“The Last Devil to Die” by Richard Osman

 As usual with Osman, his latest Thursday Murder Club book was enjoyable escapist reading. I like the depth of the backstories he develops for the characters.  They are constantly evolving, which is nice to see. Admittedly, the books do become repetitive, but the characters keep your interest up, I think.

“Silver Nitrate” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 I enjoy reading her books. They are not great literature, but I always learn something, and they have happy endings. This book was a bit drier than her other title, but I learned about the history of silver nitrate film, and the magic of movie making. I also learned that tens of thousands swooned when Rudolph Valentino died, I also heard hi mentioned on the radio recently. I love synchronicity.

“Africa Risen”

 I read less than half this book of speculative fiction stories from Africa. The reason is that it is a very long book and I did not enjoy a single story I read. The stories were strongly dystopian and heavily focussed on ancestors and spirits. After awhile, nearly all the stories seemed identical.

“Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters” by Rick Riordan (volume 2)

 OK read. Enjoy the Greek mythology info. YA cliches can be a bit tiresome. Overall a decent read.

“Dead Lions” by Mick Herron

 This was an enjoyable audio book even though I knew the plot from the tv show. Herron has a great talent for vividly amusing descriptions.

“Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan

The book was a bit repetitive and of course the characters are the usual teenage types, but I quite enjoyed it. I have always liked Greek mythology, and the descriptions of the gods and locations are very well done. I’m glad Morgan and Lochlan had me red it.

“The Case of the Velvet Claws” by Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason)

 I quite enjoyed this first book in the Perry Mason series. The mystery was interesting and more complicated than I initially expected. It was also fun from a historical perspective. It’s quite amazing how much society has changed in 90 years.