Welcome to my January 2024 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. I had a few 5 star reads this month that I am excited to share. There are still a few days left this month so it is possible I will have more 5 star reads. In that case, I will share them next week. You can see the first half of my January reading here and I will share the rest next week. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: Last Call At The Local
Author: Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 1/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Sarah Grunder Ruiz’s last two books and although this one has different vibes, I loved it as well. Last Call At The Local is about Raine, a traveling musician who has ADHD and finds it hard to stay in one place for long, and Jack, who is running a pub in Ireland and has OCD. His intrusive thoughts make it hard for him to revamp the pub so he asks Raine to help. While the two fall for each other, Raine’s desire to travel and Jack’s preference for things to stay the same make it hard for them to be together.
“Raine Hart is used to the challenges of living with ADHD. It’s why she ditched her life in Boston to busk around Europe as a traveling musician. No boss. No schedule. No one to disappoint but herself. But when a careless mistake in Ireland leaves her unable to perform, she sees no other option but to give up her nomadic life. Since inheriting the Local, Jack Dunne has wanted to make the pub his own. But the baggage of running a family business and the intrusive thoughts that stem from his OCD make changing things a challenge. Over a pint with handsome, tattooed Jack, Raine accidentally insults him and the pub. Instead of taking offense, Jack, impressed by her vision of what the pub could be, offers her a job bringing it to life. But when Raine and Jack develop feelings for one another their opposite lifestyles won’t accommodate, it becomes clear the pub isn’t the only thing that needs reinventing. As the end of their business collaboration draws near, they’ll have to find a way past the limits they’ve placed on themselves or let go of a love that could last a lifetime.”
The themes in this one were darker than the previous two books but I liked how Raine and Jack supported each other, and though I thought the ending was a bit rushed, I still loved the story.
Title: Dungeons and Drama
Author: Kristy Boyce
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 1/9/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This YA romance was a surprise delight and I really enjoyed it. Riley gets in trouble for taking her mom’s car and driving without a license to see a show. Her punishment is working at her father’s game store, where she accidentally tells her ex that she’s dating her coworker Nathan. She convinces Nathan to fake date her in order to make his crush jealous. Meanwhile, Riley is also trying to reinstate the spring musical at school without her parents finding out.
“Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop. Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous. But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…”
I thought this was a sweet book with fun side characters. I know nothing about Dungeons and Dragons but this book made me want to – like Check and Mate did for chess!
Title: Family Family
Author: Laurie Frankel
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co, 1/23/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Family Family by Laurie Frankel was an amazing piece of writing on what makes a family. India is an actress who makes a statement saying adoption is not always a painful or regretful thing. She knows because she adopted her 10 year old twins, Jack and Fig. However, their story is just the start. We get to know India over time, beginning in high school and moving through college into adulthood.
“India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor. Armed with a stack of index cards (for research/line memorization/make-shift confetti), she goes from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero. Her new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy. India is an adoptive mom in real life though. She wants everyone to know there’s more to her family than pain and regret. So she does something you should never do ― she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie. Soon she’s at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. Her twin ten-year-olds know they need help – and who better to call than family? But that’s where it gets really messy because India’s not just an adoptive mother…The one thing she knows for sure is what makes a family isn’t blood. And it isn’t love. No matter how they’re formed, the truth about family is this: it’s complicated.”
This takes place in 2021, and wearing masks is mentioned. Laurie Frankel writes parents so well. There are surprises that pop up throughout this one and I loved reading them all!
Title: Only If You’re Lucky
Author: Stacy Willingham
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Minotaur, 1/16/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Stacy Willingham’s last two thrillers and even though this one has a different concept behind it, I loved it as well. Set on the campus of Rutledge College, Margot has finished freshman year when Lucy, a popular girl, invites her to move into a house next to a fraternity. Margot is dealing with the death of her best friend Eliza and is desperate for good friends. In the present, someone has died and Lucy has gone missing.
“Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no―something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered… and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.”
All the pieces of this puzzle are connected and the book examines who actually started their fall into place. This book includes obsession, alcohol and drug use, sexual assault, themes of hunting, and murder.
It’s pretty amazing that all 4 of these excellent books came out this month! Come back next week for the rest of my January reads!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?
