I slacked on sharing my summer reads, but it’s time to get back on track. Back in June, I finished four books — three on paper and one in audio:

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrell

This is a double epistolary work of speculative fiction, which I started in audiobook format last year before remembering I hate listening to letter and email headers.

Set in some future time when all land has been wiped out, the inner core of the novel is correspondence between E., an anxious, reclusive young woman who lives in her family home, Deep House, beneath the sea, who reaches out to the shy evolutionary biology scholar Henerey, to inquire about a new-to-her species of fish she has spotted outside. The two of them gradually build a friendship, and, after sharing favorite books and considering a mysterious object that E. discovers has shown up on the sea floor outside her home, something deeper than that. And then (it is shared early on, so this isn’t a spoiler), an explosion occurs and the two of them are lost.

The outer framework of letters are largely between E.’s younger sister, Sophy, a mapping scholar, and Henerey’s older brother, Vyerin, a ship’s captain. Sophy reaches out a year after their losses to say that she wants to figure out how their siblings died, let alone came to be in the same place, and would Vyerin be able to supply any of the correspondence from Henery’s things to shed light on this mystery. He agrees, and they begin to share the surviving letters (and other ephemera), and, again a friendship between their two families.

This is a beautiful novel, albeit a little slow and a little floaty at times. But if you like letters, this is a well-crafted masterclass in how they can be used to tell a story.

Highly recommended.

Print copy. Library.

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

Another solid entry in the Thursday Murder Club series. In this book, our favorite foursome’s cold case is that of a tv reporter gone missing more than a decade earlier. But that is just our starting point. As we turn the pages, Elizabeth and Stephen are kidnapped, romance blossoms for multiple characters, a former spy crashes with Joyce, Ibrahim resumes his counseling career, and, of course, bodies pile up.

Recommended, but start with book one, since this is a linear series.

Audio. Library copy.

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

Arthie and her found-family brother, Jin, run a teahouse on the wrong side of town that attracts the well-heeled during the day — and turns into a drinks venue of a different sort after dark, catering to the city’s oppressed vampires.

I picked this up because it was billed as a y.a. fantasy, found-family, tea-loving heist (the center of my Venn diagram) and was even more excited because it has a beautiful cover. But in the end, I wanted more.

In order to prevent the city’s police force from shutting them down, Arthie is blackmailed into stealing a book that is housed in the inner sanctum of a private vampire club. This first book of a duology focuses heavily on the five members of the heist crew’s character development and the planning of the theft. But the characters still feel thin and the obstacles/developments telegraphed. In the end, this felt more like a Starbucks order served in fine china than a boutique tea service, which was disappointing. I may get around to the series’ conclusion, but also maybe not.

Just like with the chain drinks company, it’s fine. Give it a a shot if you like, but don’t go in expecting custom tea blends.

Paper. Library copy.

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

I first heard Ann Patchett read from her essay collection on NPR back in 2022 on our way to the pizzeria — and immediately requested it from the library in audio format. After petering out after the second essay, I joined the holds list for the print version — but still didn’t make headway. So here we are, in 2025, when I was finally polished it off. (This spring/summer was clearly a good time for revisiting works I’d previously struggled with.) And I’m glad I did. While I can’t point to what held me up, I can say that ultimately I loved the book. Whether it’s the lasting bond she shares with her childhood friend, cooking her first Thanksgiving meal in college, or how Tom Hanks’ assistant spent much of COVID living in her basement, Patchett approaches her subjects with candor, gentleness, and a smidge of humor.

Highly recommended.

Print copy. Library.