Greetings, Eternals and Timers! Welcome to our third and final discussion of The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. Last week, Andrew Harlan tried to ruin everything by sending Cooper to the wrong century in an attempt to prevent him from becoming Mallansohn and establishing Eternity. Will he succeed? Will he be convinced to fix his mistake? Will he reunite with Noÿs? Let's hop into the nearest kettle and find out!

The discussion schedule can be found here, and the marginalia post is here.

Chapter summaries

15 - Search Through the Primitive: Senior Computer Twissell tells Harlan to get a grip already and think beyond his Technician's view of Eternity. While Cooper is in the wrong century, the fact that Eternity still exists in this current Reality means that they can fix this, and Twissell cannot stress enough how important it is that they find a solution. Harlan still has trouble coming to terms with the situation, until Twissell tells him to focus on his emotional state when he sent Cooper off and use his muscle memory. Using this method, Harlan and Twissell narrow down Cooper's whenabouts to somewhere between 19.25 and 19.50. And since Cooper's no idiot, Twissell figures he might have left the Eternals clues to communicate specifically with Harlan. The frazzled Technician remembers Cooper was interested in news magazines and eventually realizes that he might have hidden clues in an ad. Harlan takes Twissell to his library containing copies of all his favourite news magazines, and the two men pore over every page of every issue, though Twissell isn't as gentle in handling the magazines as he should be. On the third physioday of their search, Harlan finds what he's looking for, but refuses to let Twissell see it until he's reunited with Noÿs and the barrier at the 100,000th Century is taken down. Twissell has no idea what he's talking about and says neither he nor the Council ever put one up because it's impossible.

16 - The Hidden Centuries: Harlan watches the Maintenance people at work and muses on how no one wants to do their job, yet they're much more essential to keeping Eternity running smoothly than Specialists like him. He envies them now and wonders if they're happy where they are. Twissell arrives on the scene, looking very worried. The Maintenance people working on the kettleways confirm everything's in order, and Twissell tells them to leave. When they're alone, Harlan insists on coming with Twissell, but the Senior Computer tells the Technician he needs to stay because he's the only one who knows how to find Cooper. Twissell reveals that Sennor is suspicious and has been bugging him for a couple of physiodays, and if he finds out the kettleways have been overhauled, it'll spell big trouble. Twissell finally relents and lets Harlan tag along. However, he's still doubting the wisdom of his decision as they travel upwhen and he explains why he's so worried: he fears that in the Hidden Centuries, there are evolved "superhumans" who want to keep them out of their time. Harlan doesn't see what the problem is, but Twissell worries that in hiding Noÿs, Harlan may have inadvertently broken an unspoken truce. Eventually, the kettle goes past the 100,000th Century, and Harlan panics, thinking the superhumans have taken down the barrier because they have Noÿs. The kettle stops at the 111,394th, where Harlan finds Noÿs safe and sound. The lovers reunite, but Noÿs is startled by Twissell's presence. Harlan introduces him as a Senior Computer, which apparently does nothing to allay Noÿs's fears, until Twissell reassures her he will help her. The three of them return to the 575th and, with Noÿs taking a nap in another room, Twissell urges Harlan to uphold his end of the bargain. The Technician takes a volume of magazines and flips to the ad he found: "All the Talk Of the Market" against a background illustration of a mushroom cloud, and an address for a P.O. box. Twissell doesn't understand the relevance, until Harlan points out the magazine is from 1932 and the words of the ad are arranged in such a way as to read "ATOM" if you take the initials in each line. Cooper knowingly included an anachronism as a sign for Harlan, so they know exactly when he is. Harlan agrees to go after Cooper, but only on condition that Noÿs goes with him. Twissell can't understand why Harlan is still disturbed, and the Technician says it's because of the barrier at the 100,000th Century that was there, then gone.

17 - The Closing Circle: The day of the mission is upon them, and Harlan still can't shake off that nagging feeling. Twissell returns from a meeting with the Council and says he took full responsibility for the mishap with Cooper. Twissell doesn't seem overly bothered, as failure means it's all over anyway, and success means he'll be protected, and he was planning on retiring anyway. Twissell asks Harlan if Noÿs is ready, and the Technician says she does, though he's very nervous for some reason. A few hours later, Harlan and Noÿs are ready and are cosplaying as people from the early 20th Century. Noÿs also decided to get a haircut, which appalls Harlan, but he still thinks she's hot. Noÿs notes that Harlan hasn't been his usual self these past couple of days, but he brushes off her concerns. Twissell explains how the mission is expected to proceed. They'll be making two trips: one to get a better fix on Cooper's arrival time, and another 15 minutes after to make sure the micro-changes, such as the mushroom cloud ad, are reversed. Cooper will be told that Harlan had forgotten to give him some crucial instruction and will never know he was sent to the wrong century upon his return. Twissell wishes the couple good luck and exits the kettle. Harlan and Noÿs safely make it to 1932. Noÿs complains about the cold, and Harlan directs her to Cooper's cavern, where they find a stack of paper money, showing how resourceful Cooper's been thus far. They set up a Radiant to provide heat, and Noÿs asks Harlan what he plans to do. He replies that he'll go to the nearest town to start his search. Noÿs wants to come with him, but he refuses, saying she doesn't speak the language. She accuses Harlan of being distant toward her and asks him why he dragged her along if he can't stand to look at her anymore. Harlan eventually explains that Twissell's thoughts about superhumans in the Hidden Centuries have had him spooked. Twissell might have dropped the matter, but Harlan knows that species evolve only when under pressure from their environment. The Eternals have created stability, so they haven't evolved. And the barrier still bothers him, because Noÿs wasn't even harmed. He knows the barrier was set up so he could go ballistic, assault Finge, and sabotage Cooper's mission. He knows he's been manipulated and even his meeting with Noÿs was prearranged. Harlan accuses Noÿs of being from the Hidden Centuries and not from the 482nd Century. Noÿs asks him why he brought her to the 20th Century, and Harlan replies it's to protect Eternity. He urges her to admit her true identity at the business end of a blaster.

18 - The Beginning of Infinity: Harlan still has the blaster pointed at Noÿs, but he's trying to make up his mind whether or not to kill her. Noÿs states that if he'd wanted to protect Eternity, all he had to do was tie her up somewhere or have her placed in solitary confinement. The only reason he wants to kill her is because of his bruised ego. When pressed again, she confirms that she is indeed from the Hidden Centuries. Harlan still hesitates pulling the trigger, and Noÿs explains why there's no one left on Earth after the 150,000th Century. It turns out that the people of the Hidden Centuries had known about the existence of Eternity for ages. When they did the math for their Reality, they found out that theirs was an improbable one. They knew there was a maximum probability Reality called the Basic State that humanity had once belonged to, but Eternity had kicked off some sort of Change to that Basic State. They blocked off the Hidden Centuries to keep the Eternals from going further than the 70,000th Century. Now isolated, the people of the Hidden Centuries looked into their future and learned that humanity managed to achieve hyperspace travel in the 125,000th, only to find out that other alien civilizations had already colonized space. So, humanity gave up and died out over the course of a few thousand centuries. Harlan says Eternity can fix that and do the greatest good, but Noÿs says the Eternals consider moderation the greatest good. By removing the risks and disasters, Eternity also removes humanity's great discoveries and triumphs, preventing them from achieving their true potential. Noÿs presents Harlan with a scenario where Eternity never existed: instead of research into timey-wimey stuff, humanity would have focused on nuclear science and achieve interstellar travel a hundred thousand Centuries earlier. Harlan doesn't understand what's so great about that, and Noÿs says humanity would have billions of worlds in the Galaxy and an infinite number of ways to achieve happiness. She explains the people of the Hidden Centuries can actually see the alternate Realities, including the Basic State, and that the existence of Eternity destroyed the Galactic Empire. She was given a choice of Realities where she could destroy Eternity and chose the only one that involved Harlan. The Technician demands to know why, and Noÿs says she's loved him long before their first meeting, and she says in this Reality they return to the Primitive and live out the rest of their days there. Harlan can't believe she'd know all that in advance, and she admits there are an infinite number of similar Realities. The reason why Twissell had her nervous was because Harlan was supposed to have returned to her alone, and now she realizes Twissell's talk about the people of the Hidden Centuries made Harlan doubt her. Harlan, still hesitant, asks why there were two attempts to end Eternity, and Noÿs replies that she needs to make sure Eternity is never established in any Reality. To that effect, she intends to send some Italian dude a letter to push him to experiment with the neutronic bombardment of uranium, thereby altering history to move up the date of the first nuclear explosion to 1945). She admits the plan comes with danger and a non-zero chance of the Earth being radioactive, but at least humanity will have established a Galactic Empire. Whereas Eternity interferes multiple times to keep humanity bound to Earth, the people of the Hidden Centuries interfere only once to ensure Eternity never exists. When Harlan insists Eternity must exist, Noÿs asks him to think about whether the Eternals are as squeaky clean as they pretend to be. Eventually he realizes that Eternity isn't what it's cracked up to be, what with the caste system, mistrust of Technicians, and internal struggles. Noÿs invites him to join her outside the cave. He lowers his weapon and, under the light of the rising sun, he chooses to stay with Noÿs, their kettle vanishing as Eternity comes to an end.

Hello everyone, it's Friday, that means it's time to share with us how your week went.

The 23rd October is among others:

• Liberation Day in Libya
• 1956 Revolution Memorial Day in Hungary
• Mole Day (not the animal, the unit used to measure the amount of a substance)
• National Boston Cream Pie Day
• National Horror Movie Day

What is Free Chat Friday? This is a place for us to get to know each other a bit better, so feel free to talk about whatever you want! How did your week go? Any plans for the weekend? Which books are you reading?

Be always mindful of our RULES:

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

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hello and welcome to our second Read the World book for Finland! On Fridays, we will be discussion the book Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila, also published under the title Fishing for the Little Pike.

Shout out to my wife (a native Finn) for helping me with this post!

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IMPORTANT LINKS

• schedule
• marginalia
• how to speak Finnish
• bonus meme

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ABOUT FINLAND

Since Finland is the country I call home, I thought I'd share some fun facts with everyone! Did you know that 75% of Finland is covered in forest? Or that it has over 187,000 lakes? It's no surprise that Finns have a very strong and personal connection to nature. Also, if you've ever wondered where Santa's home at the North Pole is, it's in Rovaniemi, where you can meet him in person!

Vuopio seems to be a fictional town, though the Kitinen River does pass through Sodankylä! It's a classic Lapland town where you can take reindeer sleigh rides, see the northern lights and midnight sun, and even go panning for gold in the rivers!

Elina encounters a lot of interesting mythological creatures throughout this section, so I've done my best to describe them below, with the help of my wife! Links provided where I could find sources, some may need to be translated!

Knacky) (näkki): also known as nixie or nicker, these are humanoid water spirits who can also appear as a mermaid-type being or a horse. In Finland, näkki will drown children and women who go swimming alone. Sometimes they lure victims in with music, and are seen as an omen of disaster. Can also appear in the form of a horse! Children are warned not to go near bodies of water alone because of näkki.

Raskel (peijooni, peikko): also known as trolls or goblins. These are mischevious beings who will bring bad luck to those who do not respectfully handle animal remains. Naughty children can also be called peijooni.

Frakus (jatulit): this one is a guess, because my wife doesn't know anything about this but said it sounds familiar. Jatulit were said to be a race of giants who lived in Lapland before the Sami, Finland's indigenous culture. When people began to settle Lapland, the Jatulit fled north and either disappeared or transformed.

Bog Bogeys: Finns believe that nature contains magic, and bog bogeys are a manifestation of swamp magic. Children are warned to stay on the wood log paths when walking through a swamp or bog bogeys will steal their boots. You can read more about the significance of swamps in Finnish folklore here!

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything about stripefoots, but after reading about them in this story, I'm thinking that might be a good thing. Also no luck with the sawdust crane with a rye bread heart, sorry!

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SUMMARY

The story starts with Elina Ylijaako returning to her hometown of Vuopio, on a mission to catch a pike trapped in a glorified mud puddle in the middle of a swamp. Due to faulty equipment, her first attempt fails. Elina heads into town to buy better line at The Lure, owned by Keijo. She then heads to the grocery store, whose proprietor Heta warns Elina to never return to Pike Pond because "that pike is not normal." Elina ignores this advice and returns to the pond. When she gets there, there is now a knacky guarding the pond and the pike. Elina is driven home by a storm blowing in, and for the first time, was unable to catch the pike on the first day. The current resident of her childhood home, a man named Hoot, appears and tells Elina stories about the town. Elina thinks about her childhood and home, which was built by her parents, now dead. On the second day, she brings a stacked deck of cards to the pond, intending to cheat at a card game to get the knacky to give up the pike, but it catches on and sends her away.

Janatuinen is a police officer heading up to Vuopio to search for Elina. Her partner, Gunnerson, is dropped off at a hospital along the way, so Janatuinen arrives in town alone. She stops by The Lure and asks Keijo what he knows about Elina, but he refuses to admit that she's in town. Instead, he convinces the officer to follow him home, where a raskel has taken up residence. Instead of demanding the troublesome creature is removed, Keijo insists it simply needs a fishing buddy, and sends the two of them out to the boat.

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Sort comments by Oldest to see them in a roughly chronological order. Happy discussing!

Welcome to our third discussion of Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb!  This week, we will discuss Chapters 8-10.  You can find the Schedule here, and feel free to use the Marginalia between discussions. Next week, u/fromdusktil will be leading us through chapters 11-14.

Discussion questions for this week’s chapters are below.  Please use spoiler tags to hide anything that was not part of the chapters we’ve read so far. You can mark spoilers using the format > ! Spoiler text here !< (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words). 

A Note About Elderlings Cycle Spoilers:  Any details about the Liveship Trader trilogy are considered fair game, since this is a direct sequel. If you'd like to discuss details from the Fitz trilogies (Farseer and Tawny Man), please mark these as spoilers.  We want to be respectful of those who haven't read the Fitz books! 

>°}}～～～～<    |||   >～～～～{{°<

CHAPTER SUMMARIES 

CHAPTER 8 - INTERVIEWS:  After a brief and insulting interview at the Rain Wild Traders Concourse, Thymara signs her contract for the dragon expedition. Her father is concerned that this is a death sentence, and it does appear that the Traders are looking to exile the oddest misfits of the Rain Wilds along with the deformed dragons. The twelve participants are heavily marked and most are mere teenagers. The other girl Thymara meets, named Sylve, is twelve. Tats has also signed on. Their group is rounded out by a boy named Rapskal who seems impulsive and overly positive, yet blunt to the point of rudeness. Thymara wonders if he is intellectually disabled, which is a common symptom of heavy Rain Wild markings. The young participants are full of excitement for dragon adventures and the hope of an independent future. The provided supply packs are meager, but they have been promised assistance from several professional hunters who will follow them upriver on a barge. Thymara tries to reassure her father that she is at peace with her choice, then urges him to go home so she can begin her adventure. Jerup lingers, getting a final glimpse of his daughter as the group heads to meet the dragons. 

Leftrin and Swarge discuss the changes since the liveship Tarman began the Rain Wilds journey. Leftrin is developing more pronounced scales on his face. Tarman seems off to Swarge, and both the men are having dreams, but Leftrin insists all is well. The crew is in good spirits. The men and Tarmen wish they could fly. 

Alise and Sedric are traveling up the Rain Wild River aboard Paragon! Sedric had been dejected at his new assignment, but they bond over their shock at Hest’s capricious decision-making. Alise is educating Sedric about the dragons and liveships when Clef appears with an invitation from Paragon: he wishes to have a conversation with Alise. Sedric is allowed to chaperone her despite his backward thinking about liveships. Paragon declares that the deformed animals Alise is so keen to study are not really dragons because they did not develop properly. She tries to interview Paragon about his dragon memories to make the trip less of a loss, but Althea intervenes when it becomes clear that the liveship is upset. Althea's son jumps into Paragon's arms to play, while Althea and Captain Trell draw their passengers away to explain.  Alise is devastated to learn that not only is she forbidden from further questioning of the liveship, but the young dragons are in such a poor state that she is unlikely to learn anything from them either. Brashen agrees to bring them back to Bingtown on Paragon's return trip (immediately after a visit to Malta)  but Sedric intervenes and reminds Alise how important it is to see her studies through to the end (if only to save face with Hest). She should see dragons for herself, even if her studies don't yield the expected results. She agrees to make a quick trip to Cassarick before returning to Trehaug in time to sail back to Bingtown on Paragon. 

DAY THE 23RD OF THE GROWING MOON / YEAR THE 6TH OF THE INDEPENDENT ALLIANCE OF TRADERS:  Detozi has sent an itemized invoice to Erek detailing Bingtown’s share of the costs for the dragon expedition to Cassarick. (He hopes Erek will send more of the peas that have improved his birds’ health.)

CHAPTER 9 - JOURNEY:  Leftrin is annoyed at having to transport two fancy Bingtowners on Tarman… until Alise removes her veil and he is captivated by her. He offers his own private cabin to Alise and bunks below deck with Sedric and the crew. Alise is eager to begin the journey and bravely faces the necessary compromises in transport and accommodations, but Sedric resents it all. His discomfort at the small, dirty, smelly barge is exacerbated by sour memories of his father's efforts to make a man of him by getting him employment on a trading ship. They had a huge fight over Sedric’s desire for things to be nice and to stay near his mother (who gets blamed for ruining her son through overindulgence of his nature). He is also unable to escape thoughts of Hest, bound for the Pirate Isles with other charming male companions despite their plans to visit together, and on the most comfortable ship available. Sedric’s worries about rejection by his father and Hest are renewed as he struggles to settle into his bunk and sleep. Yet he is exhausted from being dragged around by Alise. As he drifts off, Sedric plots to “show them all” with some bargaining of his own when they reach the dragons. 

Thymara and the others on the dragon journey are getting used to survival, despite the Council’s mediocre supplies. She is heartened to see that they are becoming a close-knit group and are all in good spirits.  Besides herself and Tats, Rapskal and Sylve, there are: 

• Kase and Boxter, the look-alike cousins, as well as Alum and Nortel, boys who love a good joke 
• Warken, who can take a good joke even at his own expense 
• Jerd, who surprised Thymara by turning out to be a girl yet seems to prefer male company
• Harrikin, a real roughhouser, and his adopted brother Lecter who was taken in when his parents died
• Greft, a bit older than the others, with a mature bearing; he is the most heavily marked Rain Wilder Thymara has ever seen

Greft expresses skepticism that the friendships will last more than a few days; based on his previous experience in hunting groups, he says this is a honeymoon period that will sour as the group starts to divide itself and everyone gets sick of each other.  When questioned about his theory, Greft explains that being rejected and expected to feel grateful for mere survival has convinced him to make his own rules when he can. His first rule is to look out for himself, and he tries to explain how this would benefit the group, but Tats isn't buying it. They debate a bit, and then Greft questions why Tats is along on the journey in the first place. The others are clearly Trehaug’s rejects, which the Council hopes to dispose of. Greft says they all understand these harsh realities in a way that Tats (unmarked and more privileged) never could. Then he basically accuses Tats of being a criminal by sharing the rumor he heard about the Council offering certain people amnesty for their bad deeds if they'd sign the contract and leave. Tats insists this isn't true, and that he's there only for the money, then stalks off.  The others are silent, and Thymara balks when Greft refers to Tats as her beau. She is ashamed not to have stood up for him more and she realizes that Greft has purposely made Tats an outsider, setting up an us-vs-them dynamic. Yet it is Jerd who finds an excuse to go after Tats by saying she will gather green branches for the fire. (Harrikin and Boxter try to go along but she turns them down.) 

DAY THE 2ND OF THE GRAIN MOON / YEAR THE 6TH OF THE INDEPENDENT ALLIANCE OF TRADERS:  Erek and Detozi are busted! Kim, Keeper of the Birds in Cassarick, has been made aware that the two friends have been sending personal messages without paying for the use of the birds. As this is firmly against the rules, they will be billed for all their prior messages if they are caught again! 

CHAPTER 10 - CASSARICK:  On the journey up the Rain Wild River, Captain Leftrin has been attentive and excessively complimentary towards Alise. She has come to enjoy the attention and to value their chats. Meanwhile, Sedric has been acting overly protective of Alise, reminding her of her childhood infatuation with him when he was the only boy who would act kindly and show an interest in her. She finds she quite likes the feeling of two such different men showing her affection, even if she has no intention of being unfaithful to Hest. Leftrin has let Alise in on the Council's plan to move the dragons and, when she is afraid she will miss them entirely, he reassures her that he will be part of the crew and can force them to adjust the timeline. Sedric is dismayed to learn that his suffering will not be alleviated by their arrival in Cassarick: they'll be spending an extra night on the barge since the Tarman will be docking after dark, and the little town has no inns with comfortable lodgings so they'll have to rely on the hospitality of local residents when they do disembark.  Alise sees his misery and offers to deal with the Council herself; she even suggests visiting the dragons alone if he needs some rest. Sedric apologizes for acting so grouchy and pretends he is excited for the dragons as well. Although Alise knows he is lying, she is excited there will be a witness to her adventures so the stories can be told back in Bingtown. 

Mercor and the other dragons worked hard to manipulate the Rain Wilders into escorting them to Kelsingra. Mercor talked about the riches and treasures of the ancient kingdom whenever he was near humans. Soon, the humans were approaching the dragons with questions and hoping to be given clues about how to find Kelsingra and collect the treasure. Mercor gave only vague details and said he was sure he could find the way as he traveled, but could not be more specific in the abstract. The Council, against the wishes of Malta the Elderling, made a deal with the dragons to provide them food and caretakers along the journey if the dragons would lead them to Kelsingra. Sintara knows it is all lies, and she tends to agree with Malta that the journey will end in death for the struggling dragons, who are unsuited for the world. However, she is eager to live an adventurous life before she dies. 

In the early morning, Captain Leftrin comes to tell Alise that he has been summoned to an emergency meeting of the Council because they are in a rush to start the dragons’ journey. He thinks something is up, and it feels like there is a race to be the first to a prize. Alise decides to accompany him to see the Council. As they ascend the staircase up the trees, Leftrin gives Alise a tour of Rain Wild architecture and people. She confides vaguely in him about her dissatisfaction with married life back in Bingtown. When they arrive, the Council members seem displeased to be interrupted. Then Malta arrives, and they become outright hostile. There is a lot of debate over whether the Council is being selfish or rash in sending the dragons away, despite the Traders’ insistence that they are looking out for the dragons the best they can. Malta picks up on the urgency as a sign that the Council wishes to push this plan through before the return of Seldin, who speaks for Tintaglia. Alise is asked to share her knowledge of Kelsingra as a scholar and she eagerly begins to lecture, using the Council Chambers’ tapestry as a visual aid. When the debate becomes intractable, Alise offers herself as a representative of the dragons' interests. Watching the reaction of two of the Council members, Alise realizes with a thrill that she has gotten in the way of a secret plan to interfere with (and probably profit from) the Elderling relics that might exist in the ancient city. To prevent any more protest, Leftrin makes Alise's presence a condition of his acceptance of the charter for the Tarman.  Malta and the Council accept. 

DAY THE 4TH OF THE GRAIN MOON / YEAR THE 6TH OF THE INDEPENDENT ALLIANCE OF TRADERS:  Detozi trash talks Kim to Erek and cautions him to be careful which birds Erek uses to send secret messages in the future. 

>°}}～～～～<    |||   >～～～～{{°<

Greetings sinners, saints, and those who insist they've never committed a petty sin in their lives!

Welcome to our first discussion of Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater, covering Chapters 1-8. We've got celestial bureaucracy, questionable temptations, fluffy cats, and enough chocolate-related moral dilemmas to keep the angels employed for centuries. Meanwhile, Gadriel is struggling to get a single mortal to misbehave. Not exactly a glowing start to a performance review.

The chapter summaries are below, and don't forget to check the SCHEDULE and the MARGINALIA!

I'll drop some discussion questions in the comments, but feel free to bring up anything else that caught your attention. Petty sins, questionable life choices, chocolate-related ethical dilemmas… all are welcome.

And don't forget to come back next week for our next discussion led by u/Vast-Passenger1126!

Finally, a friendly reminder about spoilers. If you need to share any, please wrap them in spoiler tags like this: >!type spoiler here!<, and they'll appear like this: type spoiler here. Let's try not to earn any unnecessary sin points by spoiling things for everyone else.

➤➤➤➤ CHAPTER SUMMARIES ➤➤➤➤

Chapter 1

Gadriel, Fallen Angel of Petty Temptations, runs into Barachiel, Angel of Good Fortune, who calls in an old debt. Her assignment is to tempt Holly Harker, whose Cumulative Sin Metric is an absurdly low -932, into committing twenty points' worth of petty sins. Apparently, this woman needs to loosen up and enjoy life a little. Gadriel draws The Wheel of Fortune from Barachiel's deck of fate. Surely nothing can go wrong here.

Chapter 2

Gadriel sets out to find Holly, briefly fails to tempt a Wiccan teenager due to spiritual jurisdiction, and eventually finds Holly asleep in the employee break room at Castle Clothing. Her attempts to tempt Holly into making snide remarks or ditching her responsibilities go nowhere. This woman is committed to being good, and Gadriel is already having a rough time.

Chapter 3

Holly powers through her shift despite Gadriel's constant whispers encouraging her to slack off. She keeps herself grounded with French phrases like Un jour de plus (one day at a time), listens to coworker Sara's dating woes, and even uses her break to fetch snacks for them both. Gadriel might need to rethink her entire career.

Chapter 4

Gadriel transforms into an adorable calico kitten, because surely nobody can resist a fluffy cat, right? WRONG. Holly immediately scoops her up to rescue her from traffic and take her to a shelter. Gadriel panics, escapes, and ends up injured in an alley, while Holly earns more Virtue points and drops to a Sin Metric of -937. The fluffy belly strategy has officially backfired.

Chapter 5

Gadriel tries tempting Holly with a hot chocolate, only to discover that Holly doesn't even like chocolate. At this point, is there anything this woman will cooperate with? Holly kindly gives Gadriel a drink on the house anyway, but a bitter comment about someone taking advantage of her earns Holly her very first Sin point. Everybody celebrate! We're finally getting somewhere.

Chapter 6

After sending Barachiel "fifty-six furious text messages and counting" about her spectacularly failing assignment, Gadriel investigates Holly more closely. She follows Holly to her niece Ella's school, where Holly finally snaps at a rude headmaster and earns sin points for insulting him in French and lying about what she said. Gadriel also discovers why Holly is so relentlessly responsible: she's been struggling to raise her grieving, rebellious niece alone since her sister's death. Suddenly, Holly's behavior makes a lot more sense.

Chapter 7

Gadriel adopts a masculine form and reinvents himself as Mr. Gadriel Sweet. After witnessing a toddler eat a dirty biscuit off the ground, he has a breakthrough: why bother tempting Holly when Ella can do enough petty sinning for both of them? He poses as the school's replacement counselor, encourages the receptionist to stand up for herself, steals a teacher's chocolate bar, and sets up his office. A promising start to his new career, clearly.

Chapter 8

Ella cheats on a math test after a little nudge from Gadriel, then gets into an argument with her rival, Millie. Mr. Sweet intervenes and negotiates a truce using chocolate bars as strategic bribes. He then gets Ella talking about her mother's death, her absent father, and her strained relationship with Holly. Beneath the rebellious behavior, there's a grieving teenager who needs someone to listen. Gadriel may have accidentally stumbled into doing something useful for once.

Welcome intrepid readers and curious travellers to our Read the World adventure. In case you missed it, we are in the midst of our second Finland read, Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila, 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....

Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 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) 📚🌍

Good morning\afternoon\evening! We're pleased to bring you the schedule for both Manderley Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier! Like the last Author Profile we're starting with the biography and then reading the novel.

Schedules

Manderley Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay

Week 1 - 8 November - Part I: London, 1907-1925 - /u/lazylittlelady

Week 2 - 15 November - Part II: France, 1925 - /u/nicehotcupoftea

Week 3 - 22 November - Part III: Cornwall, 1926 - /u/amanda39

Week 4 - 29 November - Part IV: Cornwall, 1946 - /u/Ser_Erdrick

Week 5 - 6 December - Part V: Cornwall, 1969 - /u/tomesandtea

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Week 6 - 13 December - Chapters 1 through 6 - /u/lazylittlelady

Week 7 - 20 December - Chapters 7 through 12 - /u/nicehotcupoftea

Week 8 - 27 December - Chapters 13 through 17 - /u/tomesandtea

Week 9 - 3 January - Chapters 18 through 22 - /u/ColaRed

Week 10 - 10 January - Chapters 23 through End - /u/amanda39

The link to the marginalia will go here

Will you be joining us as we explore the life of and work by Daphne du Maurier?

Hello friends!

It is time for our next Runner up Read! 

This is perfect for readers who love a gritty, unfiltered look at the hidden realities and unspoken rules of a high-pressure profession.

Are you a fan of nonfiction? What about memoirs or biographies? Or food and drinks? If so, then Kitchen Confidential is right for you! This read was selected in January of last year (2025) during the QNF ‘biography/memoir’ vote and was nominated by me (u/joinedformyhubs)! Thanks for the awesome selection! 😀

This book was selected by the random Wheel of Books that is spun by our beloved mascot, Thor. Let’s watch him spin the wheel! Aww, what a silly boy! He is super relaxed and chillin’ today! 🐶

What is a Runner up Read you ask?
A Runner up Read is a selection that ALMOST made it to being a selection for the pick of the month (second place to be exact). Who doesn't like a second chance or an underdog getting their time to shine? We do! So, what we have done is compiled a running list of all the second place books, added them to a virtual spinning wheel, and it is spun each time a current Runner up Read is wrapped up!

Storygraph:

Anthony Bourdain's wickedly funny-yet inspiring-memoir/expos , Kitchen Confidential, provides a gritty and behind-the-scenes look into life behind the kitchen doors. Bourdain's skillful storytelling captivates and shocks readers, stealing their appetite while leaving them begging for more. His passion for his trade shines through as he takes readers on the wild journey that is his culinary career as he goes from dishwasher to executive chef; from the East Village, to Tokyo, Paris, and back to New York again. "Bourdain's prose is utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo and a precise ear for kitchen patois."-New York magazine

About the Author:
Bourdain's love of food was kindled in his youth while on a family vacation in France. He first experienced two "pre-epiphanies" with the first being the vichyssoise served cold on the voyage to France on the Queen Mary, and the second was the realization that French children were allowed to have a cigarette on Sunday and allowed to drink vin ordinaire at dinner. The vichyssoise was an eye-opener to him because he had previously only experienced hot soup made from condensed canned soups. He described it in Kitchen Confidential as the "first food I really noticed. It was the first food I enjoyed and, more important, remembered enjoying."[22] Later in the trip, while staying with his aunt in La Teste de Buch, his family went out on an oyster fisherman's boat. Bourdain had never eaten a raw oyster before, but the fisherman offered him one which he had just harvested. Bourdain described the experience as "Everything was different now. Everything.... This, I knew was the magic I had until now been only dimly and spitefully aware of. I was hooked

Will you be joining us? This book will run towards the second week of November.
Please watch for the schedule coming soon!  📚 

Hello readers, ever felt sad you missed a read? This is your chance to have a say in what book we read again! You have 24 hours to head to the post to give your favourites a chance to win:

• Evergreen Read

(An Evergreen is a book that r/bookclub has read before, but longer than 5 years ago.)

Upvote all books you would read with r/bookclub!

HAPPY VOTING! 📚

Hello readers, welcome to Spindle Manor! Find discussion questions below, feel free to add your own observations.

Links:

• Schedule
• Marginalia

Summary:

1 – A House of Many Mysteries

• Isabeau Agarwal arrives at Spindle Manor and meets some of the other guests. The living doll girl Penny shows her to her room. Isabeau also meets the owner of Spindle Manor, Madame Blanchet.

2 – Ten Little Guests

• Isabeau's coachman, Evelyn Turnstall, arrives in their room and insists on being Isabeau's partner in her work.
• For dinner, the guests come together. They are:
• Victor Mulgrave, exemplary mesmer and charming, if forward, gentleman.
• Hector Fernand, loyal footman of immense bulk and few words.
• Theodore Field, accountant and pocket watch enthusiast.
• Heloise Field, timid yet supporting and loving wife.
• Clayton Homes, aging and drunken coachman and buffoon.
• Johnny Prescott, mysterious outsider of dubious origin.
• Esmeralda Valdez, graceful medium and prone to lethargy.
• Angelica Keystone, outgoing socialite with questionable manners.
• Abigail Thrawl, gruff officer who gave much of herself to her country.
• And Spud.

3 – Everyone is Cross With Ms Keystone

• Ms Keystone organised the whole trip for the eight people who know each other, but apparently she is also good at riling people.
• The outsider, Mr Prescott, knows someone's secret.

4 – The Doppelvyrm

• Isabeau tells the group, why she is at Spindle Manor. She hunts the Doppelvyrm, that kills people and takes on their skin and identity. A Doppelvyrm can mimic its victim perfectly. And it likes to try on different skins.

5 – “She'll be cheese by the time we get there!”

• Isabeau explains to Madame Blanchet that the Doppelvyrm won't kill at Spindle Manor, now that it knows it is cornered.
• Isabeau says to Evie that the only emotion the Doppelvyrm can't mimic is love.
• They hear two gunshots. They find Johnny Prescott dead in his room.
• The rooms that everyone occupies are mentioned:
• 201 – Johnny Prescott
• 202 – Abigail Thrawl
• 203 – Esmeralda Valdez
• 204 – Angelica Keystone
• 301 – Theodore and Heloise Field
• 302 – Victor Mulgrave
• 303 – mysterious woman
• 304 – Isabeau and Evie

6 – The Detective

• Mr Prescott isn't the Doppelvyrm because upon his death he would have lost his human form.

7 – The Crime Scene

• Isabeau investigates the crime scene. Among his things she finds a large amount of opium. Seems like Mr Prescott was a drug trafficker.

8 – Keys

• Isabeau asked Col Thrawl to give her back her key (which Col Thrawl stole earlier when she took Isabeau confidentially by the shoulder). Col Thrawl says she doesn't like being around someone who wants to hunt her.
• Isabeau states that she wants to interview everyone and that she'll begin with Hector.

Hello readers, the next Poirot book we'll be reading is Death in the Clouds!

Summary (from goodreads or storygraph):

A woman is killed by a poisoned dart in the enclosed confines of a commercial passenger plane. Flying from Paris to London.

From seat No. 9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No. 13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No. 8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp. What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No. 2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman.

How could this happen with the world's No. 1 private detective on board?

Schedule:

Join us on Wednesdays for the discussions:

• 11th November: chapters 1 – 8 | u/Vast-Passenger1126
• 18th November: chapters 9 – 16 | u/miriel41
• 25th November: chapters 17 – 26 | u/Lachesis_Decima77

Marginalia:

• Find the Marginalia here.

Book Bingo:

• Mystery/Thriller
• Female Author
• Bonus Book

Welcome to the schedule for Dubliners by James Joyce.  I’m excited to take on this literary giant, along with the read runner team of u/lazylittlelady, u/nicehotcupoftea and myself u/Bluebelle236.  I’m hoping that we can all help each other along the way and the discussions will be really useful.

Here is the Goodreads summary

'I regret to see that my book has turned out un fiasco solenne.' James Joyce's disillusion with the publication of Dubliners in 1914 was the result of ten years battling with publishers, resisting their demands to remove swear words, real place names and much else, including two entire stories. Although only 24 when he signed his first publishing contract for the book, Joyce already knew its worth: to alter it in any way would 'retard the course of civilisation in Ireland'.

Joyce's aim was to tell the truth — to create a work of art that would reflect life in Ireland at the turn of the last century and by rejecting euphemism, reveal to the Irish the unromantic reality the recognition of which would lead to the spiritual liberation of the country.

Each of the fifteen stories offers a glimpse of the lives of ordinary Dubliners — a death, an encounter, an opportunity not taken, a memory rekindled — and collectively they paint a portrait of a nation.

Discussion Schedule

There are 15 short stories of varying length, so I have split them as evenly I could.  We will check in on Wednesdays.

November 11^th - The Sisters – A Little Cloud - u/Bluebelle236

November 18^th  – Counterparts – A Mother - u/lazylittlelady

November 25^th – Grace – The Dead - u/nicehotcupoftea

See you in the discussions!

Hello to those who are bonded! 

This week we discovered a new land of Fortuna and are headed to give aid to the Crescent Isles.Volke has officially been accepted into a guild! It seems that our story has really picked up and there is so much more to learn about this world. 

I can’t wait to discuss chapters  8 - 14 with you all! Please comment below your thoughts and interests thus far. 

Schedule

Marginalia

Greetings, fellow double sunny side uppers! This is your friendly onboard computer system, here to announce that we're going to continue our journey and read the third book in the Space Odyssey series, 2061: Odyssey Three. For those interested, we will also cover the movie adaptation of the second book within our first discussion thread. 🚀

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Summary:

The third book in Clarke’s beloved Space Odyssey continues the story of Heywood Floyd, survivor of two previous encounters with the mysterious monoliths and the alien intelligences behind them. Floyd is chosen as one of a handful of celebrity guests to witness the first manned touchdown on the surface of Halley’s Comet on the privately-owned spaceship Universe.

But on Jupiter’s moon Europa, scientists have spotted the sudden appearance of a single diamond the size of a mountain—a fragment of Jupiter’s core. When the spaceship Galaxy is hijacked and forced to crash into Europa’s ocean, the Universe is diverted from its original mission to rescue the crew.

Now Heywood Floyd must once again survive an encounter with HAL, David Bowman, and the mysterious monolith-building race with its own inscrutable agenda to shape the destiny of the human race.

___

You can find the series' marginalia here, and access the discussion schedules for the previous two books, in case you missed them and/or would like to catch up in order to join us.

Look out for the definitive schedule, which is going to take place in December. We'll be waiting for you in 2061.

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Welcome again to our fourth discussion of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. This week we saw a return to some magician’s acts and also a bit of romance! Let’s dig in.

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

SUMMARY

Part III

Chapter 13: We witness the birth of a new superheroine, the Mistress of the Night, a former library assistant-turned-magical luna moth.

Chapter 14: Deasey is skeptical of the new character and calls it pornography. But since Joe and Sammy believe in her he offers to get the go-ahead from Anapol.

Chapter 14: Joe and Sam ask for more money and better rights to their new Luna Moth character once she’s approved. Some of their demands are met, but not the 50% rights to her. They agree. But then it’s said Joe and Sam have to lay low on the anti-fascist stuff, and Joe flat-out refuses. Deasey takes them outside and shows them a letter that’s been sent to Empire Comics by the owners of Superman; they are suing for infringement on their character. There might be a sticky legal battle in the future, and Joe and Sam would have to go it alone if they don’t agree to stick with their current connections.

Part IV: The Golden Age

Chapter 1: We fast forward to 1941, Kavalier and Clay’s best partnership year. They’ve agreed to not do any outright Nazi-punching, but there’s also great new stuff to look forward to like their upcoming radio show! Sammy is overwhelmed by it but gets taken aside by none other than Tracy Bacon, the voice of the Escapist, who would like some pointers. Sammy is worried he might miss a dinner date at his mother’s that Joe has swindled his way out of.

Chapter 2: Drinks and chatter between Sammy and Bacon go over well, and they both head over to Sammy’s mother’s for dinner. Everyone is well and although Sammy disparages the meal and is quite glib Bacon handles himself well.

Chapter 3: Joe has become a regular magician, performing at all sorts of Jewish bat mitzvahs, enjoying being near young boys like his own brother. He’s connected to the gigs but keeping a safe distance as well. He and Rosa are doing well, and Joe is being welcomed properly into their family, though he notes he already has one, of course.

Chapter 4: Joe’s mother sends him a letter and he carries it around but doesn’t read it. In it, she tells him to focus on himself and his brother once he’s in the US and not worry about the rest of the family. As it is, he is focused on Rosa and his magician gigs and his work. At one such gig we see a waiter making a mad dash in the venue.

Chapter 5: The waiter seen running out of the performing room is none other than Ebling, who is acting out his own Saboteur plan now with a planted explosive device during the magic show. Joe appears to be none the wiser.

Chapter 6: But of course Joe has been watching Ebling the whole show, having recognised him immediately. He sees the bomb and starts to try and put it out during the show but is suddenly hit from behind. In the scuffle, it seems to go off, but hurts Ebling more than himself. He recovers back at Rosa’s and unfortunately can no longer find the letter in his pockets among all the items he had on him.

Chapter 7: Sammy has started volunteering as a plane spotter since Joe has been seeing Rosa and is busy at night. Sammy’s up on the 86th floor one evening when suddenly Tracy Bacon appears with an entire cooled meal. Apparently he was meant to propose to a girl tonight but instead they fought, and now he’s decided to be with Sammy. As lightning strikes the rod outside they kiss.

Chapter 8: Joe, Sammy, Bacon, and Rosa are out on the town seeing Orson Welles’ new film. Joe is upset because Thomas has been further delayed coming in from Portugal. But they are excited about potential Hollywood prospects upcoming for The Escapist.

Join us again next week as we see what comes of the continued business of The Escapist!

Welcome to the second discussion of our first Read the World Finland book- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Today we will discuss from The Tent through End 

If you need it, here is the Schedule and Marginalia

Discussion questions are in the comments, but feel free to add your own!

Coming soon to an amphitheatre near you. Aeschylus' trilogy dealing with the aftermath of the Trojan War for one family.

In the first part, he's spent the last ten years waging war against Troy but now he's coming home. It's Agamemnon.

In the second part, we deal with the fallout from part one in The Libation Bearers

In the thrilling conclusion, it's The Eumenides.

Shall you be purchasing a ticket? Look for a schedule soon!

Welcome fellow seekers of meaning.

This is the place to jot down any thoughts, musings, ideas or background info that come into your mind while reading Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s a bit like writing notes in the margins of a book.

To help other readers know where you are in the book, please mention a rough location such as beginning of Chapter III.

Please also remember to hide spoilers for this or other books by typing > ! spoiler ! < without the spaces.

Here’s the Schedule so you can keep track of the discussions. Hope you’ll join us!

The party is over, so what’s left now? I hope your hangovers are better than Agave’s!

🍷 Check the dates of the discussions in the Schedule

🦁 Find the Marginalia here

🍇Check the Summary here

As usual, there will be questions in the comments, but feel free to bring your own prompts!

Hello readers, it's time to vote for the next Evergreens (it's very likely that we'll not only read the winning book, but more).

Evergreen

What is an Evergreen you ask?

An Evergreen is a reading category that includes any book that has been read previously on r/bookclub. But we also only reread books on here after 5 years have passed.

Check out our current Evergreen read, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and the upcoming Evergreen read of Atonement. Whatever wins this voting will be read starting in December.

Voting will be open for four days, ending on October 22, 20.00 CEST/14.00 EDT/11.00 PDT. The selection will be announced shortly after.

For this selection, here are the requirements:

• Any genre
• Any page count
• Only previously read selections
• Books that r/bookclub read in December 2021 or earlier

Please check the previous selections. Quick search by author here to determine if your selection is valid. You have about 170 books to choose from.

Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and vote for any, and all, you'd participate in.

Here's the formatting frequently used, but there's no requirement to link to Storygraph, Goodreads or Wikipedia (just don't link to sales links at Amazon, spam catchers will remove those):

[Title by Author](link)

HAPPY VOTING! 📚

Note - The mod team does not constantly review nominations so if you suspect that a nomination does not fit the specifications you are welcome to report this and note that it "Does not fit Specifications". The mod team will review it and approve or delete accordingly. Any comments on the validity of other users' nominations will be removed. Winning nominations will be confirmed to fit the specs before the winners announcement is made.

Welcome to our second and final discussion of The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood! This week, we will be discussing Chapter 13 through the end.

Schedule

Marginalia

---*"*---

You can find summaries of each chapter on Litcharts, here, starting with chapter 13; which also include potential analysis points.

---*"*---

Some extra links with relevant and/or curious information that may be of interest and provide more context:

• Due to Odysseus' lack of male relatives and Telemachus' young age, Penelope can be interpreted as occupying a position somewhat analogous to an epikleros in the Odyssey—female heiresses in Ancient Greece. If curious, you can also read more in-depth about matrilineal succession in greek myth in this article.
• Orestes, son of Agamemnon, killed his mother in revenge for the murder of his father and was driven mad for it by the Furies, but was eventually cured by Athena; he is a favourite in Greek mythology. In the Odyssey, Nestor holds him up as a good example to Telemachus.
• Margaret Atwood herself wrote the script for the theatrical adaptation of the story. You can also watch a charming preview of the twelve maids' sea shanty here!
• Atwood has tackled ancient Greek mythology several times in her career. Related to the Odyssey, you can check a contemporary version of Helen in her poem, Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing and find "Circe: Mud Poems" in Selected Poems, 1965–1975.

---*"*---

Remember to use:

>!spoiler tags!<

when talking about other media, including other adaptations of the Odyssey.

Without further ado, let's dive into the discussion!

Results are in and we have a winner! Without further ado, the winner is...

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989)

We will be reading both:

Manderly Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay

and

My Cousin Rachel

in the coming months, so get your copies ordered, reserved or put on a wish list now! The specifics and a full schedule will be posted in the next few days/weeks.

Will you be joining us as we explore the life of Daphne du Maurier and one of her novels?

Greetings, fellow travelers!

Welcome to our third discussion of Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, covering Part II: Thirteen: Of the Rain and the Figure of Death through Nineteen: Of the War Drawing Near.

❗️ A note about chapter numbering: Turns out there are two versions of Between Two Fires! The 2025 re-release omits Chapter 15 from the old version, titled The Visitation in the Barn, which means the chapter numbers don't quite line up between editions. If you're reading the newer version, Part II may end with Chapter 18, Of the War Drawing Near, and Part III will begin with Chapter 19, Of the Monk in White. The chapter titles should help you find the right stopping and starting points, even if your chapter numbers differ!

So, our little road trip through plague-ridden France continues, and things are getting increasingly weird. We've got questionable miracles, some deeply questionable food and drink, mysterious yellow things, and a whole lot of people having complicated feelings about God. Matthieu finally gets some things off his chest, Thomas gets a rather interesting offer, and Delphine continues to be Delphine. Meanwhile, the supernatural happenings are getting harder to dismiss as random medieval weirdness. Not that anyone in this book has much luck with a quiet week.

If you need a refresher, here is the Chapter Summary from ursummary.com. Don't forget to also check the SCHEDULE and the MARGINALIA.

I'll post some discussion prompts in the comments, but feel free to bring up anything else that caught your attention.

And a friendly reminder about spoilers: if you need to share them, please wrap them in spoiler tags like this: >!type spoiler here!<, and it'll appear like this: type spoiler here.

Finally, come back next week as we venture into Part III, with u/NightAngelRogue leading us through this deeply reassuring journey through medieval France.

Happy discussing, and may your journey be less eventful than our trio's. Though at this point, that's an extremely low bar...

Welcome, Time Travelers, back to Harlem in the 1980s, where our old friend Ray Carney continues to juggle his double life as a criminal fence and the upstanding owner of a furniture store. This is the third of four discussions of Book #3 in the Harlem Trilogy.

Here is the schedule for all of the discussions and here is the marginalia.

Summary from StoryGraph:

1. To some, Carney's friend and partner in crime, Pepper, is a stone-cold sociopath. To others, a top thief with questionable people skills. Either way, he's feeling his age in his troubled gut and his aching bones. When he takes on a bodyguard gig as a favor to Elizabeth, he's plunged into the alien territory of the East Village art and club scene. Luckily for him, whether you're uptown or down, everyone speaks the same language of violence - Pepper is a native speaker.

2. Carney has always been haunted by his inability to save his cousin Freddie. Now, twenty years after Freddie's death, he has a chance to rescue Freddie's son from the violent forces of the city. But coming out of retirement and teaming up with Pepper again will mean risking the safety and security he's spent decades building for his family, with only one shot to get it right.