Welcome to the Book Nook! This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism.

This week’s recommended discussion: This probably isn’t terribly fruitful for a discussion, but I was recently reminded of the armchair treasure hunt craze of the 80s. My dad was so into those, and he was convinced he’d find one of those treasures. Basically, a puzzle was presented in a book with a loose narrative, and the book buyer would try to solve the puzzle and find the treasure.  Real book, real treasure planted somewhere in the world. In the pre-internet days, there was no one to collaborate with, no way to know if the treasure was already found. The genre fascinates me because it’s so solitary, and the delivery system seems inefficient. Harmless fun? A mercenary way to get people to buy books? I still don’t know, and the books themselves are sometimes part of the mystery. The Secret had 12 treasures, but only two have been found. The author died in 2005, and didn’t tell anyone the solution.

One caveat: because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone (the OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread).

upcoming topics:
3/14: favorite review/critique/blurb
3/21: weirdest topic for a book