to be mostly a PR piece for his current series on Netflix, Cobra Kai. It’s s quick read and if you’re a Karate Kid fan, you’ll enjoy it. 

My daughter recommended The Westing Game to me and I enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery presented in the book. It’s a young adult read from 1978, but is enjoyable even today. Sixteen unlikely people get invited to live at Sunset Towers and then are all accused of murdering Sam Westing – well, one of them is – but they have to play a game to figure out who it is. The heir that figures it out wins the inheritance. I was on the right track, but didn’t guess the ending completely, which was nice.

The Lost Apothecary follows the story of three women. There’s Caroline in the present day who is enjoying an anniversary trip to London by herself after discovering her husband’s affair.  There’s Nella who is following in her mother’s footsteps by giving women herbal remedies, but also offering them for a dark cause as long as women aren’t harmed. Finally, there’s Eliza who is sent by her mistress to obtain a “cure” from Nella to kill her the mistress’ husband due to his wandering hands and more. Caroline finds a blue bottle with the mark of a bear and starts searching for the apothecary that owned it. It leads her to discovering the story of Nella and Eliza and helps her come to terms with her own marriage situation. It was an interesting read, but a bit slow and sometimes hard to follow with three points of view.

I heard this author on a parenting podcast and wanted to read through her book, Ready or Not. It’s main focus is trying to help parents get focused on the right things for their children. Life is not about grades or what college you go to, but about coping with life, anxiety, problems and people. It’s a good reminder if parents are focused on achievement with their children or want to find out why their children are so anxious about life. 

Meghann and Claire grew up with a mother who put her career before caring for her children. When it got to the point of neglect, Meghann tracked down Claire’s father and put her in his care. She was much older than Claire and as a teenager, she didn’t fit into the new family or the small town, so she left. Years later, their relationship is fragile at best, but when Claire gets engaged, Meghan reaches out to reconnect. It isn’t easy, but the timing helps as tragedy enters their world. I really enjoyed reading Between Sisters and seeing how the relationship between the girls unfolded.

After publishing a book on forgiveness, Lysa TerKeurst follows up the conversation about relationships with a book on boundaries. At this point, TerKeurst has gotten a divorce from her husband and is trying to spread the message of how women can love others without losing the best of who they are. Good Boundaries and Goodbyes is written from a Christian perspective and gives really good tips and scripts about how to set boundaries from a healthy standpoint. I would highly recommend this book to all women.

The Night Ship is a story of two children in two different places in time. Gil is living in present times, forced to live with his grandpa in a fishing village after his mother commits suicide. Their wandering lifestyle left a mark on him at just 9 years old. Then, he hears the legend of a ghost girl wandering the island from the shipwreck Batavia. Mayken is that girl who traveled on the ship to get to her father after her mother died. On the ship, she wanders in the “below world” and hears the tale of an eel who is wreaking havoc on the ship. Their stories are told back and forth as they both face a world that is often more cruel than kind.

Cameron Winters is trying to face his demons in A Strange Habit of Mind . A former student of his commits suicide and he tries to find out why. In the midst of his research, he discovers a very evil man hidden behind a philanthropist. He has to wrestle not only with what to do about the evil man, but also what to do about finding someone else with his own training working for the bad man. I don’t want to give anything away, but I really enjoyed the story and would highly recommend to mystery lovers.

Journey to the Silver Towers is the second book in the And Then They Found Dragons trilogy. It moves the story along, but I’m holding out judgment on the series until I read the third book. In this book, the children are back on planet Earth but find that they are affected by the dragon’s breath. The survivors find there are red and silver dragons. The read ones are worshipped and the silver ones are feared. Their mission still remains to kill all the dragons.


What have you read so far this year? Did you enjoy it? Share in the comments!



About Sarah Anne Carter

Sarah Anne Carter is a writer and reader. She grew up all over the world as a military brat and is now putting down roots with her family in Ohio. Family life keeps her busy, but any spare moment is spent reading, writing or thinking about plots for novels.