Hello friends!! How are you? I’m back from an incredible mastermind trip to Santa Barbara, in addition to an Air Force event up in Phoenix. I’ll share more pics in Friday Faves but it was a wild weekend and now we’re back, and back into the usual routine. I’d love to hear how you’re doing and what you were up to!
For today’s post, I wanted to share a recap of my January books. I read 5 1/2 books last month (one was a DNF). I was back in a WWII historical fiction blitz, which continues to be one of my favorite genres. There are so many incredible historical fiction novels, but I tend to read a ton and then need a break from the heavy subject matter.
Here’s what I read in Jan!

January 2023 Book Recap
This was my first book of 2023 and I finished it within a few days. As much as I loved Book of Lost Names, I think this one was even more of a page turner. It has parallel storylines, following three main characters in the Champagne region of France in WWII, and present-day Olivia, who is brought to Paris on a mysterious trip with her 99-year-old grandmother. I had no idea how winemakers were involved in the Resistance, and that they would help with transporting information, ammunition, and hiding refugees until they could flee to safety. Some parts of the book were hard to read, as you can imagine, but the ending was so lovely and so well done. I definitely give it a 10/10, especially if you enjoy historical fiction.
From Amazon:
At the dawn of the Second World War, Inès is the young wife of Michel, owner of the House of Chauveau, a small champagne winery nestled among rolling vineyards near Reims, France. Marrying into a storied champagne empire was supposed to be a dream come true, but Inès feels increasingly isolated, purposely left out of the business by her husband; his chef de cave, Theo; and Theo’s wife, Sarah.
But these disappointments pale in comparison to the increasing danger from German forces pouring across the border. At first, it’s merely the Nazi weinführer coming to demand the choicest champagne for Hitler’s cronies, but soon, there are rumors of Jewish townspeople being rounded up and sent east to an unspeakable fate. The war is on their doorstep, and no one in Inès’s life is safe – least of all Sarah, whose father is Jewish, or Michel, who has recklessly begun hiding munitions for the Résistance in the champagne caves. Inès realizes she has to do something to help.
Sarah feels as lost as Inès does, but she doesn’t have much else in common with Michel’s young wife. Inès seems to have it made, not least of all because as a Catholic, she’s “safe.” Sarah, on the other hand, is terrified about the fate of her parents – and about her own future as the Germans begin to rid the Champagne region of Jews. When Sarah