📖On my bookshelf
January New Releases from my NetGalley shelf
Happy New Year!
I am feeling pretty accomplished reading-wise. I finished my first book of the year on new year’s day and it was absolute perfection. I think it set the tone that it’s going to be a fun year of exploring new books, opening myself up to trying new tropes and rediscovering the joy of discovery. (And, if you are wondering what it was I read, it’s on the list I’m sharing below.)
I was watching a documentary last night (I’ll share it with you as soon) and it was bemoaning the loss of discovering books while exploring bookshops. And while I do think it is a loss for us as book lovers, I think it brings to light the importance of word of mouth to spread the books we love.
We can keep the joy of discovery going by sharing out reading experience online.
To me, while reading books is a solo experience, talking about them is a community experience. I love sharing the books I’m excited about or the books I’ve read and loved in the hopes that you will be as excited as I am.
In the spirit of sharing, this year I thought I would share with you what’s on my NetGalley shelf each month.
By special request from
I’ll have a “how to start” guide on NetGalley coming out soon.
If you aren’t familiar with NetGalley, it’s own website describes it as a place that “…helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies to book advocates and industry professionals. Publishers make digital review copies and audiobooks available for the NetGalley community to discover, request, read, and review.”
I love to peek and see what other readers have on their shelf to read and I thought you might like a peek at mine!
Here’s a look at January releases on my shelf.
The Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware, née Greenfield, has just presented her younger daughter to the ton, and the rest of her life belongs only to herself. She returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there. But the summer has other plans for her.
Born a gentleman, Matthew Taylor has chosen to spend his life as the village carpenter. Growing up, he and Clarissa were close—dangerously so, considering his family’s modest fortune. As a young man, he never would have been a suitable match for the daughter of the wealthy Greenfields. Clarissa married Caleb Ware, the Earl of Stratton, so Matthew married another, though he was widowed soon after.
Now everything is different—Clarissa has already lived the life expected of her by society. And Matthew is as attractive and intriguing as he was when they were young. As their summer friendship deepens into romance, they stand together on the precipice of change—essentially the same man and woman they remember being back then, but with renewed passion and the potential to take their lives in an entirely new direction.
📖I’m currently reading this one. It’s really fun to read about a couple in their 50’s… which is feeling closer than I think it should for me. Yikes! 😯 Mary Balogh is one of my must-read historical romance authors.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes.
New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.
The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
A sexy, atmospheric mid-century novel about two Shakespearean actors in an unusual marriage during one summer that will drive them closer than ever or rip them apart for good.
Up-and-coming stage actress Margaret Shoard has just taken a bow as Lady Macbeth, the role she has always believed was destined for her. At home, she plays wife to her best friend Wesley, even if she doesn’t hold his sole attention romantically. After a public breakdown threatens all she holds dear, Margaret’s doctor prescribes her uppers—just a little help to get through the days.
When Wesley is invited by eccentric director Vaughn Kline to join the cast for an inaugural Shakespeare performance in the New Mexico desert, Margaret decides to accompany him in the hopes that time away from the city will set her back to rights . . . but the world she finds in Vaughn’s company is filled with obsession and betrayal. Margaret and Wesley, embroiled in an affair with a man who may not be all he seems, must find a way forward together before their story becomes the real tragedy.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
Trailblazer, superstar, activist, and spy: Alice Marble is a true American icon.
Alice strives to have it all.
At seventeen, Alice Marble has no formal tennis skills and no coach. What she does have is an ability to hit the ball as hard as she can and a strong desire to prove herself. With steadfast determination and one sacrifice after another, Alice plays her heart out on the courts of the rich and famous, at national tournaments, and—the greatest of them all—at Wimbledon, rising to be one of the top-ranked players in the world.
But then her world falls apart.
With the outbreak of war with Germany, Alice’s tennis career and life come to a screeching halt, and for the first time, she is forced to confront who she is without tennis. As she seeks to understand her new place in the world and how she can aid in the war efforts, a telegram arrives with devastating news from overseas. Heartbroken and lost, she feels like she can only watch as the war wreaks havoc in every area of her life.
Until an unexpected invitation arrives.
Alice is given the chance to fight back when the US Army sends her a request: Under the guise of playing in tennis exhibition games in Switzerland, she would be a spy for them. Alice aches for nothing more than to avenge what the war has taken from her and to prove herself against this new opponent. But what awaits her might be her greatest challenge yet.
From her start as a promising athlete with worn-out shoes to her status as a glamorous international star, Alice Marble’s determination to control her own life and destiny fuels a story of achievement, discipline, loss, and love.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
A swoony, steamy, STEM romance in which two curators at a science museum—a handsome but grumpy astronomer and an anxious but sunshine-y entomologist—realize they are the perfect match.
Millie has never taken the expected path. Her childhood love for bugs and science led her to entomology, and her role as a curator, inspiring museum visitors every day. It’s her dream to run her own department—so when a rare director position opens, she is determined nothing will distract her from her goal. Especially not Finn, her grumpy coworker with his permanent scowl, electric blue eyes, and endless supply of astronomy ties.
. . . Not that she’s spent time noticing any of those things.
Finn doesn’t mean to glare at everyone, but he’s juggling his role at the museum, navigating the grief of losing his sister, attempting to make his nieces smile, and trying not to ruin dinner for the fifth night in a row. He can’t afford to let anything slip, and certainly doesn’t need more to deal with—especially not Millie literally stumbling into him, with her bright smile and sunny optimism.
He bugs her. She’s too starry-eyed for him. They want nothing to do with each other. But with Finn on the interview committee, avoidance is impossible. And Millie soon realizes it’s one thing when a job is on the line. It’s quite another when it’s her heart.
📖I’ve finished this on and it is utter perfection! This one is already released, but the version I read was a special edition.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
Chinese herbalist Chryssy Hua Williams never actually believed in the Hua family curse. But after Break-Up #9, Chryssy stopped laughing. Now she and her aunties run a special healing retreat center for the broken-hearted. After all, there’s nothing a proper cup of herbal tea can’t fix...but Chryssy’s innocent run-in with celebrity cellist and bad boy Vin Chao has everyone brewing about a different kind of tea. So he offers her a deal: they’ll fake-date, he’ll “break” her heart (and increase ticket sales), and in return, he’ll promote her business.
It’s like Chryssy’s whole cursed love life has been leading up to this moment. But all it takes is one kiss—and a whole lot of unexpected chemistry—to land both of them in hot water . . .
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
After a case of mistaken identity and an almost one-night stand, two stranded wedding guests have to find their way to their final destination together, in this riotously fun debut romance.
Ada’s little sister is getting married. Which should be a happy thought, right? But the once close sisters have been in a year long fight, the wedding is all the way in Ireland, and Ada is so broke that she just barely managed to get a ticket on a budget airline. And as if things couldn’t get worse, said airline just cancelled her connection. Which means Ada is stuck in London with no way to make it to the wedding.
Surely she’s hit rock bottom?
So, there’s no reason for her not to spill her heart out about the over-the-top wedding, her sister’s worryingly quick engagement, and the womanizing best man she’s dreading meeting to a handsome also-stranded stranger at the bar. Until she realizes the stranger is headed to the same wedding. Oh, and he’s the infamous best man.
Now, Jack and Ada must put their simmering attraction behind them to make it to Belfast before they miss the nuptials. But between flat tires, missed trains, and suspect hostels, Jack and Ada start to question whether their feelings are worth going the distance, or just a distracting detour along the way.
Check it out Amazon or Bookshop.org
Do you seen any you plan on reading? I am excited for so many amazing releases this year, as well as discovering older releases as well.
Happy reading,
Melissa
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The NetGalley experience - been there, done that- used to be fun many years ago. Now, it's just another example of publishers trying to iutdo each other as cheaply as they can. I resigned from NetGalley years ago but they keep sending me "invitations" to return and refuse to close our my long dormant account.
Reviewing*used* to be fun. Now, and I've been doing it almost 15 years, it's exhausting so I still review what I want when I want with no expectations from anyone but myself
‘Give Me Butteflies’ sounds like a pretty book. Already added into my TBR! By the way, is it just me who feel like there are loads of book release on the 21st?