Saturday Reading Wrap-Up 6/23/18

Here we are again.  I've been procrasta-reading this week.  Which isn't helping get my work done, but it is giving me things to talk about on Saturdays.  ;o)

This is how the week went...

33) The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton (6/22/18) - Hard-Boiled Mystery# - 5 stars - New to me and WAY underappreciated.
Review: "Wow. That was an unexpectedly awesome read. Every once in a while, you pick up a book at a thrift store that just exceeds your expectations and blows you away. This was just such a book. More like a hard-boiled crime novel in the sphere of Gardner (DA Doug Selby more than Perry Mason). Definitely NOT a cozy. Gritty and twisty. Just the right amount of whodunnit to keep me guessing, and while the solution to the mystery wasn't ultimately surprising, the path to get there was not where I thought it would go. Like I said, awesome."

32) The Blunt End of Oblivion by LJ Simpson (6/21/18) - SF* - 5 stars - I read the first book in this series about a month ago, so not really 'new to me' anymore, but still underappreciated.
Review: "This book was made of awesome. Even better than the first, and that's sayin' something because I really enjoyed the first one. I'm hoping there'll be a third book at some point. Please."
This was released in November of last year.  I stalked the author online, but I didn't see any news about him working on a third book. I guess I'll just have to wait and hope he writes more.  Note: It didn't end on a cliffhanger or anything.  I just want MORE.

31) Cleaver Square (DCI Morton #2) by Daniel Campbell & Sean Campbell (6/16/18) - Suspense* - 5 stars - I also read the first book in this series a little while ago, so not new to me anymore, and it has loads of reviews, so not underappreciated.
Review: "Ooo, good one! This is even better than the first book. Twisty and turny and deliciously suspenseful. Plus, the end was so perfect. Well, except for that one thing, but I expect somewhere down the road in a sequel, they'll address that. (No spoilers from me. You'll have to read the book.)"

------------
Last night, I started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Because I do try to get around to reading the best sellers every now and then - albeit late.  I picked this one up at a thrift store* last month.  OMG, the beginning is so boring I was beginning to wonder why this got all the press it did, but it got a little better.  I'll hang in there and read the whole thing unless something makes me want to throw it at the wall.  

Goodreads is telling me I'm now 'on track' with my reading goal.  Woohoo.   

That's it for me.  Have you read anything interesting lately?

*If you see me reading a paperback**, there's a 99% probability I picked it up at a thrift store.  I'm too cheap to buy hardcopies new anymore.  Except for select books put out by people I know.  
** If it doesn't have an asterisk after the genre, it's a paperback.