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"A Night in the Lonesome October," one of Roger Zelazny's last books, and possibly his most entertaining. Some people read one chapter a day throughout the month, but I'm afraid I've always been an eat-the-potato-chips-all-up kind of person. My strategy is to prolong the anticipation until I can't stand it anymore, as late in the month as possible, and then read the book in one sitting. Told from the point of view of an extremely intelligent dog, one who works for a mysterious person with frightening powers, this is a tale of the eternal struggle between the universe as we know it and the universe as HP Lovecraft imagined it. This is not Zelazny's only reference to the Cthulhu Mythos (e.g., "Dilvish, the Damned"), but it is the funniest. Despite the humor, there is real tension, if not about which side will win, then about who will survive to the end. The cast of characters includes Sherlock Holmes and Watson, and they are the most ordinary participants in the struggle that culminates on the most magical night of the year. Most of the characters will be instantly recognized, even though the narrator does not know their names. If you have not read this book, well, you can probably get it before the end of the month. And you need to read it, because I feel certain it's one of the books everyone will be talking about in the afterlife. At least, everyone who is anyone.