Media Consumption

Books

I'm on a mystery kick.

Karin Fossum, He Who Fears the Wolf (Inspector Sejer #3) — Karin Fossum is a Norwegian crime writer. I bought a set of the first three in her Inspector Sejer series on sale. I'm glad I read them, but they are uglier and darker than I like. One of the point of view characters in this one is a man with mental illness (one character calls it schizophrenia) considered by his local community to be a serial murderer.

Kerry Greenwood, Urn Burial (Phryne Fisher #8) — especially amusing because of the fan service. One of the characters is Miss Mary Mead, a spinster, "dressed in a tweed skirt, sensible shoes, and a pale-blue fluffy jumper. Her long white hair was coiled into a neat bun." This novel contains some racism of the "exoticizing" variety.

Rex Stout, Three Doors to Death (Nero Wolfe #16) — Three novelettes, true to the formula

Currently reading Cornelia Frances Biddle, The Conjurer (Martha Beale #1) — historical mystery set in 1840s Philadelphia

Audiobooks

Ellen Kushner et al., Tremontaine (season 1) from Serial Box publishers. 22-hour story set in 13 episodes, each episode written by a different person (six authors overall: Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, Patty Bryant). Recommended if you like Kushner's Riverside world. But it moves slowly, and some of the story elements don't get tied up at the end. There aren't any more "seasons" out, so I don't know if and when it will be tied up.

Currently listening to John McWhorter, Talking Back, Talking Black — the popular linguist, who is Black, discusses the grammar and sound of Black English (also known as African-American Vernacular English)

TV

Babylon Berlin — German neo-noir series set in the Weimar Republic, streaming on Netflix. I've watched two episodes so far, in which many characters have been introduced, some of whom look so alike to me that I keep getting confused. (These young white European men with short beards. All alike!)