After a busy year, I’m finally getting some down time, and it feels lovely. For the first few days, as my body finally realized it had permission to crash, I mostly napped and watched Remington Steele episodes. Now, I’m still catching up on rest but with enough brain power to focus enough for reading. And it feels lovely! Because I’m enjoying being lazy, I won’t review all of them here, but I will give you the highlights — because they’re too good not to share.
Difficult (Phoenix Pictures #1) by Brianne Gillen: If you love the marriage of convenience trope or Old Hollywood romance movies, I highly recommend Difficult! Gillen perfectly balances romantic comedy with heart and delivers a nuanced exploration of gender inequality. I fell head over heels for leading lady Lois and her acid tongue and for her cinnamon roll hero, Nick. Watching them progress from friends and allies to lovers and true partners was both swoony and narratively satisfying. I know “narratively satisfying” may not sound particularly sexy, but trust me, it IS. Adding this to my favorites shelf.
Station Eternity (Midsolar Murders #1) by Mur Lafferty: A murder mystery for fans of the genre, Station Eternity asks, “But what would it actually be like if random murders always happened around you and you were the one who solved them?” and then puts it in space. I enjoyed everything about this book, from the plot to the characters to the world building, which wasn’t in-depth but was also just enough somehow. The ending left me wanting a bit, in terms of character arcs, but that was, admittedly, before I realized this is the first in a series. Bring on the next please! I want more! My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot #12) by Agatha Christie: Back with our old friends Poirot and Hastings, and what fun it is! When a serial killer starts terrorizing England and taunting the famous detective, Poirot puts his little grey cells to use once more. It’s an engaging story, with a good mix of humor and suspense, and the mystery is just twisty enough. My own pettiness kept me from solving it, unfortunately — I was too set on who I wanted the killer to be!
I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying plenty of good books!
—b
Book It With Becca 