I have really enjoyed it. Already have the sequel queued on the player. Thank you Hoopla. It is a story about the descendants of H.P. Lovecraft and Randolph Carter. Lovecraft's great grand niece is of mixed European and African heritage. Something that I am sure would have given the old racist a heart attack.

Also reading on my tablet The Montauk Monster by Hunter Shea. I love monster stories (and movies). I like monster monsters over human monsters. I get enough of that in real life.

and had it on my list of must-reads. But then my computer died, along with the list, so that one slipped away. I'm SO glad you brought it up again: 'Carter & Lovecraft, a Pandora's box loaded with wonderfully twisted stuff, including a two-fisted homicide cop turned PI, warped realities, a mysterious bookstore, the Cthulhu mythos, a dash of romance, and creepy fish-men. What's not to love?"

Thanks for the title correction. Took my old border collie for a walk (12,000 steps) and nearly wrapped it up. So happy the old boy was able to do the distance.

Hope it wasn't too awful hot out for you two.

If you think the first one is hard to follow, just wait.

Enjoyed both of them, but you really have to focus.

Takes place in Denmark. About half way through, it's got questionable suicide, artistic murder (I'll let you figure that out) kidnapping, theft and I don't know what else as I am only half way. What made me buy this book is a blurb, "Bladel is one of the best I've come across." Michael Connelly.

Sara Bladel is Danish but lived in the U.S. and is back in Denmark.The prose is very American in style to me.

And I do love a challenge... So I'll be looking for that one.

Dune

Left Hand of Darkness

Winters Tale - I know Mark Halperin is a lunatic, but it's a really good book.

Golden Compass trilogy

J K Rowling's murder mysteries under the nom de plume of Robert Galbraith.

But he thought it was the Shakespeare tale. As soon as I heard the name Peter Lake, I knew what it was. The book is a thousand times better.

Thanks for the thread, hermetic. For me, this was the best Pendergast book in quite some time. It was primarily just Pendergast and D'Agosta against a serial killer known as "The Decapitator". It felt more like the early Pendergast books.

Glad to hear that. I look forward to reading it. Thanks.

And I totally agree.

This book just hit the shelves last week so good for you getting right on top of it. As brutal and horrifying as it sounds, I look forward to reading it.

Here's a brief interview with Colson on NPR, https://www.npr.org/2019/07/13/741391169/colson-whitehead-on-the-nickle-boys

“Any place where you have corrupt, malevolent authority figures who can exert their will on the innocent and powerless, then you’re going to have this." Get a clue, America.

Particularly heartbreaking, given how the main character clings to the words and ideals of Martin Luther King, in the face of such cruel treatment. Whitehead is a truly gifted writer.

Just finished an audio cast production of The Maltese Falcon. I'm not crazy about cast productions because they are often abridged, as this one was. Plus, it had a few idiosyncrasies that annoyed. Mostly where the actor portraying the character also narrates any text related to that character in the character's voice - the dialog and the narrative. Weird. Just downloaded the audiobook from Audible and am looking forward to that.

Reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. Sculptures, or may be aliens, show up in 63 cities worldwide. A graphic artist in NY is the first to get video up on YouTube. Hilarity ensues. I didn't know what to make of it, but it is something of a page turner. It's a lot of things. Sci-Fi (sculpture or alien first contact?). Social media - likes, follows, Tweet count, views - and all the possible related madness and money. Online hate and feuds, and their translation to violence IRL. Love, friendship, transactional relationships. In short, it's something of a riot. Have fun.

Scrublands by Chris Hammer. Australia. Maybe in the outback. Hot. Dry. In the first page a priest opens fire and kills at least two people. Can't wait to see where this is going.

Just started listening to Middlegame by Seanann McGuire. Not at all sure what this is or where it's going. Sci-Fi, maybe? Fantasy? Can't tell. I just finished listening to McGuire's Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy, Newsflesh, written under her Mira Grant pseudonym. That was a trip. So give that a try. Not sure about Middlegame yet, as I just started it.

And finally for this week, I just finished listening to Big Sky by Kate Atkinson, the lastest in her Jackson Brodie series. She is one heck of a writer, has an absolute blast with the English language and with relationships. Some of the most vile characters you will encounter (see also, in real life, Jeffrey Epstein). Narrated by the actor who plays Brodies in the TV productions, Jason Isaacs. He's brilliant. His timing is probably the best of any narrator I've listened to, and I've been listening to audio books since 1985. It helps to have read the previous books, but it's not critical. If you have read the previous books, then this one is a must-read, and you won't be disappointed.