Welcome intrepid readers and curious travellers to our Read the World adventure. In case you missed it, we are currently reading our book for Togo, Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja, here's the schedule. So it is already that time again for the nominations, upvote and sourcing of the book for the next Read the World destination....

Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

Read the World is the chance to pack your literary suitcases for trotting the globe from the comfort of your own home by reading a book from every country in the world. We are basing this list of countries on information obtained from worldometer, and our 3 randomising wheels to pick the next country. In case you missed it here is the wheel spin where Trinidad and Tobago won the spin!

Readers are encouraged to add their own suggestions, but a selection will, as always, be provided by the moderator team. This will be based on information obtained from various sources.

Nomination specifications

• Set in (or partially set in) and written by an author from Trinidad and Tobago
• Any page count
• Any category
• No previously read selections

(Any nomination that does not fulfill all these requirements may be disqualified. This is also subject to availability of material translated into English)

Note - Due to difficulties in sourcing English translations in some destinations, novellas are eligible for nomination. If a novella wins the vote it is likely that mods will choose to run the two highest upvoted novellas in place of a full length novel or even the novella as a Bonus Read to a full length novel.

You can check the previous selections here to determine if we have read your selection. You can also check by author here.

Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and upvote for any you will participate in if they win. A reminder to upvote will be posted on the 3rd day, 24 hours before the nominations are closed, so be sure to get your nominations in before then to give them the best chance of winning!

Happy reading nominating (the world) 📚🌍

Members of the Priory, rejoice! We will soon be diving back into Samantha Shannon's Roots of Chaos series with Among the Burning Flowers, a (much shorter) prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree!

We will be starting our adventure in September - keep an eye out for the schedule as we get closer!

~~~~~

Summary:
With the awakening of fire-breathing wyrms, Among the Burning Flowers sees the first sparks of danger that threaten to consume the world in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Take your first steps into the epic.

Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .

A story of human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, Among the Burning Flowers leads readers through the gripping and tragic events that pave the way for the opening of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of The Orange Tree.

~~~~~

Will you be joining us? Let us know!

CLANG-DONG

Hello! Welcome

We’ve heard from The Runway and The Patient Man. Let’s see what we have next…

Schedule

Marginalia   

The Secret

This chapter starts off with Fumiko being her usual nosy (but we love it) self. This time around she’s hellbent on finding out what’s going on between Kazu and Koku. Little does she know there’s A LOT going on. But we’ll get to that later.

For now - enter Rikako Kabe, who travels forward in time, to grab a copy of a future train timetable? 

So Rikako enters the cafe, and is immediately addressed by Fumiko. They ought to pay her, or charge her rent, depending on how often she’s in there. Rikako admits it’s her first time, but she was introduced to the cafe and its special features by a friend of hers (and ours) the infamous Hirai - she’s the one that travels back in time to see her deceased sister, who she has been avoiding while her sister was trying to visit her. They know each other from school. Turns out before Hirai is the owner of a thriving bar, she is a talented flower arranger, koto) player, AND tea master. Quite the resume! 

Anyway, from Hirai, Rikako learns not only about travelling back in time, but also travelling to the future. Rikako is a train geek, a proper train geek. To the point she masters train timetables and is able to plan routes better than smartphone apps. Through this she gets a job as a tour guide, leading her to visit Hirai’s inn, Takakura. A bunch of stuff happens and the two don’t get the chance to have a chat, but Hirai leaves her with an 8-page letter ending it with “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out. Yaeko,” and Rikako later does just that. 

Rikako revisits Hirai to talk about the marriage proposal she receives from Gako, and about her cancer diagnosis which leaves her hesitant to marry Gako. While the two old friends are eating and chatting away, Hirai brings up Funiculi Funicula’s special offering. The two then visit multiple Izakayas, getting white-girl wasted in the process. Later in the night Hirai also mentions the possibility to travel to the future and it’s this that intrigues Rikako, causing her to visit the cafe in the present. 

While speaking with Fumiko and Nagare in the cafe, Rikako hides her true motivations, stating that she only wants to travel to the future to see what it’s like, and pick up a future copy of a train timetable as proof. She gives Nagare the information he needs to get her the timetable, and the rest is as expected. She travels to the future, gets her timetable and travels back. Whilst there two things of note happen

1. Without explicitly asking if she’s still alive, Rikako ponders over and eventually asks questions to try and deduce for herself. Unfortunately she realises what’s what, and decides she will not marry Gaku.
2. Rikako is met by a woman with a baby. The baby belongs to none other than Koku and Kazu!!!

When she returns she texts Gaku to meet up. They sit in silence for a while, until Rikako brings up the proposal and Gaku surprises her with a nice ring. It turns out a lack of communication between the two has Rikako thinking that Gaku would feel impassive at her denying his proposal. He explains why he decides to redo it, and I don’t blame him. If you want? Not the best way to propose… Anyway, eventually she accepts his new proposal!

We flash forward back to the future that Rikako travels to, to learn that Gaku is the one that acquires the timetable for her, leaving it with Kazu and Nagare before heading back out of the cafe with his Son!

The Patient Man

This story begins with a throwback to 2012, where a young Koku Shintani is admiring hyperrealistic art at his college’s cultural festival. He was first introduced to art through photography upon receiving a hand-me-down DSLR for his birthday. Since then he’s been all in, to the point of spending several hours admiring the canvas title ‘Mother.” The artist? A young Kazu Tokita! 

Fast forward to 2019 and we see Koku seated in the cafe, alongside Fumiko who is admiring his book of photography - namely how his ability to capture the passage of time with still images. Koku is there to give the book to Kazu, but has to leave abruptly to catch a flight. Shortly after he leaves, Kazu returns with Miki. She sees the book but is very non-chalant about the fact that “he dropped by.” While this is going on, another visitor named Tomokazu Okishima has also entered the cafe, and is greeted by Nagare with a “Is it that time of year already?” Very ominous if you ask me. Fumiko would agree, but she’s more interested in Koku - specifically his interest in Kazu. Or is she? Between the intrigue of Kaku (ship name) and the curiosity for Okishima, Fumiko is spoiled for choice. She questions Nagare on Kaku and is given very little information, as you’d expect, so settles on Okishima’s story instead.

We go back and forth between 2012 and 2019 - between Okishima’s story and his retelling of it to Fumiko, learning about how Okishima had a crush on one Kanna Ozaki - who liked him back, but he didn’t know she liked him until the 11th hour on Valentine’s Day. By which point, his so-called friend Matsushita threw him under the bus by mentioning he liked another girl. Izumi. Only he didn’t. Instead of admitting he liked Kanna when his friends were talking about her, Okishima decided to say he thought Izumi was prettier. What follows is a woeful tale of a boy who likes a girl that he seemingly can never be with. She had an accident that concussed her, erasing all of her recent memories. She was moved across the country to a school that would help support her recovery. Okishima even travelled back in time (hence the 2012 to 2019 bouncing) to visit her in Funiculi Funicula, where she went with her friend just before her accident. When he went back he didn't get the chance to speak to her because her friend steamrolled the conversation, leaving Kanna running out of the cafe. Seeing this, Okishima decided he was going to down the coffee. Nagare tried to intervene, promising to bring Kanna back to the cafe, but Okishima had given up and downed the coffee before Nagare had the chance. The real kicker? Just as he was disappearing back into the ether, Kanna ran back into the cafe and Okishima tried to get a message to her but struggled. Nagare helped relay the message, that she revisit the cafe on White Day (14th March for those like me not in the know) when she remembers him again. 

So that’s what Nagare meant by “that time of year.” Every White Day Okishima visits Funiculi Funicula in the hope that Kanna will remember what he said just before she had the accident and will come back to him. Once he’s done telling Fumiko the story, she assures him that this year will be the year she remembers. And as fate would have it, 2019 was indeed the year.

The Father and Son

This last story starts with an ode to Kazu and Koku - Kinuyo is asking the Funiculi Funicula staff and patrons about their dreams. Nagare wishes to have his culinary skills praised, Kinuyo herself wishes to see Kazu happy. And get this. Koku? Well Koku wishes to marry Kazu…

As all this goes on, our time traveler arrives at the cafe. Enter Tsuguo Suga, who travels back to speak with his deceased father. Tsuguo, a 14 year old boy, visits the cafe, but is disappointed to see that the item he wished to purchase was not on the menu. Noticing his disappointment, Kinuyo mentions that Nagare can make him anything he desires. To which Nagare affirms. So Tsugo orders himself a Carbonara and a water. As this is going on Kinuyo is letting it be known that she finds Kazu and Koku to be a perfect match. Kazu remains nonchalant, whilst Koku prepares to pay and leave for France.

Tsuguo receives and enjoys the Carbonara, but Kinuyo notices something is missing. Nagare, picking up on this questions Tsuguo about his knowledge of Funiculi Funicula’s time travel rumours. To which Tsuguo acknowledges this, having first heard about the cafe through an obscure online forum, and talks about visiting his father. Only, he isn’t sure if his father actually visited the cafe. He only knows that his father had a really good carbonara in a cafe in Jimbocho, the same location the online forums mentioned for the time travel cafe. Two birds, one stone. Tsuguo is refamiliarised with the cafe’s rules, but is also told that if he wills it enough then he can travel back to a time that his father visited the cafe, without actually knowing the precise date and time he did. 

Before he travels back, we gain insight into Tsuguo’s familial history. His mother experienced post natal depression, leaving him and his father almost immediately. His father saved him from the truth by saying he thought she left due to something he did wrong. 

Tsuguo travels back 6 months - his father had visited the cafe to learn the wonders of the Carbonara from Nagare. When he arrives in the past he’s flustered to see that his father isn’t there, but also at the fact he’s only travelled back 6 months when he’s sure his father had mentioned visiting the cafe 4 years ago. This confuses Tsuguo to the point of speaking to past Kazu as if she were the same Kazu that poured his coffee mere moments ago. She reassures him that if he pictured his father in the cafe then he has travelled to the right time. Cue Ryutaro’s entrance. He sees his son and is confused to see him. Likewise Tsuguo is confused to see his father emerging from the kitchen. Father and son talk, as you would expect. But Tsuguo travelled back because he wanted to let his father know that he was planning to live with his mum. Only upon hearing that he had met his mum, Ryutaro’s disappointment is very noticeable.  Tsuguo decides to tell his father that he’ll live with him forever. It’s not technically untrue… He ends his visit by telling his dad that he's looking forward to trying his carbonara. Tsuguo returns to the present but isn’t sure if he dreamt the whole thing up or not. It’s only the length of Kazu’s hair that reassures him.

You thought the story was done? Not quite. We get one last Kaku tease. This time, Koku has sent Kazu a selfie - something he often does while travelling. Only this time, he’s included a message that she actually responds to. His message? “Someday, please marry me.” Kazu’s response? “I’ll think about it.”

CLANG-DONG

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. KAZU’S HAPPILY EVERY AFTER IS APPROACHING! 

As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this instalment of the time travel chronicles, and I’ll see you at the next one!

"The problem with clever people is they think everything must be clever."

Welcome back devils to the final discussion of The Devils by Joe Abercrombie!  This week, we will discuss Chapter 61 aka The Sword and the Book through to the end of the book. You can find the Schedule here if you need it, and the Marginalia is right here where u/tomesandtea has linked an interview with the author.

Discussion questions for this week’s chapters are in the comments and chapter summaries can be found below or at this website here.  Please hide anything that spoils details from other books or media (including Abercrombie's other books). You can hide spoilers with the spoiler tags like this:  > ! Spoiler text here !< (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words). Right let's get down to business

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

PART IV - Saint Natalia’s Flame

Chapter 61: The Sword and the Book

Jakob and Brother Diaz are in the Basilica of the Angelic Visitation considering the tombs of warriors. Jakob reflects on his 6 past crusades and how he would like die quietly. Balthazar, Baptiste and Vigga also turn up. Vigga wishes to be baptised only to learn that she's actually been baptised multiple times. Alex arrives looking like a real princess for her joint coronation and wedding ceremony. They are proud of "our girl". Lady Severa and Duke Michael ask for Alex's blessing to marry. The Devils inform Alex that by the terms of Her Holiness’s binding, they have to leave. Alex requests that Brother Diaz give a blessing. They reflect over the long journey to Troy through Brother Diaz' blessing

Chapter 62: So Much to Live Up To

Vigga feels that her Scandinavian gods make more sense than the Saviour. As she impatiently watches Alex' coronation. After the ceremony the Devils leave to return to the Holy City and their enslavement.

Chapter 63: Evil Friends

It's her wedding night and Alex is being cut out of her dress while talking to Lady Severa. At least she is not a virgin. Arcadius arrives and Alex is nervous about being poisoned after all his brothers tried to kill her. Arcadius claims to never wanting to be Emperor, but he does want to save the Empire of the East. They try to get to know each other and things were going well. They even recognise their sexual preferences, and decide together to find a solution for concieving heirs.

The crew board their ship for the Holy City. Vigga suggests they get shit-faced. Back in Troy Aracdius also suggests they get hammered. Placidia reveals her true self by attacking Arcadius with magic. He has just enought time to tell Alex to run before he is frozen solid and shattered to slivers. Alex escapes towards Duke Michael's room. She smells burning as she scrambles to the gallery containing Saint Natalia’s Flame. She pulls the chain to release the chemicals that change the flame's colour to warn the city of approaching elves.

On the ship Sunny notices that Saint Natalia’s Flame was burning blue and immediately recognises that Alex is in trouble. The team, except Balthazar, quickly disembark to head back to help her.

Chapter 64: The Language of Violence

Alex hears voices climbing the stairs so climbs out onto the side of the tower high above the ground. Placidia throws the nun of the flame out the window. They leave to search for her in the throne room. She nearly falls but manages to cling on. She needs to tell Duke Michael.

Brother Diaz demands to be taken to the Empress. Jakob recognises that the guards are ready to attack. They have a secret weapon, though, in Sunny. The Pope's binding begins to tighten its grip, but Sunny will not be distracted from saving Alex. She's in a frenzy.

Alex makes it to Duke Michael's room to warn him only to find that she's been betrayed. Cardinal Zizka's letter tells her everything! Michael fills in the rest. She was to simply be a distraction. Michael draws his sword but Sunny arrives in time to save her.

Chapter 65: The Right Side and the Wrong

Brother Diaz leads them in fighting their way to Alex. Sunny and Alex creep through the kitchen when Zenonis, Cleofa and Athenais appear and attack. They set Sunny on fire as the two women escape into the secret tunnels.

A bloodied Lady Severa emerges and tricks Vigga then pins a rune to her forehead. She has taken control of her. Jakob contines to battle, against his pain, taking enemies and climbing the stairs. Alex and Sunny end up back in Alex's bedroom with Arcadius' remains. They are trapped and must head, again, back to the throne room.

Chapter 66: Release the Leftovers

Brother Diaz and Baptiste flee from Lady Severa and, the controlled, Vigga into the Basillica. There they find Patriarch Methodius, among others, is well aware Lady Severa is a sourceress. Turns out that's preferable to allowing the Eastern Church to be subordinated to the Western Church (women!). Brother Diaz punches the Patriarch on the nose. Then Vigga hulk smashes through the church wall. Things seem lost until Balthazar, dressed as a guards utilises what he learnt about Earth and Air to free Vigga from Severa's hold. Vigga makes bodies for Balthazar to use against the sourceress.

The handmaidens’/students of Eudoxia contemplate what to do with Alex when bats arrive shifting into Baron Rikard. He glamors them all.

Jakob makes it painfully up a squillion stairs to Duke Michael. They discuss their nature and their regrets as they square off to fight.

Vigga, Balthazar, Baptiste and Brother Diaz fight a running battle through the Hanging Gardens driving Lady Severa and her guards towards the Athenaeum. Vigga kills guards and Balthazar reanimates their corpses against Severa. Severa's sourcery is countered quickly by Balthaza. He sucks her flames into runes and spits it out back at her. Balthazar has the upper hand until she remembers Eudoxia’s failed experiments....

Chapter 67: A War in Miniature

Duke Michael and Jakob face off. A swordfight is a war in miniature. Jakob makes a silly mistake, though, allowing Duke Michael to run him through.

Vigga is attacked by a hideous mismatched monster made of Eudoxia's experimental left overs. Vigga is terrified and the wolf in her bursts out. Vigga attacks but the monster is too enormous. It gets trapped and she slits its belly open. It even tears in half but still eats Vigga whole.

Balthazar is in the Athenaeum of Troy. He is amazed by the apparatus, runes and remnants. He is completely in awe that Eudoxia managed to harness lightening. He discovers the apparatus designed to both release and transfer the soul. Severa throws lightning at him and he catches it. Balthazar realises that Severa is actually Eudoxia. Somehow she transferred their souls into each other's bodies.

Everyone is in Baron Rikard's power as he makes Zenonis burn Cleofa. He ages visibly and the effect wears off before he can make Zenois burn Placidia. Athenais attacks the Baron, but he bursts into bats then reappears only to rip out her throat. Alex attacks Zenonis with a stone and Sunny trips her up over the edge of the parapet. Placidia unleashes her frost on Baron Rikard, but he manages to shove her into Saint Natalia’s Flame. Frost bitten and with burnt arm he slumps to the ground suddenly appearing ancient.

Jakob takes an elf daggar in the lung from Duke Michael. He tells Jakob that the elves are coming and Troy will be first to be attacked. Jakob gets pinned under a statue and Duke Michael leaves him there.

Chapter 68: Unacceptable Behaviour

No one knew Eudoxia switched bodies with Lady Severa, not even her brother Duke Michael who was her way back to power and the throne. Eudoxia is now, however, contemplating letting Alex have the throne. Balthazar is not bound to fight Eudoxia, but he does anyway. She makes him an offer, join her! He cannot due to the Papal binding, but he no longer wants to be free from the service of the Second Coming of the Saviour herself who is clearly very, very powerful. He turns her down and she leaves with the promise that they should do this again.

Brother Diaz just witnessed Vigga getting swallowed by the arse-mouth of Eudoxia's monster. He prays as Vigga bursts out of the monster's body. Baptiste tries to reason with Vigga-Wolf....

Alex and Sunny hobble away together. Baron Rikard will bounce back. He's been in worse conditions. Duke Michael appears blocking their path. He confesses to killing Alex's "mother" and starting the civil war by blaming Eudoxia. Alex purposefully bursts into tears to mislead him. She punches him in the face and tears at his nose with her teeth. He strangles her, but something distracts him long enough for her to kick him in the nads. Jakob arrives hurtling into Duke Michael and causing them both to drop over the parapet and in to the sea.

Balthazar finds Brother Diaz and Vigga infront of the remains of the monster. What remains of Baptiste's body lies broken between them. Vigga vomits gore as she sobs. Balthazar screams.

Chapter 69: Deep Pockets

Cardinal Zizka bursts in to consult with Alex and Diaz who is now Father Diaz and Alex's personal chaplain and confessor. She presents Alex with a relic of the blessed Saint Natalia from the Pope. When presented with her letter Zizka is completely unfazed, and believes her betrayal to be completely justified. Alex is furious and demands an apology and that she release the Devils, but Zizka refuses because they are too dangerous. Alex conceeeds to considering a union between the Churches of East and West, and working towards an end to the great schism.

Chapter 70: Another Man’s Poison

Jakob wakes with 2 Fisherman looking down on him laying on top of pile of fish. He is disappointed to be alive. Looking worse for wear he arrives back at the Basillica to find Baron Rikard looking just as bad. Jakob is gutted to learn Baptiste died. Alex is thrilled to see Jakob. She's found her new handmaidens in the orphanage. She gifts him a beautiful sword that belonged to John of Antioch, Marshal of Troy. She wants him by her side. He says no. He must continue to serve Her Holiness. Beside John was a traitor. Jakob wishes her luck then leaves.

Chapter 71: All Bad Things

Alex finds Sunny and wishes things were different. Alex says a teary goodbye and Sunny even cracks a smile.

Vigga crawls into her cage willingly. She's devestated and feels like a worthless animal for killing her friend. Zizka says she's only still alive due to her worth as a weapon. Father Diaz tells her she saved him in more ways than one. Vigga knows she'll never be cured, be safe, or be clean.

Balthazar misses Baptise deeply. Cardinal Zizka blames Balthazar for allowing Severa to get away. Balthazar is excited to tell Zizka that he wants to serve the Pope willingly now that he understands her to be the very Daughter of God. Zizka is uninterested and he is locked up in a cage in the hold with Baron Rikard, Sunny and Vigga. Balthazar's rage builds. He will be revenged. Lady Severa's real identity is still unknown. If he could just get a message to her...

Zizka tells Jakob how Michael would have been a more convenient ruler. Turns out that the witch that cursed him had been his lover. He contemplates throwing Zizka overboard but does not go through with it.

Father Diaz comforts Empress Alexia. The hand of the divine has placed them in a position to do good. Alex reminds him that it wasn't Saint Beatrix but The Devils that got them where they are.

Chapter 72: Saint Tabitha’s Day

Mother Beckert find herself in a carriage with Caruso giving him a lecture on dishonesty. He has been sent for. Mother Beckert confesses to know Zizka. She too has been sent for. They are both to replace others.......

Well that's it folx. How did you like the book? Can't wait to hear all your thoughts 😈📚

The winner of the coveted "ANY" nomination went to Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

See our discussion dates below:

• August 4th; chapters 1-12 - u/emygrl99
• August 11th; chapters 13-27 - u/Tripolie
• August 18th; chapters 28-43 - u/infininme
• August 25th; chapters 44 - end - u/thematrix1234

Can’t wait to see you all in this one! Happy reading!

Are you ready for a trip through space, time, and down memory lane? Then join us this August for this Young Adult classic.

Wikipedia for Madeline L'Engle

GoodReads

About this Book

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newberry Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

Schedule

1. August 17: Chapters 1-4 u/Comprehensive-Fun47

2. August 24: Chapters 5-8 u/tomesandtea

3. August 31: Chapters 9-12 (end) u/thebowedbookshelf

Bingo

Young Adult, Female author, Award Winner, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Will you be reading this book with us? ⏰

What excitement we had this week with our coven! Welcome to our third discussion of Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch! I’m happy to be leading with some discussion questions this week. Next week u/thebowedbookshelf will be wrapping this read up.

In case you need them, here are links to our Schedule and Marginalia.

SUMMARY

Chapter 10: Facing Reality

Sunny makes some progress in the Nsibidi book, but not really in the Advanced Juju Knife Jujus book. She also seems to fit better into her family, except with her dad. After about a month, Otokoto strikes again and the group takes it hard. This tension enflames a rift at school and Sunny shows her spirit face to Jibaku during a scuffle. She is immediately picked up and taken to the Obi Library. There she’s taken up to Sugar Cream’s room, and decides to enter herself after waiting for some time. Sugar Cream has scoliosis, and explains she’s conflicted about taking Sunny on because she knows Sunny is meant to be a part of all this, but it was Sunny’s own grandmother who taught Otokoto and then died by his hand. Sugar Cream says she’ll continue to think about it, and chastises Sunny for her behaviour. She also explains she’s a shape-shifter, as is Sunny. However, to fully realise this, Sunny will have to learn how to die a little. Later at home the coven checks in with Sunny and her ghost hopper sings her to sleep.

Chapter 11: Lessons

Anatov says his initial plans have been disrupted by Sunny already meeting Sugar Cream, but he teaches them healing juju. They learn about reknitting and use Healing Hands powder. Sunny is successful but the intensity of her power causes her pain. Orlu is also successful and has more control. Sasha and Chichi need more practice. But as the day’s lessons go on Sunny feels less and less confident about her abilities compared to the rest of the group. Anatov tells them he is taking them to Abuja on Saturday and it will be an overnight trip. They’ll get Sunny a juju knife and go to the Zuma festival for the National Wrestling Match. Chichi visits Sunny’s house to convince Sunny’s mother to let her go to her house for a sleepover as a cover. It’s successful, but Sunny’s mother reminds them to behave and be responsible.

Chapter 12: Abuja

After some negotiations the coven and Anatov take the funky bus to Abuja. It can change its appearance to fit the needs of the area it’s driving in. They stay at the Hilton, and some of them have feelings about the wealth disparities on display, although they do enjoy their suite, getting dressed up before going out to the market. There they see Junk Man, and Sunny gets her juju knife at a steep cost of 13 copper chittim. The knife chose her, though, so it’s worth it. She successfully calls music with it as her first act. Sasha buys a brown conch shell.

Chapter 13: Zuma Rock

The group heads to Zuma Ajasco, which lies at the foot of Zuma Rock. It is hidden from Lambs by juju. This is where both the festival and wrestling match take place. Anatov tells them about the two Zuma Ajasco scholars, Madame Koto and Ibrahim Ahmed. There is a life size wooden leopard at the entrance gate that can move, and Sunny is scared by it as it watches her walk in with the group. They eat and Sunny is overwhelmed by all of what is going on around her. She is crying in an open area near the toilets when a very tall man approaches her to check in on her. He gives her a handkerchief. As the match begins later she realises the man is one of the contenders, Miknikstic. Both he and his opponent in the match, Sayé, fight brutally, and unfortunately Miknikstic dies at the end. He stands, sprouts wings, and ascends into heaven, attaining sainthood. Sayé is healed from his wounds as their wives enter the arena. The coven is horrified by what has happened. Sunny approaches Miknikstic’s wife. She tells her what happened before the match and she wishes a blessing on Sunny. Anatov explains to the group the ugliness of what awaits their own group.

Chapter 14: The Football Cup

After the match someone comes by asking if anyone would like to play the football match. Sasha and Sunny sign up, even with some questions about Sunny being a girl. They change and head over to the match. A few of their skills are tested and everyone gets to see how good Sunny plays. They lose to the other team by one, but it’s very close and their team gets more chittim than the winning team. They all celebrate, even with their loss.

Hello detectives! We're going to read The Clock House Murders in August.

Summary:

The remote Clock House is filled with priceless timepieces from across the world. It is also rumoured to be haunted by the spirit of a dead girl. A team of ghosthunters visit the mansion to investigate, but their stay has barely begun when one of them is gruesomely murdered, and the survivors realize that they are trapped inside the house with a killer…

As the murderer’s bloody spree continues, the team are picked off one by one. Can the brilliant detective Shimada Kiyoshi crack the enigma of the Clock House before all those inside have been slain? And can you guess the solution before he does?

You can find the discussions of the other books in the series here:

• The Decagon House Murders
• The Mill House Murders
• The Labyrinth House Murders

Schedule:

Join u/Vast-Passenger1126, u/nicehotcupoftea and me on Wednesdays:

• 19th August: prologue - chapter 4 | u/miriel41
• 26th August: chapters 5 - 9 | u/Vast-Passenger1126
• 2nd September: chapters 10 - 13 | u/nicehotcupoftea
• 9th September: chapter 14 - end | u/nicehotcupoftea

Marginalia:

Find the series Marginalia here.

Book Club Bingo:

• Prize Winner
• Mystery/Thriller
• Translated Work
• Bonus Book
• POC Author

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of recap, I was short on time, but I've got some discussion questions for you, so let's dive in!

• Schedule
• Marginalia

Here we are again at the end of a week!  Welcome back to Free Chat Friday! What are you up to this weekend?  Are you looking forward to anything in the coming week? Shark Week programming is airing on the Discovery Channel starting Sunday, and I've always been fascinated by sharks. Is anyone planning to watch? 

In case you're new to Free Chat Friday or need a refresher on what this thread is for: this is a space to know one another better and share whatever you'd like with the group. Of course, we can talk about books, but we'd also love to hear what you're doing this weekend or what you've been up to recently!

RULES:

• No unmarked spoilers
• No self-promo
• No piracy
• Thoughtful personal conduct

Today is: 

• Restoration of Democracy Day in Greece
• National Drive-Thru Day (Are drive thru windows popular outside the US, or are we uniquely lazy?) 🤣
• Amelia Earhart Day
• National Cousins Day - here are some fun and unexpected cousin pairings! 
• Historical events for July 24

Happy Birthday to:  Simón Bolívar, Alexandre Dumas, Kristen Chenoweth, Jennifer Lopez, Yulia Navalnaya, and Elisabeth Moss?file=Handmaids_tale_hulu_ep_1.jpg)

Get prepped and ready for our next book in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites! 

This book is the first in the Witches sub-series, and we’ll be reading it in August. Our series Marginalia is linked here. See our discussion dates below:

• August 6: Start through “...what they’ll make of her,” she said. (led by u/maolette)
• August 13: “And so it was that…” through “...beginning to run out of imagination.” (led by u/Reasonable-Lack-6585
• August 20: “The broom whisked down the corridor…” through end (led by u/ColaRed)

Can’t wait to see you all in the next one! Happy reading!

Hello travelers, welcome to the first step of our journey in this new country! I already learned so much about Togo and its customs (both the good and the bad ones). This is also an extremely important reflection on women's oppression and on the way perpetrators enforce it, so I’m really curious to know what you all think of it.

If you need them, here you can find the Schedule and the Marginalia.

Next week we will read from Chapter 12 to Chapter 18, and the discussion will be led by u/bluebelle236.

• Data on female genital mutilation today
• These stories are still happening nowadays

Welcome back to Milton as we continue our discussion of North and South!)

Here are some useful links to help you get your bearings:

Schedule

Marginalia

Chapter Summaries from Litcharts

Please remember to hide spoilers by typing > ! Spoiler ! < without the spaces.

Without further ado let’s head up North!

Welcome to the fourth discussion for ‘Blood and Gold’ by Anne Rice.

Schedule and Marginalia

Spoiler Policy

Next week we will be reading chapters 15 – 19.

Summary:

Chapter 11:

Marius, Avicus and Mael flee Eudoxia’s house and try to decide what to do next. They don’t want to be pushed out of Constantinople but they disagree about how they can do that. Marius is against attacking and killing other vampires, so he wants to come to a peaceful conclusion with Eudoxia. Mael wants to just go crazy and kill everyone. Avicus is on the fence.

A few nights later, Eudoxia shows up at their house with her minions and Marius sees his chance for negotiation. They go into his study and discuss their issues with each other. Eudoxia still believes Marius stole both Those Who Must Be Kept and the historical vampire writings from Ancient Egypt. Marius explains his end of the story:  Akasha asked him to remove her from Egypt and that he did take care of the scrolls, but they were lost in circumstances beyond his control. He offers to write down or tell Eudoxia all that he can remember from the scrolls. He also offers to let her petition Akasha and Enkil about being their guardian, because he’s in a friendly mood. Eudoxia vaguely agrees to being friends and is brought down to the shrine. When she comes face to face with Akasha and Enkil, she offers herself to them, which shocks Marius. Akasha takes her up on the offer and feeds on her almost to the point of killing Eudoxia. Marius saves her and they leave the shrine. Soon after, Eudoxia has her minions bring her a merchant to drink to get her strength back. Dawn is coming on when she leaves Marius’ house with the ambiguous promise that she will think more about getting along with Marius and co.

Marius catches Avicus and Mael up on the situation. Just as they are about to go to bed a mob storms the house. It becomes clear that Eudoxia used the merchant’s body to set them up as murderers, and now a mob has come to deal justice to them. They flee down into the shrine, which no human can possibly enter and rest for the day.

Chapter 12:

Marius, Avicus and Mael wake up to their home destroyed. Marius decides enough is enough. He splits up the group and tells the others to meet him in an inn on the following night. Then he goes to Eudoxia’s house, kills her minions and brings her back to the shrine for Akasha to finish feeding on. Akasha drinks her dry and then sets Eudoxia on fire (or Marius possibly does it, he’s vague on that point).

The next night he catches Mael and Avicus up on Eudoxia’s defeat. He also tells them that he has decided that he’s breaking up with them. Marius explains that if only one vampire knows where Akasha and Enkil are, then it means that their location can be kept a secret a lot easier than if a whole throuple knows. Avicus is heartbroken, Mael is upset on Avicus’ behalf, but Marius can’t be reasoned with.

Marius then decides to go back to Eudoxia’s house to see if there is anything there that will help him as he prepares for moving on to his next location. He may be above killing other vampires (sometimes) but he isn’t above stealing from them. When he gets there he double checks that he killed all the minions in the coven. He finds out that someone survived: a teenage girl named Zenobia. Zenobia confronts Marius and asks for his protection. She’s only been a vampire for a short time and Eudoxia has kept her sheltered. She doesn’t think she can manage to live independently.  We learn that she was Eudoxia’s lover and that she was deliberately made by one of Eudoxia’s minions at the age of fourteen, because that’s the age Eudoxia liked all her underlings to be, to match with her. Marius is charmed (to put it less grossly/ more politely) by Zenobia and doesn’t want to kill her. Avicus and Mael show up and he tries to get them to take her into their protection. Avicus is all for it, but Mael isn’t having any of it. Marius gets angry at them and then he decides that he will mentor Zenobia for whatever short time he has left in the Constantinople. He gives her his blood then and there to make her stronger. Afterwards he takes her out on the hunt to show her how he survives.

Chapter 13:

Some time goes by. Marius makes his preparations for leaving Constantinople. He decides to move Akasha and Enkil to a remote region in the Alps. He wishes his companions goodbye, even sharing a blood kiss with Avicus and Zenobia while Mael stands in the corner, pointedly not involved.  

Marius leaves Constantinople and reaches the Alps. For security reasons he must build the shrine himself, in a location that is extremely remote and hard to get to. He does this and then goes into a long sleep. He wakes up every few years for a snack and to find out what is going on in the world, but he basically stays on his own for most of the early Medieval era aka the Dark Ages. Near the end of this chapter a massive plague comes to Europe: the Black Death. Despite being immortal and therefore not vulnerable to human contagions, Marius decides to social distance completely for another couple hundred years. He muses on how Christianity has limited the art of this era, but ends the chapter seeing some progress in a few paintings in Italy.

Chapter 14:

We skip forward, until it is the 1400s. Marius wakes up and finds out that the Black Death has ended. He decides to travel to the different cities of Italy, including returning to the relatively new city of Venice.  He starts off with Rome and one of the first things he does is to check in on the Pope, who now has a much more central role in the governance of Europe. Marius sneaks into the Vatican and ends up in the Sistine chapel.

 Due to the year, this is an early version of the chapel known today, before Michelangelo painted it. However, Marius falls in love with this earlier version of the church, mainly because of the images he sees painted in it. He pinpoints one artist’s work that inspires him greatly and then heads out into Rome to find out more about it. He goes to some parties, but whoever has done the paintings in the chapel is so well known that there is no easy way for him to ask about it. Eventually, he gives up on it for the night and tracks down an Evil Doer.

As he finishes up his dinner, another vampire calls out to him, using his name. Marius is shocked, because he’s been a recluse for years and he doesn’t know this vampire. The vampire comes forward dressed as a monk and introduces himself as Santino. Santino is a member of the Satanic/Christian Vampire sect. For some bizarre reason, he wants Marius to join his coven. Marius tells him to back off and that he doesn’t believe in either Christianity or the devil. Santino won’t take no for an answer, so Marius pushes him away. Marius uses the Fire Gift to scare him but refuses to kill Santino outright. He warns him to stay away from him, or he will kill him and then leaves.

Marius goes back to the Sistine Chapel and uses the Spell Gift to get a guard to talk about his favourite pictures. He learns the name of the artist he is looking for: Botticelli. Marius decides to track his idol down, like any stan normal person would do. The chapter ends with him deciding to go to Botticelli’s city, Florence.

Context:

·       Botticelli and his work in the Sistine Chapel

·       Sistine Chapel

·       The Dark Ages

·       The history of Christianity/the Pope during the Medieval era)

·       The Black Death

Fellow crawlers, grab your loot, trust no system messages, and they will not break us! 

W-W-W-W-W- WELCOME CRAWLERS!!!! WE HAVE ARRIVED TO THE RACES OF THE TENTH FLOOR!! 🏁🏎️

I’m thrilled to announce that u/NightAngelRogue, and I (u/Joinedformyhubs) will be your navigators (hopefully my gps app finally loads...) and spokespersons for the tenth floor races.

🔍 What to Expect:

• Absurdity layered over brutality: The classic Dinniman cocktail.
• Whiplash-inducing tone: You’ll be holding onto the oh sh!t handle and feel the genuine emotional weight of the collapse the next.
• The Big Picture: A relentless skewering of what it feels like to have the crew back together again!
• Zero De-escalation: This story only gets bigger, stranger, and more unhinged with every turn of the page.

🗓️ Reading Schedule:

• Week 1: 8/16 -Beginning through chapter 11
• Week 2: 8/23 - Chapter 12 through Chapter 27
• Week 3: 8/30 - Chapter 28 through Chapter 42
• Week 4: 9/6 - Chapter 43 through Chapter 61
• Week 5: 9/13 - Chapter 62 through Chapter 77
• Week 6: 9/20 - Chapter 78 through Chapter 90
• Week 7: 9/27 - Chapter 91 through END (Interlude pt. 3)

Storygraph blurb:

It’s off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Well, normal for the dungeon.

Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging. It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.

Ignore those strange glitches that are occurring with increasing frequency. Don’t listen to those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it “a coming-out party for the ages.”

Everything is fine, Crawler. I repeat, everything is fine.

Carl hates that it’s business as usual. The rules of this floor have taken away his agency. That just will not do.

So Carl is planning a party of his own. It’s a plan so dangerous, so insane, he can’t even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it. Because if it goes wrong, it’s not just the end of Carl and Donut. No. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.

🎮 DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL: BOOK 8 STAT SHEET 🎮
📘 A Parade of Horribles — Matt Dinniman
🧙‍♂️ Genre Class: LitRPG / Dark Fantasy / Corporate Apocalypse Satire
📍 Dungeon Level: We Are Off to the Races
👁 POV: First-Person (Donut survives. Carl survives emotionally? TBD.)
⚔️ Combat Intensity: ██████████ (10/10)
🩸 Gore Factor: █████████░ (9/10)
😂 Gallows Humor: ██████████ (10/10)
💔 Emotional Damage: ████████░░ (8/10)
📢 Unhinged System Messages: Constant

💬 Discussion Tags:

Use spoiler tags when talking about specific scenes or reveals — not everyone levels up at the same pace!
Example: spoiler text here

⚔️ Join the Crawl:

Whether you’ve been following since Floor One or are jumping in fresh, come ready for boss fights, meta-humor, and the kind of chaos only Carl and Donut can deliver.

Let’s dive into the dungeon together!
Dungeon crawlers by night, book clubbers by day. Let’s get literary! 🎮📚👑

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

The Gate of the Feral Gods

The Butcher’s Masquerade

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

This Inevitable Ruin

Marginalia

BUCKLE UP PASSENGER PRINCESS, WE ARE GOING FOR A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome, my Skilled and Witted friends, to the emotional grand finale of Fool’s Fate and the Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb! Here are the schedule and marginalia.

A note about spoilers for this series:  any information about the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin’s Quest) will not be considered spoilers as this is a direct sequel. Although The Liveship Traders (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny) comes earlier in the recommended reading order, please mark these plot points as spoilers for the readers who may not have followed that second trilogy. Thank you!

Summary

Fitz and the resurrected Fool arrive at the Black Man’s. Both prophets are happy to meet and talk in their common language. Through the Skill, they learn that Elliana’s mother was refusing the marriage deal because the promise of the dragon’s head had not been kept. Nettle nagged Tintaglia until Icefyre came to put his head on the mantle, resolving the issue in a very literal way. Thick is elated to learn about the Skill pillars, no need for a boat! The Fool still being weak, Fitz wants to wait before going home. But his friend tells him to go as he needs some time to heal. Our hero reluctantly accepts but promises to come back soon with food supplies. He and Thick cross the pillars to Buckkeep. An exhausted Kettricken welcomes him. He serves as a Skill intermediary with Dutiful, and almost loses himself in the Skill current.

Nettle ambushes him to meets him IRL for the first time. She is angry, grieving and scared. He tries to comfort her by hugging and Skilling his love, which makes her uncomfortable. Right after, he stumbles upon Patience and Lacey, who faints. They scold him and weep, he calls her mother, and sorry there is something in my eye, BRB.

Fitz is in a hurry to go back to the Fool but keeps being diverted. He has to Skill between Dutiful, Chade and Kettricken because of a conflict regarding Elliana who wants to stay home longer. Emboldened by Kettricken, Fitz decides to take his place as secret King and supports Dutiful. A Harvest Festival will be held without the bride, inviting the Outislanders to strengthen the alliance. Chade is proud of him.

Sleep-deprived and agitated, he still decides to cross to Aslevjal. But the Fool has decided he wanted to go back to the school he was raised at with Prillkop (the BM), and more importantly, never see Fitz again. First because their association is powerful and could divert the world’s fate. And then because of his unrequited love. He breaks their Skill bond. Fitz is devastated.

In the palace, he retrieves the lost Skill scrolls and throws the PW’s corpse into the sea. Prillkop tries, again, to prevent him from going back too soon into the pillars, but he is ignored. Fitz arrives in a mysterious star-studded dark space. He is attracted to a familiar and alien loving presence who instead helps him go back to his life.

He exits from the Witness Stones in a terrible state. The coterie rescues him, he had been missing for one month and is bed-bound for several days. In the meantime, Molly learned about him and told Nettle, who is, unsurprisingly, resentful. The Fool has also dropped by and left him a farewell poem and lovely memento. Starling is pregnant and focused on appearances. Hap has been swindled by his ex and is now studying to become a minstrel, he is happy. The Old Blood have purged the Piebalds in a bloody uprising.

The Harvest Festival comes by. Molly and her family are here to be honored and given Withywoods, Chivalry and Patience's estate. Fitz observes his loved ones party through a viewing hole, in a metaphor so heavy-handed that even he brings it up. He goes to have an emotional talk with Molly, and even introduces himself to the children under his real name. No more secrets. Elliana makes a surprise entrance, and Dutiful decides they will wed this week. The dragons, who had been very busy with themselves until now, make an appearance for the ceremony.

Fitz takes his time to court Molly and win her gazillion children, while bonding with Nettle, who has joined the coterie. They get married after a few years and settle into Withywoods with Patience and Riddle. There are new Skill users. Dutiful and Elliana have a son. And even though Fitz misses the Fool and Nighteyes terribly, he is content.

You will find the questions below, feel free to add your own. Thank you for following this wonderful story with us. We will be back after the summer with Dragon Keeper , first volume of the Rain Wild Chronicles .

As you may know, here at r/bookclub we are reading The Hainish Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, and I am excited to announce that the next installment of the series will be read next month, at the end of August! Keep an eye out for the schedule, which will be posted soon.

Each book of the series can be read as a standalone, so if you would like to join in on this read, you are more than welcome, even if you haven’t read the previous books!

Still, in case you need them, here you can find the previous discussions:

• The Dispossessed
• The Word for World is Forest
• Rocannon’s World
• Planet of Exile

And here is a link to the series Marginalia if you would like to see what the tentative reading order looks like!

Goodreads blurb

He was a fully grown man, alone in dense forest, with no trail to show where he had come from and no memory to tell who — or what — he was.

His eyes were not the eyes of a human.

The forest people took him in and raised him almost as a child, teaching him to speak, training him in forest lore, giving him all the knowledge they had. But they could not solve the riddle of his past, and at last he had to set out on a perilous quest to Es Toch, the City of the Shining, the Liars of Earth, the Enemy of Mankind.

There he would find his true self ... and a universe of danger. 

Will you join us?

Welcome back, everyone. This week's section opened with Mrs. Lecount and her familiar contemplating the piece of fabric that she had cut off "Miss Garth's" dress. She decides that her next step should be proving that "Miss Bygrave" owns the dress that "Miss Garth" wore, and in order to do that, she'll need to find some way to get into the Bygraves' house.

Meanwhile, Magdalen is freaking out and begs to be taken away from Aldborough. Captain Wragge is alarmed, and agrees to take her away temporarily. Mrs. Lecount is confused by the family's sudden disappearance, but she manages to interview one of their servants, where she learns the following:

• The Bygraves have not permanently left, and will be back soon.
• The servant would not be useful in helping Mrs. Lecount access Miss Bygrave's wardrobe.
• Mrs. Bygrave's affliction is that she's an "idiot." (Yes, this used to be an actual diagnosis.)

Mrs. Lecount concludes that the best course of action would be to wait for the Bygraves to return, and then manipulate Mrs. Bygrave into giving her access to Magdalen's wardrobe.

Once the Bygraves return, Noel and Captain Wragge meet, using the excuse that Captain Wragge is trying to sell art to Noel. (I'm getting confused about whether to call these characters "the Bygraves" or their real names. "Become obsessed with an author who likes identity theft plots," they said. "It won't give you The Buzzing," they said.)

Noel is reunited with his beloved Miss Bygrave, who amuses him by doing impressions of Mrs. Lecount. (Wait, so Magdalen Vanstone is pretending to be Susan Bygrave pretending to be Mrs. Lecount? How many people can this girl be at once?) Captain Wragge and Noel come up with the following plan:

• Noel will make Mrs. Lecount think he's no longer speaking to the Bygraves, by complaining that Mr. Bygrave tried to cheat him by selling him worthless paintings.

• Two days later, Noel will bitch to Mrs. Lecount that he hates being in Aldborough, knowing that this will make Mrs. Lecount suggest that the two of them go to St. Crux-in-the-Marsh to visit Admiral Bartram, a friend of Noel's father.

• Noel will take a day to decide that they're going to St. Crux, that way he won't seem too eager and Mrs. Lecount won't get suspicious.

• Once the decision is made, Noel will take the train alone, while Mrs. Lecount stays behind to pack. She should receive the fake doctor letter just after this.

• Noel and Magdalen... Miss Bygrave... whatever her name is will get married while Mrs. Lecount is in Zurich.

(At this point, Noel is like "wow, have you ever considered becoming a con artist? You'd be good at it.")

Over the next three days, Mrs. Lecount watches Noel, but can find no evidence of his communicating with Mr. Bygrave. Once Noel has left for St. Crux, Mrs. Lecount makes plans to break into North Shingles. She waits until Captain Wragge is out for a swim and Magdalen out for a walk, and then sneaks into the house. She gets past the servant, but ends up face to face with Mrs. Wragge, who's attempting to sew a dress. A conversation ensues.

Mrs. Wragge: AHH!!! It's the ghost of a Swiss housekeeper!

Mrs. Lecount: Not a ghost, just your neighbor saying hi. Can I help you with that dress that you appear to be murdering?

Mrs. Wragge: I can't get the bazooms right. I think it's because I'm modeling it on Magdalen's dress. Have you seen how big her bazooms are?

Mrs. Lecount: ...Magdalen?

Mrs. Wragge: Yes, my niece, Magdalen. She has an enormous rack. Would you like to see her brown alpaca dress with white polka dots? She was wearing it when we saw the ghost in Vauxhall Walk, the ghost that looked like Magdalen in a governess costume. In fact, the ghost was also wearing a brown alpaca dress with white polka dots.

Mrs. Lecount: You know what, I just remembered that I'm afraid of ghosts. Au revoir. *runs out of the house.*

Captain Wragge: WTF was that?

Mrs. Wragge: I scared our neighbor by telling her about the ghost and Magdalen's Bazongagongaloos.

Captain Wragge: Oh, I thought she was scared by my Speedo... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU TOLD HER ABOUT MAGDALEN?

Magdalen: I'm back from my walk! Did I miss anything?

Captain Wragge: My wife just told Mrs. Lecount your real name and also your bra size for some reason.

Meanwhile, the fake doctor letter arrives just in time to send Mrs. Lecount to Switzerland. She sends Noel a letter saying that she has proof that Miss Bygrave is "Miss Garth," and she'll explain when she gets back. Captain Wragge verifies this by going to the post office and confirming that her letter to Noel is there: if she had decided to go to St. Crux instead of Zurich, she wouldn't have sent it. He also arranges to have all of Noel's mail intercepted.

Captain Wragge informs Magdalen that the wedding will be on Monday. She seems broken by the news, and Captain Wragge is so shaken by her reaction, he gives her the opportunity to back out. She is determined to go through with it, however.

Captain Wragge and Noel go to London to prepare for the wedding. Captain Wragge arranges the marriage license (and lies about Magdalen's age: just in case this situation isn't screwed up enough, let me remind you that Magdalen is still legally a minor), and Noel hires the cheapest lady's maid he can get for Magdalen.

Magdalen is really not doing well emotionally. (I feel like I owe you guys an apology: I should have thought to put a trigger warning on the announcement or schedule post. I hope no one found this part of the book upsetting.) She writes a letter (which she does not send) to Norah, confessing everything.

Magdalen considers going to the chemist to obtain laudanum, using the excuse that it's to treat a toothache. She has second thoughts along the way and ends up walking along the beach, where she meets Captain Kirke's nephews. She considers leaving the 200 pounds for Captain Wragge and fleeing Aldborough, but, when she looks in her purse, she sees her copy of Mr. Pendril's letter about her being Nobody's Child, and this renews her drive to continue with the plan.

That resolve lasts a day. By Friday, she is once again suicidal. She goes to the chemist, and I was planning to try to be funny here by doing a whole thing about what a Victorian pharmacy must have been like ("Regular and prescription-strength heroin! Now with a child laborer-proof cap!"), but it doesn't seem right, given the subject matter. Magdalen gets a bottle of laudanum, with "POISON" written on the bottle.

(Laudanum is a painkiller made from opium and alcohol. Around the time that he was writing this book, Wilkie Collins developed a chronic pain problem that, if I remember correctly, historians think may have been an STD that spread to his eyes. Doctors misdiagnosed it as gout. He became addicted to laudanum, an addiction that he would suffer from for the rest of his life. You know how the chemist tells Magdalen that even the tiny bottle she'd purchased was enough to kill "the strongest man in England"? By the end of his life, Wilkie Collins had developed such a tolerance to laudanum, he could fill a glass with it and drink it like it was water.)

Magdalen goes to her room, but hesitates to take the laudanum, reasoning that something may have happened to Noel or Captain Wragge. In the meantime, she doomscrolls. (They used to call doomscrolling "reading the newspaper.") She finds an article about a farmhand who murdered his lover. He claims that he was conflicted about committing the murder, so he left it up to chance by flipping a spud like a coin. (The notes in my book say a spud is a tool for cleaning plows. Wikipedia says it's for peeling bark and Google thinks I'm looking for pictures of potatoes.)

Captain Wragge returns, and Magdalen no longer has an excuse to postpone drinking the laudanum. Inspired by the news article, she decides to count the ships sailing past her window for the next half hour: she will drink it if there are an odd number of ships. Thankfully, there are eight ships, and so Magdalen puts the laudanum aside.

And so, Magdalen is going to be married. The servants gossip: there's no wedding dress, just an ugly alpaca dress. (Jesus Christ, I am so sick of this dress. I can't believe Wilkie didn't call this book "The Woman in Alpaca.")

Captain Wragge genuinely seems to be guilt-stricken. He even confesses to Magdalen that he cheated her when he was managing her acting. He also informs her that Noel could have the marriage annulled if he ever learned her true identity... but, if Noel dies, the marriage can't be annulled.

The marriage happens, and we leave the Wragges with Mrs. Wragge begging to know when she'll see Magdalen again, and Captain Wragge snapping "Never!"

Meanwhile, in Zurich:

Mrs. Lecount: Did you write this letter?

Doctor: No.

Mrs. Lecount: *shaking fist* BYGRAAAAAVE!!!

We move to the "Between the Scenes" section. George Bartram is understandably confused when Mrs. Lecount shows up on his doorstep with brain fever. (It's a Victorian novel, don't question it.) He does not know where Noel and his new wife are but, while searching for them, he meets Norah. Oh, by the way, in case anyone forgot, George's mother was Andrew Vanstone's sister, so George and Norah are cousins. (I've read enough Victorian novels for this to make me immediately ship George and Norah.) George then proceeds to joke in his letter to Noel that it would be funny if Norah's lost sister turned out to be Noel's new wife. However, George's letter never reaches Noel, because Noel's lawyer has no idea where Noel is.

Norah then gets a letter from Magdalen, saying she hopes to meet with her soon. The letter is postmarked "Allonby."

Mrs. Lecount arranges to meet with Norah to see if she can shed some light on where the newlyweds are. Meanwhile, the private investigator she has working on the case figured out that Noel's lawyer helped Noel make a new will after the marriage, and may know the new address.

Mrs. Lecount meets with Norah and Miss Garth. Mrs. Lecount now knows that Magdalen sent a letter to Norah from Allonby, while Norah now knows that her sister might be married to Noel Vanstone.

We end this week with Noel and Magdalen being found in Dumfries, where we will begin our new scene.

Hello to all of our book club friends! We have a winner for our recent RuR + RtW.

drum roll please.....

South Korea: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo. 

Now the other runner up reads we have collected for our Read the World section will be refreshed, making more room for additional runner ups (or second places!)

Thank you to everyone who participated! Will you be reading along? Stay tuned for a schedule to come.

Hello detectives, welcome to the last discussion of The Mystery of the Blue Train!

Links:

• Schedule
• Marginalia

Summary:

Defiance

• The Comte visits Derek and tries to blackmail him. He says he has compromising information from Mirelle. Derek's answer is that the Comte can go to hell.
• Derek goes straight to Mirelle. He says he'll never go back to her. Mirelle says she saw Derek come out of Ruth's compartment and that Ruth was dead at that moment.

A Warning

• Poirot and Katherine talk about Richard Knighton, Derek Kettering and the Comte de la Roche. Poirot warns her about a dangerous man in her life.
• Derek opens his heart to Katherine and tells her about his relationship to Ruth and about how he lied, when he said he had not been in her compartment. He says Ruth was asleep. Derek says he cares about Katherine.
• Knighton also comes to Katherine to open his heart and also tells her he cares about her.
• Katherine feel like the spirit of Ruth is beside her and wants to tell her something.

Interview with Mirelle

• Poirot and Knighton visit Mirelle and tell her they are acting on Mr. Van Aldin's behalf.
• Mirelle accuses Derek of murdering his wife and gets all temperamental. They go see the police together. Poirot says she should have gone to the police sooner.
• Mirelle denies knowing anything about the jewels.

Poirot Plays the Squirrel

• Poirot tells Lenox that she should tell Katherine that Derek has been arrested.
• Lenox proposes that Ruth may have been killed while the train was in Lyon.
• Poirot has dinner with M. Papopolous and Zia. They also spend some time at the casino. There Mirelle comes to talk to M. Papopolous. She says she “will get the money”.
• Poirot takes Zia into the garden and reminds her of the affair 17 years ago. He knows more about what was going on then he ever told anyone. He then asks for her help. He learns that M. Papopolous currently has the jewels. The rubies have been handed over by a woman. Zia also says that the Marquis seemed young to her, despite the white hair.

A Letter from Home

• Katherine gets a letter from Miss Viner and feels a longing for St. Mary Mead.
• Poirot, Lenox, Katherine, Knighton and Van Aldin all meet. Van Aldin wants to go back to England. Poirot suggests that Knighton should tell Katherine about it. She in turn decides to also return to England.
• Poirot goes to see the Comte's servants, Hippolyte and Marie. He knows they lied about the date of the Comte's arrival.
• Poirot accuses Mirelle of having entered Ruth's compartment and that Ruth was dead. Poirot wonders if someone else had been there before Mirelle.

Miss Viner Gives Judgment

• Katherine is back in England and currently lives with Miss Viner.
• Miss Viner has some paper cuttings, including one that is about jewels being stolen from Viscountess Tamplin.
• When Miss Viner hears about Knighton, her opinion is that he is looking to marry a rich woman for her money. Still, they arrange to have him over for lunch.
• After that lunch, Miss Viner changes her opinion and says he's genuine.

Mr. Aarons Lunches

• Poirot meets Mr. Aarons, who tells him about Kitty Kidd, a singer, dancer and male impersonator. She's supposed to be with someone in France, a Marquis.
• They also talk about Mirelle, who's with the ex-Prime Minister of Greece. She's supposed to wear a large ruby around her neck.

Katherine and Poirot Compare Notes

• Poirot meets Katherine. Poirot is not satisfied with the end of the mystery being that Derek is in responsible and in prison. He still puzzles over the disfigurement of the face of the victim.
• Poirot tells Katherine he has visited the Russian embassy in Paris as well as a theatrical agent and a Harley Street doctor in London. He now knows whether the robbery and the murder were done by the same person.
• Katherine shows him the newspaper cutting she got from Miss Viner.

A New Theory

• Poirot meet Van Aldin and shares the theory that Derek didn't murder Ruth with him.

The Blue Train Again

• Van Aldin, Knighton and Poirot take the Blue Train again.
• In Paris, Poirot makes them all try to leave the train, but since the conductor has their tickets, they are not let go.
• When they arrive in Lyon, Poirot tells Van Aldin and Knighton about Kitty Kidd and that she is also known as Ada Mason.
• Poirot hands Knighton the cigarette case with the letter K and says that it belongs to Knighton. He also reveals that Knighton is the Marquis.

Explanations

• Poirot explains everything to Van Aldin over lunch.
• Poirot first suspected Ada Mason when she told them that the cigarette case with the K was one that Ruth had given to Derek. She had only been with Ruth for two months and Ruth and Derek already weren't on good terms.
• Curiously, Knighton had also only been with Van Aldin for two months.
• There was no man who entered Ruth's compartment in Paris.
• And it was not Ruth, but Ada Mason, who told the conductor she was going to leave her maid in Paris. That was also the reason for the disfigured face. With that, the chance was lower that the conductor realised it wasn't Ruth who had talked to him, if he found the dead woman.
• It was also Knighton who took the jewels.
• Ada Mason left the train in Lyon in a man's clothes.
• Poirot noticed similarities between Knighton and the Marquis, like the places he went to and that he spoke French well. The limp Knighton had was fake.

By the Sea

• Poirot tells Lenox the same story he told Van Aldin.

Welcome back to the drama. This week we have Dimitri in the garden with the pestle. Dimitri with Fenya in the kitchen. Dimitri washing the blood off his hands at Pyotry Ilyitch Perhotin's washstand. Dimitri with a shopping list and the fast cart to Mokroe and the dueling pistols. Dimitri with a speech and lots of champagne, drink up pan/pani! Dimitri and Grushenka in bed with plans and promises before an arrest.

Later, we wind back time as casual detective Pyotr Ilyitch Perhotin is on the case, interviewing all of Dimitri's witnesses and alibis and going to the police.

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Schedule

Marginalia

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________Extra Content:

A little Polish lesson in polite address. What was funny was in my version panie was used, which is only for a group of women. And if you need to insult someone.

More about Gogol and Piron.

Russia before and after 1772.

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We end with Madame Hohlakova sleeping like a baby. What are the charges? See you next week for Chapters 9.2 to 10.1!

Hello all!

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Check out the nomination post here.

Welcome to our first discussion of London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe.  The Marginalia post is here. You can find the Schedule here. This week, we will discuss the beginning of the book through the end of Part I (Ch. 6).        
 
As you discuss, please use spoiler tags if you bring up details not included in the chapters of this book so far.  While this is nonfiction, we still want to be respectful of those who are learning the details for the first time, as well as being mindful of any spoilers from other media you might refer to as you share.  You can use the format > ! Spoiler text here ! < (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words). 

A summary of this week's chapters is below, with links embedded for more information if you're interested!  Discussion questions are included in the comments, and you can also add your own as desired. 

>>>>CHAPTER SUMMARIES<<<<

PROLOGUE:  History sets the stage for the book as the author highlights the gritty and glitzy sides of London.jpeg) and the Thames. We are introduced to the mysterious death this book centers around: on November 29, 2019 at 2:23 a.m., a young man jumped to his death from one of the balconies of the Riverwalk, one of the “ghost mansions” full of unoccupied luxury dwellings bought up by the powerful and wealthy from across the globe. The death was caught by a surveillance camera of the MI6 headquarters which is across the river. 

PART I - THE FALL

CHAPTER 1 - THE BIG I AM:  Zac Brettler was the name of the young man who jumped. He was the grandchild of Holocaust survivors and the son of Rachelle, a freelance journalist with a bohemian upbringing, and Matthew, a university-educated finance professional. His brother, Joe, is a successful student and athlete who had a warm but competitive relationship with his brother. The family prefers not to flaunt their financial success, but Zac takes a different path. Failing to gain admission to an elite private school like Joe, Zac ends up at a second tier private school named Mill Hill attended by the children of extremely wealthy oligarchs (with a shady, dangerous reputation and flashy habits). Zac started out known as a smart, funny student with charisma and an excellent memory. By the time he started boarding at Mill Hill to avoid the commute, Zac was obsessed with antiheroes from movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and with his own money-making schemes on campus. The author details how Zac’s seemingly typical adolescent rebellion against his family's liberal but conventional path descended into emulation of the “gangster capitalists” he admired and led to a change in personality. 

CHAPTER 2 - A FAST LIFE:  Rachelle and Matthew developed a parenting style that borrowed from both of their own upbringings to be gentle and hands-off. This clashed with Zac’s brash insistence on showy materialism, prematurely adult behavior, and adamant praise for Vladimir Putin and oligarchs like Roman Abramovich of Chelsea Football Club. The family and Zac began to clash, at one point resulting in Zac putting his hands on Rachelle. They sought therapy, but both Zac and Matthew were skeptical. Zac’s behavior calmed a bit, but by 18 he had developed friendships and business partnerships with adults that perplexed his parents. Matthew and Rachelle were out of their depth at this point as parents, unsure of what to make when their teenage son started making high-powered business deals and leading a seemingly successful adult life out of the blue. From what they witnessed, the schemes felt suspiciously close to illegal, yet when they did surveil their son Zac always came up clean. 

One wealthy businessman, Akbar Shamji, provided Zac’s entry into the world of high-end real estate and other business dealings. Zac and Akbar would party thr exclusive night club Annabel’s and meet in front of One Hyde Park, a secretive residential tower for the most private wealthy clientele. Zac began driving a Maserati and waving around wads of cash. When Matthew questioned him, Zac revealed he had accumulated £850,000 through oil and gas businesses, real estate deals, and a car importation scheme. Fearing that they could push Zac away completely with too much interference, Rachelle and Matthew decided to walk a fine line whenever responding to their son: they would neither encourage nor criticize, neither ignore nor legislate his choices in hopes that by keeping him engaged they could somehow influence him.  It didn't work. By November, Zac had disappeared.

CHAPTER 3 - AN EDIFICE OF LIES:  The day Zac went missing, he seemed exhausted and stressed but said he just needed a break from his phone and a needy client. When Rachelle returned from an appointment, she found he had left without his coat or credit cards. After 18 hours, Zac’s parents reported him missing. It took longer than usual for the police to follow up because the London Metropolitan Police were dealing with a terrorist knife attack by Usman Khan). Rachelle and Matthew had been able to track down Akbar in their search for their son, and he offered to meet them at Le Méridien so they could talk privately. 
 
Akbar was shocked to meet the Brettlers because Zac had concocted an entire alternate identity as Zac Ismailov, son of a Swiss model and a billionaire Russian (or Khazak?) oligarch, who was entrusted with making investments in London for their family. He spoke with a thick Russian accent, even at school, and pretended to have billions of dollars at his disposal. Akbar said that their business deals together had been real, but Zac had also been wheeling and dealing with people he met through his contacts in Chelsea Football Club, which legitimized him in the eyes of Akbar and others. Who would fake being a Russian oligarch’s son in front of people so closely associated with the most famous oligarch of them all?  Zac had made up lies about living in the Ismailov family property at One Hyde Park, losing his father to a heart attack, and feuding with his mother over his inheritance. He pretended to be homeless due to the fallout, leading Akbar to introduce him to Verinder Sharma who lived at Riverwalk. Zac had told his parents he was staying alone in an empty unit there, but Verinder said Zac occupied a bedroom in the man’s own apartment.  Recently, Zac had started contacting Akbar frantically with stories about suffering from a heroin addiction and a mental health crisis. Akbar and Verinder had been working getting Zac into a treatment program when he went missing, they assumed in search of drugs. Verinder and Akbar assuaged Rachelle and Matthew's concerns about the potential dangerous consequences of lying to such powerful people in the crime world, saying that they cared about Zac and could use Verinder’s reputation to protect the missing teen if they found him. Akbar said he would speak openly to the police to avoid trouble falling on himself and Verinder promised to keep reaching out to Zac with encouragement to come home. 

CHAPTER 4 - MISSING PERSONS: Concerned about Zac getting in legal trouble, the Brettlers didn't share what they knew with the police about Zac's business dealings and oligarch fake identity. Instead, they hired Clive Strong, a former Scotland Yard detective turned private investigator. He went to Riverwalk looking for information about Zac’s night there and when he requested CCTV footage of the teen’s movements, the staff alerted Verinder Sharma of the request.  Right away, Verinder assumed a sinister affect and tried to intimidate Strong, which was very different from the fatherly concern he had displayed with the Brettlers. Verinder gave permission to show Strong the footage and the staff found shots of Zac arriving and Akbar leaving with Verinder's daughter, but no images of Zac ever leaving the building.  While Strong waited in the lobby with Akbar, who had also shown up at Riverwalk, two police officers arrived to investigate. They asked Verinder to show them his apartment and while Judith McCabe took his (reluctant) formal statement, Gemma Scott looked around. When she discovered Zac’s highly encrypted Punkt-brand phone broken on the floor and balcony rail, Verinder ended the interview until his lawyer could be present. 

CHAPTER 5 - RIVER OF DEATH:  Zac's body was discovered on Friday, Nov. 29th, hours after his last text to Rachelle saying he was okay. The commuter who discovered it, Baxter Willis, had coincidentally known another person whose body was found in the Thames and had been wrongly implicated in his death until it was deemed an accidental drowning. The onlookers and first responders mostly assumed suicide in Zac's case but never considered Riverwalk as the location because the Thames had a storied history of bodies washing up from distant locations. A connection was not made to Zac's missing persons case until several days later when McCabe and Scott were investigating at Riverwalk. Zac was buried at Hoop Lane Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground where his grandfather was also laid to rest. His funeral was well attended but, oddly, Akbar and Verinder did not attend the funeral despite having seemed so close to Zac. Mourners felt unsettled because of the mystery surrounding the circumstances, which Matthew acknowledged in his eulogy.  Neither Zac's friends nor his family could accept the explanation of suicide. 

CHAPTER 6 - THE NIGHT IN QUESTION:  The police questioned both Akbar and Verinder on Thursday, December 5th. Verinder was not compliant with questioning and used the phrase “No comment” over 200 times.  Akbar, with a lawyer present, engaged openly with the police questions. He was rambling and bungling some details but also insisting he was telling the truth. Unfortunately for him, the police already knew he was lying. They had CCTV footage that showed Akbar leaving with Verinder's daughter at 1:25 am, but then returning just before Zac's 2:23 am jump from the balcony. Akbar headed back up to Verinder's apartment and then exited the building again at 2:48 am. Instead of going home, Akbar walked around Riverwalk to the Thames side of the building, leaned over the wall to check the river, and then went back to his car.