I recently came back from a longish vacation to sunnier climes. Why we returned from here is unclear to me:

We spent a lot of time lounging by the beach or the pool, as you do when this is the view:

Anyway. I read three entire books, finished one, and started another. None of them would be categorized as a “beach read,” but in my opinion if you read something at the beach, it’s a beach read.

All the Murmuring Bones, A.G. Slatter: The mood and the world-building were great — there are some wonderful mythical creatures in this one. I did feel the ending was a little rushed, but it was also plausible.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Eva Jurczyk: I didn’t like this as much as I’d hoped. There are a lot of academic politics and a protagonist who is sort of just letting herself be buffeted along for much of the story. She finally starts to get interesting at the end.

Bleeding Heart Yard, Elly Griffiths: I never really try to solve the mystery, but sometimes you start to develop a theory, and mine was completely wrong this time, in a good way. This is the third installment in the Harbinder Kaur series. You can certainly read this as a standalone, but you’ll get a little more out of it if you read the other two first.

The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern: Somehow this hadn’t been on my radar until recently, but it was such a lovely read. It was so immersive and I was sad to leave the story and the characters when I finished. I saw a few beats of the plot coming, but that didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment.

The Age of Vice, Deepti Kapoor: This is the first pick in Roxane Gay’s book club this year, and it was incredible. Very layered and I liked how you see some of the same events through different perspectives. This is set in Delhi and the city is very much a character as well.