What I Read: My January 2023 Reading List
The first month end of 2023 is here, and so is my first time sharing what I read! Today on the blog, I’m sharing my January 2023 reading list with yall.
My 2023 Reading Goal
My goal for 2023 is to read 52 books. It started out as 50, but then I found a group on Reddit called the 52 Book Challenge (linked here). I love the idea of having a group of people around the world to do this with and chat with online! Communities are forever fun for me. Soooo … out with the 50 book goal, and in with the high aims for 52! How much harder can that be, anyways? (I’m kidding – I know that is a ton of books.)
This Month: A Quick Recap
This month, I read five books, which, for me, is honestly pretty good! I stuck around the thriller, mystery, and romcom genres this month and was not disappointed. Though I would say thrillers / mystery reads tend to be my “go to genres,” I sometimes have to throw something a little lighter into the mix to be able to sleep at night. It’s called *~balance~*.
Three of these five have been available in hardback as early releases with Book of the Month, so I wanted to go ahead and drop a link here in case getting books published early and at a discounted price is something you’re interested in! Using my link (here) gets you your first book at a discount, and you can cancel any time.
I’m sharing this month’s reads below, but also am creating a little guide to my favorite reads this quarter at some point for yall to follow along and see my thoughts in a quick, easy manner! More to come on that 😉
If you want to see more reads I’ve recommended (or check out Ashley’s corner), click here.
My January 2023 Reads and Reviews
1 - Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeny
This book was a great way to start the new year. I dove into it on my Kindle and finished it in just a little over a day. Though I did not love the last Alicia Feeney book I had read (Daisy Darker), this one is a MUST. I even caught onto one of the big twists pretty early on and still ended the book feeling absolutely blown away.
Throughout the chapters, we join Mr. and Mrs. Wright on a weekend getaway to Scotland, and get wrapped up in an unhappy marriage, a face blind husband, and a reclusive author that gave him his debut as a screenwriter. It’s thrilling enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, but not so much that you won’t be able to sleep at night (important). I thoroughly recommend it.
Order it from Amazon.
2 - Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Let me be absolutely up front about this book: I went into it with desperately high expectations. Emily Henry is by far my favorite rom com writer, so when I was told that Abby Jimenez writes similarly, I was pumped. While I quite enjoyed this book and will 100% read more of Jimenez’s work in the future, I wouldn’t quite put this particular one at the same level as Henry.
That SAID – the main character in this book had a best friend named Bri. She was the best (and funniest) character in this book by far. Why is this good news? She is getting her own book coming this spring! That alone makes this book worth it. I have very high hopes it’ll be laugh-out-loud hilarious!
Part of Your World is a great rom com about two different worlds colliding and the characters having to decide which is more important: the lives they’re currently living, or the love they have for each other. It’s a quick read with some great life lessons about not judging a book by its cover 😉
Order it from Amazon or from Target (most Targets have same day drive-up pickup if you go this route)!
3 - All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
Her baby was kidnapped in the middle of the night, and she hasn’t slept since. This book is Stacy Willingham’s second, and I think I loved it just as much, if not more, than her first one. I am beyond amazed someone can go from never being published to having two absolute must-reads hit the shelves less than a year apart.
My favorite part about this particular read was how much sense it made. Nothing was overdone or fabricated. While all books have that certain “could that happen?” factor to them, this one really hit me as one filled with completely feasible events. If you’re a thriller lover, add this book and her other one – A Flicker in the Dark – to your TBR list!
This book just came out this month, but I was able to get a copy early through Book of the Month!
Order it from Amazon.
4 - What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
Naomi Shaw almost died at age 11 when she was stabbed 17 times and left for dead in the middle of the woods. Thanks to a local hero, she lived, and a notorious mass murder was sentenced to life without parole. The book begins when she gets the call that he has died … and that is about the only thing you know for sure until the very end.
Let me go ahead and say that this book surprised me. I started reading it and planned to DNF. From there, I read another book and then circled back. The first 100 or so pages of this one are slow, but from that point on you won’t be able to put it down. I honestly would be so down for a sequel!
This is Kate Alice Marshall’s first adult book, and I think she did a fabulous job.
Get it on Amazon.
5 - It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
After being arrested for a little too much partying, Piper’s stepfather decides to put his foot down. He cuts her off and sends her to a small fishing village in Westport, Washington to run her late father’s dive bar for the summer. There she meets Brendan, a bearded sea captain who makes it very clear he thinks she needs to pack up and leave … at least at first.
This book threw me for a loop! I laughed, I cried … I absolutely LOVED the characters. It did start out with a very Schitt’s Creek-esque vibe, but I thought this ended with quite a bit more spice. I decided to read this book “Bookstagram blogger style” with lots of tabs and annotations, so be on the lookout for my review of how that went (hint: I honestly may do it again)! My next read will be the sequel to this book (about Piper’s sister, Hannah) called Hook, Line, and Sinker.
Get It Happened One Summer on Amazon.
My January 2023 Reading List: Reads and Reviews
