Member: justmelissa

CollectionsYour library (559), Leadership (14), All collections (560)

Reviews27 reviews

Tagscontemporary fiction (123), detective fiction (71), tbr (61), non-fiction (57), los angeles (37), pi fiction (34), mystery (34), legal fiction (34), family angst (26), softboiled mystery (24) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsCrime, Thriller & Mystery, CueCat questions and help, Early Reviewers, Health Sciences Librarians, ISTJ, Librarians who LibraryThing, Medicine, MyPeopleConnection Book Clubs

Favorite authorsEthan Canin, Nick Hornby, John Irving, Barbara Kingsolver, Wally Lamb, Dennis Lehane, Audrey Niffenegger, Ruth L. Ozeki, Carolyn Parkhurst, Ann Patchett, Richard Russo (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresVroman's Bookstore

About meI'm a librarian who was a bookseller in my previous career. I love to read and get through between 60 and 100 books each year. I get most of my books through my local public library and always have a pile of books to catch up on.

The books I read generally fall into two categories: contemporary fiction or mystery/detective/legal fiction. Some of my favorites in the first category are Straight Man, The Magician's Assistant, Empire Falls, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Middlesex, Bel Canto, Poisonwood Bible, and I Know This Much is True. (I can't stand Jane Smiley, but somehow, every time she has a new book out, I think it sounds good. It never is. Someday I'll learn.)

In between, I enjoy lots of the 1-book-a-year fiction/mystery writers with sassy or amusing protagonists or whose books are set in cities I've lived in: Crais, Lescroart, Kellerman (both of 'em), Connelly, Evanovich, Scottoline, Cockey, Parker, Jance, etc.

About my libraryRating scale rubric:

5 - excellent read. Would purchase for my permanent or lending library; might even read again. This is a book I want to give you to read, just so we can talk about it. Approx letter equivalent: A/A+

4 - more entertaining than my usual read. Would recommend to friends who read, but probably not purchase for my personal library. Approx letter equivalent: B+/A-

3 - adequately amusing, decently written, would read other books by the same author. Would put on hold at library. Most serialized mysteries and authors I read who write a book a year will go here. Approx letter equivalent: B-/B

2 - usually reserved for hand-me-down mysteries or other beach reads. not sorry I read it, but wouldn't recommend or pass on. Won't seek out the author in the future, but won't purposefully avoid. Approx letter equivalent: C.

1 - waste of time/energy/money. Approx letter equivalent: F

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Real nameMelissa

LocationSan Diego, CA

Emailjustmelissayahoo.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

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URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/justmelissa (profile)
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Common KnowledgeSeries (94), Awards (246), Characters (2261), Places (434)

Member sinceJun 20, 2006