4. X (Kinsey Millhone #24)

By Sue Grafton (404 pp ebook)

This is another book that turned up on sale in my BookBub and I had to buy. There was a period of time when I never missed these books but around N or O I lost interest. Since this was a couple of bucks I grabbed it and it was a fun easy read on an afternoon where I was feeling under the weather. I like the characters and the way Kinsey always misbehaves. But I'm terrible at figuring out mysteries and I had figured out what was up on a couple of things long before Kinsey. I guess I saw the prologue so maybe I'm being too hard on her. If you like Kinsey or procedurey mysteries. Recommend.

3. The Sparrow

By Mary Doria Russell (441 pp ebook)

This book came out in 1996 and I read it somewhere around that time. It's about a Jesuit mission to another planet that goes very wrong. You learn that in the first few pages so it's not a spoiler. There was a notice it was on sale in my BookBub (my nemesis, but I will never give it up) so I bought it. When I read it the first time, I remember it being very page turn-y. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I shared it with my family and enjoyed talking about it. It was very interesting to read it again after hanging out around spec fiction writers for the last decade. I still enjoyed it but I had issues - partly with the world building and also with the way almost every major story event happened off screen and someone told us about it later. Still recommend.