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.