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November 2011--What Are We ReadingJoin LibraryThing to post. 2luvabookNov 1, 2011, 2:28pm 
Just finished fallen and still basking in the enjoyment of that book. Now starting The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams
On my nightstand for November are: Ice Moon (Wagner), Lily of the Field (Lawton), The Long Firm (Arnott), Misterioso (Dahl),Ashes to Dust (a long female Swedish name), and Wyatt (Disher) and 3 spy novels.....
Reading Long Gone by Alafair Burke and enjoying it very much. It's her stand-alone thriller which got rave reviews this summer. I'm definitely going to look up her other series books.
Coming to the end of Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Decent enough thriller, but Booker Prize material?? I don't think so.
Re-reading The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It's been more than 10 years since I last read it, probably closer to 20, so it's like all new. Le Carre's prose has such great rhythm that I read some of it aloud just to hear it. 20peajayNov 3, 2011, 3:59pm
I just finished The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. Good Lord, that was an excellent trilogy. It's been a while since I enjoyed a set of books quite that much.
I just switched to using iBooks instead of stanza as my ereader. Big improvement! I'm reading an urban fantasy right now, but next up is several mysteries, my true love genre. I'm going to start the Craig Johnson, Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming. I have book 1, Cold Dish downloaded and ready to begin. Also the next Jack Reacher is loaded and ready, Without Fail. Sue Grafton's U is also loaded and ready. I like a Stephen King now and then, so I have Under The Dome ready to go.
Cal8769 -- how did you like Mama Does Time? I have been wondering about that series and thinking about trying it out. It sounds a bit slap-stick. 22bks1953Nov 3, 2011, 7:01pm
The Eloquence of Blood by Judith Rock 25AndieGNov 4, 2011, 8:48am
I loved The Shadow of the Wind but was a bit disappointed with his next, The Angels Game. 26AndieGNov 4, 2011, 8:53am
#7 I loved The Shadow of the Wind but was a bit disappointed with his next, The Angels Game. 28cal8769Nov 4, 2011, 11:32am
#21 peajay- It is a bit slapstick, think of the Stephanie Plum series but I am enjoying it. It's a good mystery with a little undercurrent of romance. I have been finding myself laughing out loud which earns me confused looks from the DH. I hope it ends good. So far there are several candidates for the BAD GUY.
Starting Twenty Five Years Ago Today by Stacy Juba 33tjm568Nov 5, 2011, 9:29am
#20 peajay- I am about half way through Cold Dish. I am enjoying it. Love the back and forth between Walt and Henry. Very glad someone recomended this one since there are more of the series out there.
Right now I'm reading Term Limits by Vince Flynn. I've found a new favorite author! 35fuzziNov 6, 2011, 2:24pm
I don't know if it counts as crime, thriller or mystery, but I started reading Zoo Station by David Downing last night. So far I like it.
Somehow I managed to forget to post my review of the third Guido Guerrieri Italian legal procedural, Reasonable Doubts. I've fixed that now, and the review's in my thread... post #112.
Murder of a Tourist in Mumbai……… This is how this book begins… Just read few chapters of the book “The Wrong Chase”…. Till now its very catchy … Want to read more of it…………….
Picked up the next (for me) in the Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen, The Dramatist. I expect my wishlist to grow again with books mentioned throughout.
my August ER book finally showed up so I'm about 1/2 way through The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman. so far it's ok, but I don't know if the real "secret" will live up to the description. Most of them don't so I don't know why I should be surprised.
Ken Bruen writes some beautiful prose. His plots/stories are a bit dark for me; they will grab you by the heart and give you a thrashing!
Finished (and loved!) Term Limits by Vince Flynn - a kind of prequel to his Mitch Rapp series, as a lot of the characters of Term Limits are in the Mitch Rapp books. I'm now almost finished with Transfer of Power, the first in the Mitch Rapp series. Love it just as much (if not more) than Term Limits. After that, I'll take a small break from Vince Flynn and read The Last Kashmiri Rose, a detective set in early 1920s India.
Just finished Heat by Ed McBain, good police procedural!
I just started reading Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson and I beginning to think that it falls into this category of books. Has anyone else ever read it? 47tjm568Nov 8, 2011, 12:07pm
Just finished The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson and really liked it a lot. I have picked up the second in the series, but have to read a couple of short term loans first.
#46 I'm about 3/4 of the way through that one. It's definitely a mystery. 49avalandNov 8, 2011, 8:27pm
Since I was last here I read The Glass Devil by Swedish author Helene Tursten, which I thought was okay. I also read 1222 by Anne Holt, a terrific mystery and homage to Agatha Christie. I'm now finishing up Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James, which at the age of 90, she calls an indulgence. It's very much a James crime novel: detailed, descriptive, and layered, involving some of our favorite Austen characters. 50Sophie236Edited: Nov 9, 2011, 5:02am
Just finished Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham - I really enjoyed the previous books by him, especially The Night Ferry, but this one seemed way too over-plotted and chaotic - and if you're a dog-lover, there are some pages you may want to skip ...
(Grrr - touchstones playing up again!) 51Maura49Nov 9, 2011, 6:04am
I have just joined the group and can see that my reading choices are going to be widened a lot.
I have just finished "Buried" by Mark Billingham from his "Tom Thorne" series. In the UK books following the police investigation of a crime are known as "police procedurals" and I love them. This is my first Billingham, a tough, gritty read.
I plan on re-reading Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, it's been too long since I've read it, even if it is not a traditional Crime/Thriller/Mystery. After that I'll try to get my hands on some of the Myron Bolitar books by Harlan Coben or The Harry Bosch Series by Michael Connelly. I've read most of the books but I have some holes in the timeline. 53jnwelchNov 11, 2011, 4:45pm
>47 tjm568 I just started The Cold Dish and I'm liking it so far. Both DeltaQueen50 and mirrordrum have recommended this series to me.
>56 I loved that book! Hilarious and such a cool idea.
I am reading Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason, which has been sitting on my TBR shelf for far too long.
58> that's the book that started me reading all Indridason. Best first line in a book! 61Rashad51Edited: Nov 13, 2011, 9:55am
Bookmarque: Would love to know what triggered that off because I just re-read The Honourable Schoolboy, a couple of months ago... :-) and that's definitely after 32 years. And you are so right. With Le cArre, the sentences, the passages are just so beautiful in their flow that I sometimes savour them so, eyes running back a sentence or a paragraph - that I lose the thread of where I am - and you know what? it doesn't matter! The journey is so exhilarating. Wonderful, wonderful writer. cheers - and enjoy re-reading the next one .... and the one after that .... ;-)) oops - and I just read George Pelecanos' Shame the Devil and The Night Gardener in rapid succession. (My real love affair for 2011 is with my Kindle. Total convert.) 62runner56Nov 13, 2011, 10:35am
thought child 44 was an excellent read but the follow up The Secret Speech was pants!! 63msf59Nov 13, 2011, 10:53am
I just started Priest. This is the 5th Jack Taylor book and this crime series by Bruen is terrific. If you have not tried this author, do yourself a favor!
>62 wait, is pants good or bad?
I just bought the new Stephen King novel, 11/22/63. It's huge. This will be a mammoth reading endeavor.
need reviews for my Amazon novel. Willing to give out *PDF story for free in return for reviews. Please contact me at urban_suite yahoo.com for copy of book, pdf version of Underneath the Palms of Rio by Brandon Collier. I would like a turn around time up to 2 weeks and a posted review on Amazon. Anything faster would be great!
#59 - You are right, that is a first line to grab your interest.
#62 - I would also like to know, does pants mean good or bad?
Rashad51, I don't know what made me take it off the shelf other than it was there and I do like espionage fiction a lot. And maybe because I hadn't read it in ages and it would be relatively fresh. And people wonder why I have so many books. LOL. 72songxEdited: Nov 14, 2011, 12:45am
74C4RONov 14, 2011, 10:45am
Yep, runner56 is a Brit and "pants" definately = bad!
And talking of books which are complete and utter pants - I got The Slaughterhouse by Janie Bolitho from the library yesterday, and really I wish I hadn't! Wooden dialogue, cardboard characters, and a laughably bad and confused plot - shudder ...!
Just finished A Noble Killing by Barbara Nadel. A little weak at the start, but the writing eventually came to it's normal pace. 80jnwelchNov 15, 2011, 9:36am
The Cold Dish was a good start to a series featuring a Wyoming sheriff you root for. 81jldardenNov 15, 2011, 12:17pm
> #72 Love Cornell Woolrich! a master of noir. 82BjaceEdited: Nov 16, 2011, 12:22pm
The Eagle has landed is a wonderful story and you will enjoy it. I just read Ruth Rendell's Harm done, which is one of her Inspector Wexford books. It's several stories with a general theme of domestic violence layered together and was average Rendell (which is pretty good.)
>73 & 74 - Sophie & C4RO - Thanks for the info. Here's hoping your next books aren't "pants".
And there was I thinking that "pants" was going to mean "great". Fabulous bit of slang, will have to use it somewhere now... Currently reading Karin Fossum's Don't Look Back and enjoying myself. (Although now I know the opening line of Silence in the Grave, I'm kicking myself for letting that one go back to the library unread! Will have to get it back asap.)
#83 - thankfully my next book was completely brilliant and non-pants-like - Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves. Very atmospheric, and a great cast of characters! 91jnwelchNov 17, 2011, 5:10pm
Forgot to mention that I finished Murder in Mesopotamia, an okay Agatha Christie Poirot mystery. For me it had implausibilities that kept it from reaching the level of some of her others, and most of the characters seemed flat. I did enjoy the interplay between Nurse Leatheran and Poirot.
About to begin Feast Day of Fools. 94JoybeeNov 19, 2011, 6:31pm
I'm reading Lazybones the 3rdof the DI Tom Thorne series. The book alternates between the past when a man kills his wife and tries to hang him self...and the events leading up to the murder suicide. And the present where DI Thorne investigates the brutal sodomy and murder of a convicted rapist who was just released from prison. so far a great buildup of suspense and I can't wait to see what happens.
#96 - ooo, hadn't come across that Susan Hill one! Off to add it to my BookMooch wishlist ... 100BookmarqueEdited: Nov 21, 2011, 2:23pm
am about 1/2 way through 11-22-63 which is Stephen King's latest. I hate him. He sets up something wonderful and precious then destroys it and makes us watch. I love him.
>100 where's the like comment button?
#100> LOL! I know that feeling, although I'm yet to read King. :) I'm currently reading And Then There Was No One, the third Evadne Mount trilogy of Christie spoofs/parodies/homages. Terribly good fun, full of metatextual sillinesses. 103msf59Edited: Nov 21, 2011, 6:54pm
Wookie- "although I'm yet to read King" WHAT??
102,103> Yes, you better get on that Tania. Start with Different Seasons, and then we'll talk. I totally read that as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
Has anyone read the book Defending Jacob? I know that it isn't out yet but was on the September ER list.
I finished Nesbo's The Leopard. It was rather long and complex but certainly interesting. Plenty of suspects to go around but Harry's future is not looking up. Harry's life-long friend, Øystein, was actually my favorite character (after Harry, of course). Definitely worth the price of admission.
Just finished The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. Quite enjoyed it and did not know for sure who the culprit was until page 329, which is pretty good for me. Was saddened by the death of one of the main characters as I was hoping to see more of him/her in future books. Such is life. Highly recommend.
#103 & #104>Okay, okay, King is on the wishlist. (I was going to start with The Shining, but the library's copy is buried in the paperback stands at a different branch, and it all seems Too Much Effort...) All the Evadne Mount books had Christie-esque titles: The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, A Mysterious Affair of Style, and And Then There Was No One. (A number of people who read the title did assume I was reading the Christie original there...) But the plots were different from the Christie originals. The third was good fun, but my least favourite. Too much metatextual silliness, not enough homage. But an excellent end to a good trilogy. And am now reading Snowdrops by A.D. Miller. It's not bad (I'm reading it fast which is always an indication of enjoyment), but the main character is a bit on the nose and the foreshadowing is over-the-top. It was shortlisted for the Booker, and was definitely out of its league there. But interesting descriptions of modern Russia.
I'm in the middle of two books at the moment: Eight Million Ways to Die love that Matthew Scudder! The Redeemer-I can't seem to get enough of this author right now. #108 It's funny you mentioned The Shining my library is missing a few of its copies also. The database reads that the books are on the shelves but cannot be located. 111tjm568Nov 25, 2011, 6:40pm
110- Really enjoyed the Scudder books. I think I liked him a little more when he was still drunk in the earlier books, and maybe flashbacks. He was a bit meaner in those and more prone to inflict damage first and ask questions later. Block has gotten into some steamier stuff lately that I haven't enjoyed as much as the Scudder books. Iliked some of the books about the hitman. 112mldavis2Edited: Nov 27, 2011, 8:50am
#105 > I read Defending Jacob and enjoyed it. My review is not lengthy but I thought it was well written and gave an interesting and realistic contrast between the prosecution and defense positions and strategy as the main character had to shift his own focus from being a D.A. to defending his son. Landay is a lawyer and the book is somewhat in the mold of Grisham. 114polluxNov 29, 2011, 9:07am
#109
I really enjoyed Sanctus as well.
>113 Thanks, Porua. I don't have it happen often with one of hers. Too bad, because the Leatheran/Poirot partnership was promising.
Speaking of Poirot, I'm reading Elephants Can Remember. I did predict one element of the story but the overall mystery has yet to be resolved. It's all I can do to keep the book in my bag and save it for the bus! Next up will be Murder in Retrospect, because the broad outlines of the plot get discussed by Poirot and his police buddies in the first half of Elephants, and I haven't read it yet.
I just read Burned: A Novel by Thomas EngerThe crime reporter in the story reminded me of Mikael Blomkvist of Steig Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. Loved this book and fully recommend it 5 stars.
#119 - What did you think of The Third Option? I am a huge Flynn fan, and read all of his thus far except American Assassin. I see you have The Lions of Lucerne on your TBR. It was good, but hard to say that it meets Flynn standards. I'll of course read his next few (an author's first isn't always the best one). You might also want to give The Camel Club a whirl. I've read the first 3 thus far. A lot of twists and turns like Flynn.
#120: I'm not entirely finished with The Third Option yet, I've got about 100 pages to go I think. I really liked the book, until Mitch 'came out of hiding' so to speak, then it was as if the pace slowed down and much of the tension was gone. Still a good book, but not as good as the first one. Hopefully the next one is back on the level the first one was. The Lions of Lucerne is one that was recommended to me, and I have to say I am curious about how it will measure up. I've heard of The Camel Club before, but somehow never got the urge to pick it up.
Small Vices, in which Spenser battles the Gray Man, among other things, was a good re-read. I've got another one of his to re-read now, Walking Shadow.
This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed ( show) Give this a go, if you have the time:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008P22DJQ
A Song for Nemesis
A pacy cocktail of heartbreak and romance, betrayal and valour, thrown together under a worldwide conspiracy to overthrow all governments and enslave the people of the world. Character-driven, soulful - with a storyline that dips into several countries, giving the thriller an international ambience.
A SONG FOR NEMESIS
Unable to come to terms with the shocking murder of his lover, Enrique Maqui abandons his work as a filmmaker and leaves London for war-torn El Salvador. Wounded while undertaking a covert assignment for the rebel forces, he meets Senica, a peasant whose courage over adversity inspires him to put his life in order. With an unfinished screenplay still sitting in London, and an impatient producer on his back, Enrique returns to the city that took his lover’s life. Here, he redrafts the script, which in essence threatens to lift the lid off a deception that runs to the core of civilization, a totalitarian nightmare devised by a power as brutal as it is invisible.
Before long, with Senica set to arrive in the UK on a doctored passport, Enrique finds himself terrorized by a gunman, whose client’s chilling ploy to first unnerve and then to eliminate the film director puts at risk the entire production. Betrayal, and a remarkable act of valour from an unlikely source ensue. For the gunman, to disappoint his anonymous and apparently wealthy client is not an option, as he receives his final instructions and swiftly closes in on his quarry...
Best wishes,
Len Harper |  3,452 members 18,003 messages  AboutThis topic is not marked as primarily about any work, author or other topic. Touchstones |
