Bond plays cat and mouse with a man obsessed with gold, and who is out to rob Fort Knox.

Bond catches Goldfinger cheating at canasta; they then go out and play golf for high stakes, and Goldfinger then invites Bond over for dinner. Bond is caught trying to break into one of Goldfinger's secret lairs, but instead of killing him Goldfinger "hires" him as his assistant...it's almost as if Goldfinger has a crush on Bond and isn't sure what to do next.

Second of the books that features a lot more globe-trotting than usual and closer to what we associate with the movies: Mexico, US, UK, France, Switzerland, back to the US.

And yes, this is the book that has Pussy Galore, the worst name Fleming ever came up with and the lesbian that Bond "turns" due to his manly animal magnetism. (At least in the book he does it unintentionally, unlike the "seduction" in the movie; tho, still, give me a break.)

London-based police procedural, featuring rookie cop being assigned to new beat under superior who uses unorthodox methods to solve crimes. Pretty typical synopsis. But this time around, the superior is the one acting London officer who understands magic, the rookie has a facility for the stuff, and they are tracking down a spirit that possesses people at seemingly at random to commit murder.

The prose is a little breezy at first, and the author used to write for the Doctor Who series, so I was expecting something light but cheeky. However, it gets very graphic in sections (would be an R if filmed as is), as you would expect from a proper police procedural. Worth looking into more from the series, but got another stack of books I have to read first.

Cognitive science on political morals and values.

An engaging behind-the-scenes look at Marvel, from its rebirth in the early 60s thru modern times. A good mix of some of the creative and business decisions made, tho I wish a little more time was spent with the creative people.

Tellingly, the give-and-take between business and creative decisions/people/etc is pretty well blended up until we get to the early 90s; at that point, so for the last 20 years or so, the book only describes the business end of the company.

Would love to get JB's take on the book; he is brought up fairly consistently from the 70s thru the 90s, more so than many of the creative folk, and plays a pivotal roll in a couple of incidents.