February 2010 - what are we reading?

I'm well into Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, a murder mystery set in the 16th century while Henry VIII is breaking up the monasteries.

The bodies are piling up, and I have NO idea whodunnit!

I'm reading The Sibyl in her Grave by the ever-entertaining Sarah Caudwell.

I am reading Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced and relishing every minute of it!

I hope you enjoy it. CJ Sansom is one of my favourite thriller writers. As a lawyer I enjoy the character of Shardlake, who makes his living from private practice much as we do today but in very challenging times. If you enjoy that period you might want to try Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

Old time one here Murder on the Yacht by Rufus King

I am not sure what mysteries I will be reading this month.

I just started The 8th Confession and on audio The Copper Bracelet.

I'm halfway through A German Requiem by Philip Kerr. Love his (WWII era) Berlin Noir series!

Started Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear. Quality of the series is staying consistent...looking forward to many more Maisie's!

I'm reading Brat Farrar for the nth time. Still a goodie!

Just started River of Darkness by Rennie Airth

Now reading Silent Witness by Rebecca Foster.

Just started Bill Fitzhugh's second Rick Shannon--classic rock DJ extraordinaire and neophyte PI--mystery, Highway 61 Resurfaced. Fitzhugh is not only incredibly funny, but is a serious (and, lately, Sirius) radio afficionado, and really knows whereof he writes.

#4> bhowell, I am enjoying Dissolution, and I have already read Wolf Hall, late last year. I thought it was brilliant, and I'm happy returning to the same period, if in a different setting!

#9> I bought Maisie Dobbs the other day, I'm looking forward to it!

#13 BeckyJG ~ For an old Dylan afficianado like me, Highway 61 Resurfaced sounds like a must read! Just reading the words put the song in my head. *Wheeeeee*

Almost finished with Revelation, the fourth Matthew Shardlake mystery and am loving it so much. I still think Sovereign is the best of the first four, but Revelation is almost as wonderful. Now I'll have to wait for the next installment which I heard is due out sometime this year. Can't hardly stand the wait!

Finished Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh. May have to pull another one of hers off my shelf.

Going through Christie Mania...just finished reading ABC Murders...about to start Lord Edgware Dies...after this will probably read Donna Leon's Death and Judgement...looking foward to February!

I finished a good solid crime thriller called Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter. It is the first book in the series. I will continue in the crime vein and switch to Scandinavia for The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell. I really enjoyed his first book, Faceless Killers!

Hey, old Dylan fan Storeetllr (message #15), did you know that St. Annie is a character (albeit minor) in my book, I Think, Therefore Who Am I? The Annie I knew back then was not exactly as Dylan so briefly depicted her in song; but then, who would be?

Copyedit52 ~ *sigh* Another book for the TBR pile!

"If you see St. Annie, please tell her thanks a lot! I cannot move. My fingers are all in a knot." Brrrrr.

Hey, I'm always on the prowl for appreciative readers, Mary. Glad I could bring you aboard. Henry Miller is also in my book, but unlike Anne, only obliquely.

Just finished Jo Nesbo's The Redbreast. Highly recommended, now to request the other translated book in this series from my library.

Reading Take by Bill James. Opinion is still up in the air.

I finished In the Woods by Tana French. I found it rather disappointing. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending, but I never really did get into the book. I'm not sure why I finished it, really. I did like the setting though - I thought that part was well done.

Re-reading the Thordyke mysteries and Maigret.

Just completed "Shakespeare's Truth" by Rex Richards. It was a full of secrets and mystery book. Now looking for another book and of course better then this.

Nemesis by Agatha Christie.
Yesterday was Elephants do Remember , also by her. From Poirot to Marple.

I have started an ARC copy of Michael Palmer's The Last Surgeon. Its going slowly which is unusual because I love his books. Family obligations are preventing me from getting through it in my normal one sitting read of Palmer's novels.

# 28 Err...bnielsen, I think it's Elephants Can Remember, not Elephants do Remember.

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

Have started reading suspense/mysteries by William Kent Krueger. They are set on the Iron Range in Minnesota. So far have thoroughly enjoyed the three I've read. Would recommend reading in order; Iron Lake was the first.

Just could not get in to my Take by Bill James.

Starting London Boulevard by Ken Bruen. I never have trouble getting into his books. So far hard to put down.

Callahan- I've had Iron Lake sitting in my tbr forever! I've heard good things about this series!
Cindy- I love Ken Bruen! He's probably my favorite crime writer, at this moment! I'm trying to slip the 3rd Jack Taylor book in somewhere but things are tight!

Thinner for the Stephen King group read.

#32 & 34 - I too have Iron Lake sitting on my TBR shelves, hope to get to it one day soon!

Finished reading The Mousetrap and Selected Plays by Agatha Christie. Enjoyed it immensely! The link to my review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/55793100

Mark- London Boulevard isn't a Jack Taylor. I didn't pay any attention when I picked it up. It is still good.

Hey Cindy- Yes, I was aware of that but who cares as long as it's good! You are a fan of Henning Mankell, right? I'm well into The Dogs of Riga and it has been excellent! I need to start tracking down all of his books!

#30: Yes. Thanks (I was reading a Danish translation and thought that I could remember the English title). Mea culpa.

Mark- I have read The Dogs of Riga. I read Firewall not too long ago. It was also on I believe a PBS Mystery last year. But of course the book was better a lot more detail.

Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters. It's been a while since I've been on an expedition with Amelia Peabody and family.

Was just looking at the Amazon.com page for Lord of the Silent and guess what! A new Amelia Peabody is due out on April 6! I know a lot of people are tired of the series ~ with the new novel (titled A River in the Sky) it will total 19 mysteries ~ but I still enjoy them even though they are relatively predictable. Maybe because of that. Anyway, here's the link if you want to check it out: http://tr.im/NdR4.

43, thanks! I think I liked the older ones better than the newer ones--back when Rameses was precocious and ornery (reminded me STRONGLY of my own child)--but I still love the wacky family dynamics.

How are you on Elizabeth Peters' non-Amelia mysteries? I've had kind of splotchy success there.

Yes, I was never able to get into her other serieses. I think I read one or two, but they just weren't to my taste for some reason.

I'm the opposite - I like the Vicky Bliss series a lot and can't stand Amelia Peabody.

Finished London Boulevard Wow! another good Ken Bruen.

Finished Elephants can remember and Lord Edgware dies. Starting The Sittaford Mystery. So far I prefer Poirot and Hastings.

Reading Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman.

My reading time has diminished lately, but I currently working on The Alienist by Caleb Carr.

cmbohn, I've got Trojan Gold on my TBR pile; that's a Vicky Bliss, I think ... should I expect no similarities to Amelia at all?

Vicky is very independent, like Amelia, but the style is pretty different.

etrainer - I read The Alienist in December and I really enjoyed it. The setting was so well done.

I find the Vicky Bliss books try too hard to be funny and her boss is unbelievable. I like the Amelia Peabody books because of their setting - I suppose it comes over as authentic because of Elizabeth Peters background in archaeology. I enjoyed the Jacqueline Kirby? books, at last a librarian with attitude. I liked Die for love more for its setting and characters than the plot - being an old media and SF fan I could recognise the convention types.
I've just read Fear in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope which is her latest, but I've lost patience with the whinging self-obsessed heroine and probably won't read any further ones.
I've just got A brutal telling by Louise Penny from the library and am looking forward to reading it.

I'm reading The beautiful Sound of Silence from the excellent but unjustly obscure British DI Christy Kennedy series by Paul Charles

I'm reading Mercy. David Kessler.

I just finished a non-fiction book by Dalton Trumbo (one of the original Hollywood Ten) called Additional Dialogue.

Just got Fred Vargas's Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand. I've really enjoyed the other two Commissaire Adamsberg mysteries I've read, so am really looking forward to this.

Today saw me make a start on In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami. Building up a creepy atmosphere quite nicely. Just wish I had the time to have stayed with it all the way through. Football and work tomorrow doesn't allow me the opportunity though, unfortunately.

Agatha Christie's Passenger to Frankfurt. Sir Stafford has given away his cloak.

I finished The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell. This is the 2nd Kurt Wallander book and it's excellent. If you are curious about the popularity in Scandinavian crime fiction, start here with one of the best!

#59> Good news! I've got The Dogs of Riga on Mt TBR. Been meaning to get to it sooner rather than later for far too long now.

Taking a break from my serious lit with Maisie Dobbs and The Mislaid Magician which has the full title of The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and Security of the Realm. Delightful fluff. (Maisie is less fluff, but shaping up to be a good read.)

My first (although not his first) Randy Wayne White, North of Havana. It's really good! I don't know how I've missed reading him for all these years. Doc Ford is a terrific character--quirky present, mysterious and violent past, lives on a boat...

Finished my car emergency book. The Killings on Jubilee Terrace by Robert Barnard. Wasn't one of his better books.

#61...Agreed! the Doc Ford books are great.

And now taking a break from fluff because I realised I've got free tickets (woot! free!) to see the movie adaptation of Shutter Island this Wednesday (woot! Scorcese!). And I really, really wanted to read the book first.

So I'm now also reading Shutter Island.

Just finished The Torso in the Town by Simon Brett, not read any of his before, and started The Likeness by Tana French a couple of nights ago, on the strength of In the Woods.

I asked on another thread but noone seemed to know, how do you pronouce Tana in her name - is it Tanna, Tarna or as in Dana Scully? Just interested to know.

I've just started The First Rule by Robert Crais...another in the Joe Pike as lead series. I'm also starting to fantasize about Crais and Child writing a Reacher/Pike book and seeing who can kick the most ass and say the fewest words.

I'm still reading Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie. I really enjoy her books and she never gets stale as a writer after ?13 books. Love the English setting and you'd never know she's from Texas.

64 - Tell us how you like the movie!

65 - I started The Likeness the other day, too, CarrotLady. I'm enjoying it and hope you are, too.

Racing throught The Thirteenth Tale. Have to check to see what else she's written; can't believe this is a first novel!

I just finished The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill. This is the 4th book of her Simon Serrailler series, and while I love all the books in the series, I think this may be my favorite. Simon has to help his sister at the same time he has to deal with a shooting spree.

Why Begins With W by Hamish De'Lamet and Chandral Ramon (psuedonyms for John and Lee Schulte)

Very wry YA mystery--quick read; self-published; discovered on Amazon while searching mysteries for books to add to my Wish List. First in the series so not sure how the other two will turn out.

Also reading Sun Storm by Åsa Larsson , Kindle version.

For those reading The Likeness, I hope you enjoy it! It's a very good book and she's a terrific writer! Can't wait for her 3rd novel!

Absent Light by Eve Isherwood (released April 25, 2009) Contemporary British mystery, female protagonist - pretty good so far...

> 71 Camellia1 - I just picked up the first in the series,The Various Haunts of Men, a couple of months ago without knowing too much about it (except that it was on sale). I may have to get to it sooner rather than later!

Almost finished with When Will There Be Good News?. I really enjoy this series by Kate Atkinson.

I'm starting Green for Danger. I first read it over 10 years ago, but I don't remember anything about it except that I liked it. :)

Finally finished The Concrete Blonde by Connelly. I'm gonna switch it up for a book and read Dragonfly in Amber by Gabaldon. I'll be back to crime fiction after this book.

I'm reading The Labours of Hercules, a collection of linked Hercule Poirot short stories - just what's needed (along with a constant supply of tea and hankies) when you're suffering from a headcold.

# 79 The Labours of Hercules is very entertaining. I loved it when I read it a few years ago. Hope you're enjoying it!

>73 msf59 I really enjoyed The Likeness! I liked the setting and the unique situation of the characters.

>75 coppers - Set aside some time bcs. you won't be able to put it down.

#82, I agree with you 100%, it's kind of killing me that with all the snow here, I haven't been able to make it to the library to get The Pure in Heart the second in the series.

Right now I am reading Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, which is excellent.

I started Open Season by C.J. Box. I've heard good things about this series and I'm finally squeezing it in!

I am starting on Poet In the Gutter by John Baker. Yet another first in a series.

>82 and 83, Yea!! I love books like that and now I'm really looking forward to it and the series!

I am reading The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford. It is set in New York in the 30s and follows a group of Spiritualists/con men who get a real visitation of a 7 year old girl who has gone missing while they are running a con. The leader of the group becomes obsessed with the mystery of the girl and tries to solve her disappearance. It is s RL book group read.

Picked up the 4th Dexter book, Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay. I read the first 3 before watching season 4 of the tv series and it's confusing me a little to remember where things are at with certain characters.

Going to start The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

Finished Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn. The 6th book of the Mitch Rapp series (one which MUST be read in order...1 main character dies around book 3, another died in the middle of book 6)

Started yesterday on Map of Bones by James Rollins. The second book of the Sigma Force series.

Just started Blood Country, the first book in Mary Logue's Claire Watkins series.

Reading Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason and enjoying it. It's a hate-to-put-it-down book.

For all those who mentioned The Likeness, I'm loving it, can hardly put it down (and if it wasn't for my boss, I wouldn't have to!!!). I am preferring it to Into the Woods

#93....don't say that! I'm trying to not buy those 2 books just yet!....lol

>92: janetaileen- I read Jar City back in December and loved it. I definitely will be reading more of this series!

Reading a new author (to me). The Death of an Irish Lover by Batholomew Gill story takes place in Ireland of course. Really interesting have to look up words in the dictionary (fun). Have learned about eels (very educational) and it is a good mystery.

I just started Guilt by John Lescroart. Next up will be a reread of Chinaman's Chance by Ross Thomas, based discussion in another thread.

The Death of an Irish Lover what an enjoyable and quick read.

I finished Shutter Island over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Then last night we went to see the adaptation. It was very faithful, and I did like it. Since I'd just read the book over the weekend, it was very fresh in my mind, and I had a great time picking up all the clues. My husband knew nothing about it (apart from some excited wibbling from me, and that Scorcese directed) and absolutely loved it. They simplified the plot a bit at times, but nothing that was essential to the heart of the story. (Perfectly good bits of book plot, but you have less time to tell a story in movie format.) And I also liked seeing it all, as I'm not a visual reader so there were some things I didn't pick up while reading (or because I'd only read it the first time around).

I thought it was a great companion to the book, it's a great story that transfers well to the screen for people who haven't read the book, and while I'm glad I read the book first, that's a personal issue with me preferring to have spoilers in my movies, not in my books.

Not entirely convinced that Leonardo di Caprio was the best choice to play Teddy. He wasn't bad, he just wasn't my mental image of the character.

And I also finished The Mislaid Magician (good fun, but a confusing end), and am back with Maisie Dobbs which is quite an excellent read.

Joe Hill's Horns. Almost finished with it; really good.

>100 - I'm looking forward to Horns and happy to hear it's a good one. I loved Heart-Shaped Box.

#97...Let me know how you like Guilt. I love John Lescroart. I just recently read The Vig. I think I might have read Guilt years ago but I am starting at the beginning of his publishings...with alot of other different books in between.
I think John Lescroart is really under-rated...or at least you don't hear too much about him.

#99...how exciting. I am going to see the movie tomorrow with a friend. I've read the book and loved it! My friend has not read it. =

Just started reading The Road, Outside it is snowing, it is cold and it's getting dark.

I’m Done with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson and with the ‘Millennium Trilogy’. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/56514744

Just started Bite Me by Christopher Moore. It's light to the point of nearly flying out of my hands if I don't keep a tight grip on the book, but still funny and worth a read.

I just started Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen, a historical crime novel. Again a first in a series.

I just finished Poet In The Gutter by John Baker and this was a great read, this is the most promising series I've started since I read Christoper Brookmyre's Quite Ugly One Morning.

#99 Oh, that's wonderful news about the Shutter Island movie being good as I loved the book and really want to see the film. I'm not thrilled with diCaprio playing Teddy, either, but I'm sure he'll grow on me. Viggo Mortensen did as Aragorn.

this is the most promising series I've started since I read Christoper Brookmyre's Quite Ugly One Morning.

@106, Can't get a much better recommendation than that for me. Onto the wishlist it goes.

#107> Oh, I didn't want Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn either! I was quite grumpy about that decision. Until I saw the movie, and now I can't imagine anyone else being Aragorn.

I'm not quite at the stage of imagining no one but di Caprio being Teddy, however. :) He does the character well, but I just wanted a different face.

I just finished Steve Berry's The Paris Vendetta yesterday. It was fabulous! Today I read Ariana Franklin's Grave Goods and tomorrow I start The Sign by Raymond Khoury. I am on a leave of absense from work so it's a book a day.

#110 Niiiice. A book a day! *turns green with envy*

>106, DeltaQueen50 Thanks for the recommendation. I've requested it from our library.

I just started Yellowthread Street, which has been recommended here, and plan to start Murder in the Marais by Cara Black, which I hope is as good as it looks.

Reading Patterson's Worst Case.
Next up is Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box. Never read Joe Hill. Looking forward to it.

Reading Linwood Barclay's latest, Never Look Away. A third of the way in it's worlds better than his last. He does the terror that can strike a family really well when he's on his game.

>114 Do be sure to read Joe Hill's Horns as well. It's really wonderful.

Just finished Map of Bones by James Rollins.

Next up is The Camel Club by David Baldacci

I just finished The Oxford Murders, which feature an Argentinian math student as the main character. The author is also Argentinian. I would really recommend this one.

I've just started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie for my library's reading group. So far I'm really enjoying the narration by a ludicrously precocious eleven-year-old girl, who has turned to chemistry for consolation in a rather bizarre life.

I've just started Joe Hill's Horns and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Both are wonderfully creepy.

>114 I loved Heart-Shaped Box. Enjoy!

>115 I'm looking forward to reading Never Look Away. I read Fear the Worst, which I thought was good but not great, but this new one sounds even better.

>118 I just picked up a used copy of Sweetness over the weekend. Glad you like it!

I finished Yellowthread Street, which is set in Hong Kong and combines almost manic Keystone Kop events with more serious overtones - fast and fun read, and am in the middle of Cara Black's Murder in the Marais, watching Aimee LeDuc getting in and out of trouble with a bunch of Neo-Nazis. I'm enjoying it very much.

Edited to try to fix touchstones.

I just finished Heartsick by Chelsea Cain.

I am currently reading The Manufactured Identity by Heath Sommer.

Have any of you read Dead Game by Jennifer Chase, I am considering this or Shutter Island as my next read.

I'm reading Dead Water by Barbara Hambly, 1830's Louisiana, murder on a paddle-steamer.

Read an oldie Murder at the OPM by Lesley Ford silly me-I thought it would be set in the Office of Personnel Management, but it was WWII and Production Management. Now I'm reading Bell, Book and Murder.

I've read a couple of Lesley Ford books - I think I had the author confused with someone else. I thought they were really dated.

Reading Marcus Sakey's first novel, The Blade Itself. Really thrilling--I get a sinking feeling every time I pick it up to continue, because I just know something bad is going to happen...and I mean that in a good way!

I have read The Killer Inside Me and The Talented Mr. Ripley back to back, perhaps I should move on to something a little more cozy, a Hamish Macbeth perhaps......

Becky- I'm a fan of Sakey also! He writes about the Chicago area, very well. You'll have to check out Good People, fun stuff and I heard his latest The Amateurs is supposed to be terrific!

Henning Mankell is simply the best crime writer! Some good new Swedish crime writers are Camilla Lackberg and Mari Jungstedt. A really very good new one Johan Theorin-his first book is Echoes of the Dead. Try Karin Fossum (Norwegian), Nesser Hakan and of course the great Icelandic writer: Arnaldur Indridasan -Tainted Blood/Jar City was his first.

Just finishing up The Likeness by Tana French only 5 more pages to read, absolutely loved it. And on my train journey home tonight, I will be starting up Creepers by David Morrell

#50 - The Alienist and it's sequel are probably some of my all time favorite books.

I've been on vacation and now I'm sick so I'm getting lots of reading done. Just finished Never Look Away (an early reviewer) by Linwood Barclay, Bitter Sweets by G.A. McKevett, and Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani. I'm currently reading Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner.

The plus I've found to being sick is that I'm pleased with the progress I'm making on my TBR shelf.

I finished Lescroart's Guilt and enjoyed it, but I really found the villain's behavior unbelievable. Enough so that it detracted from the overall enjoyment of the book. JMHO.

Bell, Book and Murder was disappointing. The writing and the characters wre good, but all three stories had the lamest plots, and the first and second story had virtually the same plot.

Now in Greece with Deadline in Athens.

Rereading Chinaman's Chance by Ross Thomas. The book is about 40 years old and I originally read it about that long ago. I remember almost nothing about it, but one character's name—Icky Norris—does seem familiar! Just a few chapters in so far. Waiting for the action to pick up.

I love Chinaman's Chance, one of my favs, but it's 32 years old not 40...if it were a lady, she'd slap you! : )

Yeah, my bad! A slap would be better than a broken thumb, though.

"They broke McBride's left thumb that morning at a quarter to eleven in the back booth of Sneaky Pete's Bar & Grill, a place as shoddy as its name that was located three blocks from the beach in Venice, a failed paradise in Southern California."

Edited to correct a capitalization error. Not only can I not do simple math in my head, I can't copy a sentence without errors!

I know, isn't that great? Thomas had such a way. The book's opening sentence is a gem, too -

"The pretender to the Emperor's throne was a fat thirty-seven-year-old Chinaman called Artie Wu who always jogged along Malibu Beach right after dawn even in summer, when dawn came round as early as 4:42."

Ah, old Artie. He fooled a lot of them.

I'm reading The Complaints by Ian Rankin. I'm about halfway through now and a little disappointed. The characters do not seem to have the depth of those in the Rebus novels, the story lacks suspense and the dialogue isn't nearly as enjoyable as when Rebus and his sidekicks are at work. Hope it gets better...

Reading The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler. It's a Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery and one of the better ones of the series. His characters are interesting and sometimes quite funny.

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black was an excellent start to the Aimee LeDuc series. I'll be looking for others. I'm now in the middle of The Long Fall by one of my favorite authors, Walter Mosley. So far it's quite a grabber.

Finished Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell. I forgot how much I enjoyed her Insp. Wexford mysteries.

Doing a happy dance because I found Seven Sisters in a Goodwill sale bin. I had missed Benni Harper!

My library just got Quite Ugly One Morning for me. Hi-larious...and disturbing.

I like!

I will be finishing the month of February with Well Schooled in Murder. I love Elizabeth George, but this is one is dragging just a bit for me.

Just finished the first novel by Alafair Burke (yes, she's the daughter of James Lee Burke): Judgement Call. It was a quick read, and quite enjoyable! I'm just about to start on the second, Missing Justice. Police procedural from the perspective of a Deputy DA. Nice twisty plot and quick, clever dialogue.

I'm reading Death in the Stocks--my first Georgette Heyer.

Finished Chinaman's Chance, starting The Scarecrow.

I have just started The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin

Read Death of a Maid one of the Hamish Macbeth series by M.C. Beaton. Like always, a light, enjoyable read.

Finished Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner good yet highly disturbing so I thought I'd go for something less disturbing and am reading Shanghai Girls by Lisa See which so far is good, yet disturbing in it's own right.

>149 she_climber I'll be curious to know what you think of Shanghai Girls when you finish it.

Just starting The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes. Not read a Richard Jury novel for years, wonder if I will still like them as much as I used to.