I am so excited to be back sharing my monthly reading wrap-ups with you! Remember you can always see past reviews here. I talked a little bit about my reading goals last week on the blog, but in case you missed it, I always like to read just a little more than the year before. This year that means 52 books in 52 weeks and I am really looking forward to all the books ahead. 

This month I read a total of 5 books and they really started off 2023 strong. 

What I Read in January 2023

Meet Me at the Lake: Getting to read this book first thing in the new year was an absolute treat. This book comes out in May and you better pre-order it! If you loved her last book then this one will not disappoint. By the end of this book, you will fall in love with the characters. This book has loss, a lakeside setting that you feel like you are at, and a love story worth the nine-year wait.  

Careering: I don’t like writing negative reviews because I am a firm believer that while a book may not be my favorite it could be someone else’s. This book is said to take a “hard look at the often toxic relationship working women have with their dream jobs.” and it definitely does that. I just couldn’t connect with this book for some reason but if that blurb sounds interesting maybe check this one out! 

A Hundred Other Girls: A book that sat in my TBR pile for way too long. This book is such a fun read, think of a retelling of The Devil Wears Prada, except in the early 2000s during the decline of print magazines. You will fall in love, be frustrated alongside, and at the main character Noora as she navigates her first “dream job” which turns out to not quite be such a dream. 

Atomic Habits: I have to admit I saw this book mentioned so many times that I just needed to know what all the hype was about. If you struggle with creating habits that stick, want to spend time focusing on your habits/routines, or you feel unmotivated this could be a good book to read. None of the information was especially groundbreaking but I think that’s just because there have been a lot of similar books since this one has been published (all building on the same concepts). My favorite part was the chapter summaries. For a book like this, having actionable bullet points to come back to makes it that much easier to actually implement. 

The Villa: It has been too long since I’ve read a thriller that I LOVED. I keep saying if Daisy Jones & The Six had a baby with Verity this would be their book. Emily & Chess are longtime best friends who haven’t been as close, lately. So when Chess invites Emily for a summer away in an Italian Villa she jumps at the chance, even if it has a haunted past. This book jumps between the present-day storyline and the 1970s where we learn what happened in The Villa that led to a very famous murder. Oh and if you read this book and want to learn more about why Mary Shelley inspired so much of this book, read this!