#16: The Tunnel by Carl-Johan Vallgren

An ex-junkie who has pieced a life back together as a tech consultant and translator starts down a dark path when his former dealer is murdered in Carl-Johan Vallgren's The Tunnel.

Even by the high standards of gloomy Scandinavian noir this one is inky-black and uncompromising, as our protagonist Katz finds himself opening the lid on a world of crooked cops, sex slavery, underground porn films, and torture-killings.  A nihilistic ending, where evil isn't exactly stopped but maybe slowed down a little, isn't for all tastes.

Vallgren writes with tremendous energy and has created a cast of fully-realized characters.  Recommended for those readers who don't mind a particularly dark read.

I checked this out from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library and read it quickly.

#15: Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Actress Mindy Kaling's second autobiographical outing, Why Not Me?, is another breezy entry featuring essays on her life in Hollywood; if you liked her in The Office or The Mindy Project, you will find this just as agreeable.

Overall I liked her first book--which dealt more about her childhood and her peanut-butter days as a young writer--better than this one, which has her meeting President Obama as well as brushing against other famous people (including a disastrously funny incident with playwright Edward Albee).

But there is plenty to enjoy, including an essay on the fictitious life she might have had as a Latin teacher if she hadn't taken the L.A. plunge, and the real commencement speech she gave at Harvard Law.

Kaling reading her own audiobook, which I borrowed from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana, adds value.

#14: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

An easygoing young guy living in a futuristic utopia jumps into an ill-advised time-travel experiment, and one spilled cup of coffee later ends up in a terrible dystopia--that happens to look exactly like 2017 America--in Elan Mastai's All Our Wrong Todays.

Our protagonist, whose science knowledge is admittedly cursory at best, works desperately to restore his timeline--but begins to realize that his personal life is actually a lot better in the dystopia, with family relationships and love life improved.

Pretty cool story about relationships cloaked in a time travel story, Mastai's debut novel is charming and entertaining throughout.

I listened to a good audiobook reading by the author on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.