“The Hallmarked Man” by Robert Galbraith

 This was absolutely the worst book in the Strike series. Half of it was a total waste of time, as it dealt with the high school level “will she or won’t she” thoughts of Strike and Robin. Robin’s alcoholic boyfriend was a bore, and because the plot was so convoluted, and I skimmed so much, I totally didn’t care about who did what by the end. I did like that Strike finally had a decent conversation with his biological father, Rokeby. And the last 100 pages were decently riveting,  compared with the boring drivel that preceded them.  So now, Robin knows that Strike is in love with her. What comes next?

“Rashomon and other Stories” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

 It took me years to finish this book of short stories, translated from the Japanese. They were very literary for sure, but I did not properly understand many of the Japanese cultural references. This made for heavy, but interesting reading.

“House of Day, House of Night” by Olga Tokarczuk

 It took me awhile to read this book. It’s interesting but not riveting. It is made up of short chapters about the Polish people in a formerly German town. There’s a touch of magic realism, and I do like the way she presents the idea that all things are interconnected. The style reminded me of her more famous book, “Flights.”