The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski: I got this from the library at the start of baseball season, and then spent two months reading it. Not a criticism! Its structure -- 100 essays about some of the greatest baseball players ever -- meant it wasn't a conventional page-turner, but I enjoyed learning about the players, many of whom I knew by name only. A good number were players from the Negro Leagues, too; Posnanski made it clear how much of baseball is entwined with racism, even today.
The Devil at his Elbow by Valerie Bauerlein: I don't read much nonfiction, but this was captivating. The many, many crimes of Alex Murdaugh have been well publicized, but Bauerlein goes into his family history, too, back to his great grandfather. The family business was ostensibly law, but the ethical lapses, conflicts of interest, and sheer corruption going back over a hundred years are appalling. Murdaugh is not an outlier, but the end point of a family that put its own tawdry interests above justice.
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill: I thought I was getting a library-centered mystery, but the titular library (the Boston Public Library) barely factored into the story. Instead, I got a mystery that served as a commentary on the genre itself -- chapters of the story alternate with letters from a purported reader who offers advice on the choices Gentill makes. My favorite bit: I finished a chapter wondering why the heck [character] was continuing to communicate with [deeply troubled person] and whether that reflected poorly on the novel as a whole. The very next page was a letter from the FBI thanking [character] for alerting them and asking [character] to continue talking with [deeply troubled person] while the agency investigated. I laughed out loud. Gentill knows what she is doing!
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods: A disappointment. The novel weaves together the story of three characters, including one who runs the titular bookshop. Her story was the weakest, because it covered covered four decades and crammed in too many plot points, neglecting the one that would have been the most interesting -- the magical bookshop. The other two story lines were more interesting, but again too little time was spent on the bookshop.
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch: this was suggested as an alternative to the sexist Dresden Files urban fantasy series, and I loved it. Peter Grant is a young police officer in London who unwittingly interviews a ghost and learns there is a hidden aspect of the city filled with wizards, vampires, and gods. Aaronovitch weaves a lot of British folklore into the story, which was fascinating, and balanced the more horrific parts with a good amount of humor. I can't wait to read the rest.
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary: a cute romance about two people with opposite schedules who share a one-bedroom apartment. It's an epistolary novel of sorts, because the relationship between protagonists initially develops over a series of post-it notes and text messages. I also appreciated how the female protagonist came to terms with the abusive nature of her previous relationship -- in fits and starts, with the help of counseling, introspection, and friends, rather than because of some kind of dramatic epiphany.
