Reading Roundup: January 2021
- Caroline Marolda
- Feb 3, 2021
- 4 min read
Just like that, the first month of 2021 is over. If you read my previous blog post, you’ll know that my reading goal for this year is 25 books. I’m happy to report that I was able to make a little dent into that goal in January! This past month’s reading endeavors began as a continuation of getting through holiday romance novels, and I stuck to my usual stomping grounds of fiction but branched out into the historical side of the genre.
Here are quick summaries and my thoughts on the three books I read in January. But don’t worry, there are no spoilers here!
I began reading Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan in December but didn’t finish it in time to count it in my 2020 reading challenge. Although this book is part of the author’s “From Manhattan with Love” series, you don’t have to read the previous novels in the series to enjoy this one.
The story follows Harriet, a shy dog walker in New York City, as she works on breaking out of her comfort zone. By challenging herself to do something new and scary every day, she finds herself dog sitting for an attractive doctor named Ethan. But when the two start falling for each other within the confines of Ethan’s apartment, they realize just how much chemistry there is between them.
Harriet is a character I could easily relate to—she has always been shy, likes Gilmore Girls, and wants to do more things that make her leave her comfort zone. Plus, the setting of New York City at Christmas certainly gives the book extra brownie points from me. I knew going into the book that it was going to be cheesy and have classic holiday romance stereotypes in it, and Morgan doesn’t disappoint in that retrospect. With that being said, Moonlight Over Manhattan isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it is a fun, quick read that’s nice for Christmastime.
I finally got my hands on a copy of this new Christina Lauren book from my local library in early January. I really enjoyed The Unhoneymooners and Twice in a Blue Moon, so I had a feeling that I would enjoy their newest novel, too.
Every year for as long as she can remember, Mae and her family have spent a week at a cabin in Utah with their close family friends during the holidays. When a sudden car crash happens while her family is heading home, Mae asks the universe to show her what will make her happy. But once Mae wakes up on a plane and discovers it’s the week before Christmas, she needs to figure out how to escape the time loop and reevaluate her feelings toward lifelong friends along the way.
In a Holidaze is an easy, satisfying read. Mixing Mae’s Groundhog Day experience with the magic of Christmas was fun and I enjoyed reading through the traditions shared between the families at the cabin. Even though one of the main focuses of the book is Mae and Andrew’s interactions, I wish there had been more Mae and Theo content because it was often iterated that the two of them were close in the previous years their families were at the cabin. Nonetheless, watching how Andrew loves Mae was heartwarming and is one of the reasons why I couldn’t put In a Holidaze down. I highly recommend this fun holiday read!
When I read the synopsis for Three Martini Lunch and learned that the book is set in 1950s New York City and focuses on characters trying to make it in the publishing world, I immediately added it to my TBR list. Just knowing that there was a female character aspiring to be a book editor in NYC (a.k.a. my dream) was enough of a selling point for me.
Three Martini Lunch alternates between three perspectives, with each character having a relationship to publishing. Cliff is trying to prove to his father, an editor at a major publisher, that he has what it takes to write the next great American novel. Eden wants to be an editor, but she faces challenges because of her religion. Miles travels to California to retrieve his late father’s wartime journal and ends up exploring his sexuality during the McCarthy era. For better or for worse, the characters’ paths cross in various ways in Greenwich Village.
I enjoyed Eden and Miles’ perspectives the most; their journeys were more engaging than Cliff’s. I felt that Cliff had an entitled personality within the first chapter, so I figured that he’d go through major character development by the last page. However, I still disliked Cliff in the end because his actions kept making it impossible for me to root for him. I don’t remember ever disliking a book character so strongly, but I consider that a testament to Rindell being a talented writer. Don’t get me wrong, Eden and Miles also had their fair share of flaws—but they had better intentions and were more relatable. The book is lengthy (a whopping 500 pages) for the story it tells, but it’s also immersive. The 1950’s Greenwich Village backdrop draws you in as you meet the characters and their lives entwine. Overall, Three Martini Lunch is an enticing look at the world of book publishing.
Three books down, 22 more to go until I reach my goal for 2021! I have some exciting reads picked out for February that I’m excited to dive into and eventually share my thoughts on. What books did you read in January?
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