Rita Reads: January 2026 Roundup📚✨

👋 Hi friends,

Happy New Year! 🥳 I’m really looking forward to a year filled with exciting new book releases. My to-be-read list is already growing, and I can’t wait to dive in over the next few months.

This month, I’m reviewing three new reads, two of which are sure to appeal to my horse-loving friends.

Happy reading,

Historical Fiction

Tatiana de Rosnay was raised in Paris and Boston while her father taught at MIT. She later moved to England, earning a degree in English Literature from the University of East Anglia, before returning to Paris to become an editor at Vanity Fair. She is best known for Sarah’s Key, published in 2007, which sold more than 11 million copies worldwide.

I really enjoyed this novel about strong female friendships, the sweeping landscape of Reno, Nevada, a mustang rescue ranch, and a touch of Old Hollywood glamour. Blonde Dust is a heartfelt story about determination, identity, and finding your place in the world.

The novel unfolds across three timelines — the 1950s, 1960, and 2000 — allowing the reader to piece together the life of Pauline, the main character. Set in the American West, the story centers on an unexpected friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Pauline, an 18-year-old chambermaid working at the famous Mapes Hotel in Reno during the filming of The Misfits.

Pauline first meets “Mrs. Miller” when she’s asked to clean Suite 614. She has no idea that the sleepy, makeup-free woman she encounters is Marilyn Monroe until the pieces slowly fall into place. Seeing Marilyn through Pauline’s eyes offers a more human, vulnerable portrait of the iconic star: sensitive, intelligent, and searching for freedom.

Throughout the book, the author draws a powerful parallel between Pauline, Marilyn, and the wild mustangs that run through the story. They are all yearning for independence and a life on their own terms.

Historical Fiction

Jenni L. Walsh is a USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen books for both children and adults. She often writes about overlooked women in history, bringing their stories vividly to life.

As a horse lover, this book immediately caught my attention. I first learned about it through BookPage magazine at my local library, and I was intrigued by the true history behind diving horses and their riders.

Growing up in New Jersey in the 1970s, I remember the diving horse attraction on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier and I always wondered whose idea that was and what kind of person would risk performing such a stunt. Sonora answers those questions.

Based on the real-life story of Sonora Webster Carver, the novel follows her journey after she joins Doc Carver’s Wild America show in the 1920s. Walsh does a wonderful job bringing both the performers and the horses to life. You can truly feel the trust between Sonora and the animals she works with, which is something essential for such a dangerous act.

This is a compelling story of courage, perseverance, and a woman determined to follow an unconventional path.

Historical Fiction

Mirta Ojito is a Cuban-born author and journalist. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her memoir Finding Mañana, which chronicles her experience emigrating to the U.S. during the Mariel boatlift. Deeper Than the Ocean is her fiction debut.

This novel is told through a dual narrative that spans more than a century and five generations of one family. I loved the alternating chapters that follow Mara, a modern-day journalist, and her great-grandmother, Catalina.

When Mara is asked by her mother to locate Catalina’s long-lost birth certificate, the search takes her to the Canary Islands and uncovers a deeply buried family history. Along the way, she learns about Catalina’s mysterious fate aboard the ill-fated steamship Valbanera, which sank off the coast of Key West in 1919.

Ojito weaves historical detail seamlessly into the story without it ever feeling like a history lesson. This is a beautiful novel about love, loss, family secrets, and the enduring bonds between mothers and daughters.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the books I’ll be reading next. Plus, you can follow me on Goodreads to keep up with my latest ratings.

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Thanks for spending a little of your time with me. I hope these stories, recommendations, and little literary detours brought a smile to your day or even inspired your next great read. Keep turning those pages and sharing the joy of books with someone you love. Until next time!