THE "BOOKIE" JAR

Hello Fellow Book Lovers

I’m going to replace “Blind Date With A Book” that only Lynda and I participate in on this site. I hope this will be something that everyone will feel comfortable adding to and not have the worry about being able to get the book or pile up more levels to your already monstrous TBR pile.

Introducing….drum Roll and thunderous applause…oh… I guess I’m just hearing things. Anyway…Introducing…THE BOOKIE JAR! The rules are simple…there are none. Here’s what you do.

1. Visit the “Bookie Jar” as many times as you like. On your visit you may pick a book from the jar that your friends have put in you may leave a book(s) that you really liked and hope someone else will enjoy. It can be any genre. Hopefully you will all use the “Bookie Jar” to find books that you might enjoy reading…find books to fit a challenge that you are participating in…or just find a new author or even a new genre. So come on and stick your hand in our “Bookie Jar” and pull a new friend.

2. When you add a "bookie", along with the author and the title please include the “genre”, as some people may be particular about the genre that they read. Take your best guess if you don’t know. If the book is a part of a series, please include which number book it is in the series. Some happily ROO and others would rather cut off their right hand.

3. Leave as many “Bookie’s” as you want as often as you want….whenever you want. Oh…and don’t forget to put the lid back on

4. Since silly me forgot that you can't remove a topic title I would suggest that you go to the "Something New This Way Comes' topic and click the "x". It will at least get it off your board you are working from.

I’ll start with a dozen well done “Bookies”.

Carol’s “Bookies”

Simon Said by Sarah Shaber - genre: Cozy mystery but a really good story and characters.
This is Our Story by Ashley Elston - genre: Mystery
The House on Cold Hill by peter James – genre: Mystery…but more ghost story
Family Plot by Cherie Priest – genre: absolutely a ghost story
And Then There Were None (.a.k.a Ten Little Indians) by Agatha Christie – genre: Mystery
My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni – genre- mystery – Book 1 in the Tracy Crosswhite series
Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner – genre – mystery – Book #7 in the FBI profiler series
Everything to Lose by Andrew Gross – genre – Thriller
Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey – genre – archeological mystery
In the Blood by Lisa Unger – genre – Physiological thriller
The Second Life of Nick Mason by Steve Hamilton – genre – thriller – Book #1 in the Nick Mason series
Zero Day by David Baldacci – genre – thriller featuring an ex-military Special Agent – Book # 1 in the John Puller series
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnolly - genre - historical mystery
Grave Doubts by Elizabeth Corley - genre - physiological thriller
The Executioner by Chris Carter - Robert Hunter series Book #1- genre- Physiological thriller
The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter - Robert Hunter Book #2 - genre - Physiological thriller
The Night Stalker by Chris Carter - Robert Hunter Book #3 - genre - physiological thriller

Sounds like fun, Carol. Will go away and put my thinking cap on, see what books I can come up with to recommend...

I've searched my Librarything bookshelf and found 3 books that I really enjoyed but which might take Mystery and Suspensers off their beaten track:

Songs of Love and War (aka The Girl in the Castle) by Santa Montefiore, an Historical Romance set in early 20th century Ireland (5★s from me)

Tuppenny Hat Detective by Brian Sellars, an Historical Crime aimed at adults and children alike, set in 1950's Sheffield, England (4.5★s from me)

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig, Fantasy - supposedly children's but it worked for me (5★s + ❤️)

I'm going to read the first book on Carol's list Simon Said and from Sergei's list I'm going to read a book by Santa Montefiore. I'll list my books for my list soon.

Hothouse Flower or Orchid House by Lucinda Riley - Historical Fiction
The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier - Time Travel Adventure
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton - Standalone Crime Fiction
Burntown: a novel by Jennifer McMahon - Thriller Fantasy
The Ex by Alafair Burke - Standalone Mystery

I think I will go for Songs of Love and War from Sergei's jar as this is an author I have wanted to try for a while. I would love to have read Simon Said because if Carol recommends a cozy book it must be good, but unfortunately can't find a copy anywhere - will research further! Therefore think I might try In the Blood from Carol's jar.

I will load up my jar in the next few days.

Has to be Hothouse Flower from Eadie's jar, simply love Lucinda Riley books!

Bookies I'd quite like to sample:

Carol's And Then There Were None
Eadie's The House on the Strand
OM's Doc (If I can get the library to buy the ebook!)
Andrew's The Storm Sister
Cin's The Firebird (I'm not a great fan of nonfiction, YA or dystopian books, Cin, so I checked out your profile page. There's a link on the right of the page under 'Books you share/Compare books' - "What should you borrow?", which suggests 'The Firebird' among others; seeing as I have this on Kindle I'm going with it, even though you haven't read it yet either!)
Sushi's Defending Jacob

The list will be added to, as and when an interesting book makes someone's list; books will receive a ✔️ when read.

Lynda's Bookies

Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger - Fiction/Mystery
Dissolution - C. J. Sansom - Historical Mystery
The Professionals - Owen Laukkanen - Thriller
I See You - Clare Macintosh - Thriller
I Let You Go - Clare Macintosh - Thriller
Every Dead Thing - John Connolly - Thriller
Finding Nouf - Zoe Ferraris - Mystery
Crocodile - Maurizio de Giovanni - Eurocrime
Irene - Pierre LeMaitre - first in an excellent trilogy followed by Alex and then Camille
This Is Our Story - Ashley Elston - Mystery
The Kill Artist - Daniel Silva - Thriller - first Gabriel Allon
Day After Tomorrow - Allen Folsom - Thriller
Doc - Mary Doria Russell - Historical Fiction
Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly - Historical Fiction

I absolutely recommend In the Blood and The Second Life of Nick Mason from Carol's list.

>10 Olivermagnus: From your list, I have already read Ordinary Grace, Every Dead Thing, and The Kill Artist.

I would like to read and do own the books for:
Dissolution by C. J. Samsom
The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
Day After Tomorrow by Allen Folsom
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly - Have to get from Library

>2 Carol420: My next audio book from the library will be The Second Life of Nick Mason by Steve Hamilton.

This is working great. I already have great suggestions from all of you. Good for me that you all have recommended some historical mysteries. I haven't read very many of this genre but seems I always need one for a challenge.

from Sergei's jar...my little reading buddy, Brian wants to read A Boy Called Christmas. He's eagerly awaiting the library to open. Thank you so much for providing him another adventure. >4 Sergeirocks: I highly recommend Then There Were None. It's the only Agatha Christie book I have ever liked. It's on DVD also and very close to the book.

>6 EadieB: I'm going to read The Ex from your jar. My mother has read her books but I never have.

>10 Olivermagnus: From your jar I'm taking I See You, I Let You Go and Day after Tomorrow

>16 LibraryCin: From your jar I have to take Shake Hands With the Devil

>19 Andrew-theQM: From your jar I'll take The Storm Sister love Lucinda Riley

>23 sushicat: From your jar(s)...nice touch with the 3 jars by the way... Got to go with Rivers of London and Fade to Red I have only read her Kate Bunkholder series. I wasn't aware that she had written any standalones.

>13 Carol420: I hope Brian enjoys it, :)

>14 Sergeirocks: He will I'm sure. He has it in his hot little hand as we speak. I might even have to read it with him. He's doing a lot more reading on his own now but he always tells me about what he reads.

I love this! Not sure how often I'll pick a book to read, since I have 500+ books on my tbr already, but I love to recommend some. Not sure if people in the Mystery/Suspense group will go for these, but you never know! Maybe something will peak someone's interest.

So, I have two lists I made (originally on shelfari) that I will take from to suggest here. ONe of my lists is called "Books I Would Love to See Everyone Read" - funny, this is a short list, and they are all nonfiction!

The other list is "Books I Often Recommend", so that works well here. :-)

So, here is my bookie list:

Nonfiction:
Shake Hands With the Devil / Romeo Dallaire (nonfiction, history, Rwanda)
The World Without Us / Alan Weisman (nonfiction, the environment)
The Longest Day / Cornelius Ryan (nonfiction, WWII, D-Day)
Escape / Carolyn Jessop (biography, FLDS)
Columbine / Dave Cullen (nonfiction, the shooting at Columbine)
Bitter is the New Black / Jen Lancaster (biography, humour)

Fiction:
Into Thin Air / Jon Krakauer (nonfiction, Mount Everest)
The Best Laid Plans / Terry Fallis (fiction, humour, Canadian politics)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson / John Green (young adult)
Ready Player One / Ernest Cline (dystopia, virtual reality, 1980s)

Those are off those two lists. I'm sure I could go through my Favourites shelf and find lots more! But, I'll leave it there, for now.

>16 LibraryCin: Thank you for your "Bookies". It doesn't matter the genre...just that you liked them and I can guarantee there will be others that like them also.

>16 LibraryCin: I've read Escape and Into Thin Air and I have Ready Player One on my TBR list.

Andrew's Bookies

In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard (Thriller)
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Contemporary Fiction)
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer (Family Saga : 1 of 7)
The Light Between Oceans by M L Steadman (Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction)
Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper (Mystery / Thriller : 1 of 3)
Black Order by James Rollins (Thriller / Suspense : 3 of 12)
The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley (Historical Romance : 2 of 3)
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman (Historical Fiction : 1 of 3)
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy (Contemporary Fiction)
The Child of the Phoenix by Barbara Erskine (Historical Fiction)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Literary Fiction)
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Historical Mystery : 1 of 13)

>9 Sergeirocks: >10 Olivermagnus: I want to read Doc too so is one I am adding to my list.

>19 Andrew-theQM: The ones that I haven't read on your list are:

Black Order but I have to read Map of Bones first
The Storm Sister
Here Be Dragons
Child of the Phoenix

>19 Andrew-theQM: Good ones, Andrew. At some point I'll sample Only Time Will tell, The Storm Sister & The Child of the Phoenix. They're the only ones I haven't read.

I'll split my offering into three jars:

Mystery jar (seems to be overflowing...):
Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1) by Ben Aaronovitch - paranormal mystery - go for the audiobooks, they are brilliant!
Fade to Red by Linda Castillo - romantic suspense
Blood Men by Paul Cleave - psychological thriller
The Moose Jaw (Fergus O'Neill #1) by Mike Delany - psychological thriller with a touch of the supernatural, set in Alaska
Candlemoth by R.J. Ellory - historical - a blind date originally proposed by Eadie, this one made me cry
Defending Jacob by William Landay - legal thriller
Wolf (Jack Caffery #7) by Mo Hayder - psychological thriller - my favorite in a great series
The Cold Cold Ground (Sean Duffy #1) by Adrian McKinty - police procedural set during The Troubles
Fragile by Lisa Unger - psychological thriller
The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach - legal thriller - his books always explore issues of law vs ethics
This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston - psychological thriller - a recommendation from Carol

Other fiction jar:
My Real Children by Jo Walton - an interesting take on alternate history
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon - a touch of the supernatural - a blind date originally proposed by Carol
Lock In by John Scalzi - science fiction
Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa - about what it means to be on opposite sides of protests
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - again: do the audio, it's superb!

Non fiction jar:
Fire Season by Philip Connors - about spending time as a fire lookout in the mountains of New Mexico
Into the Silence by Wade Davis - about Mallory and the Everest and how this all fits with WW1
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing - about a trip to Antarctica and coming back against all odds
Winterdance by Gary Paulsen - about preparing for the Iditarod, the longest dog sled race

>7 Andrew-theQM: Simon Said is £2.59 on Kindle.

>23 sushicat: Some excellent choices in here Sushicat and so well organised into your three jars. 😊
I think I will choose:

Mystery Jar : Fragile by Lisa Unger. So difficult to choose from this jar, wanted to choose them all but do want to try a Lisa Unger book.

Other Fiction Jar : The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

Non-Fiction Jar : Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Always fascinated by Shackleton's story, in my opinion the most successful failure ever! But also very interested in Mallory so also need to get to Into the Silence by Wade Davis!

If anyone is interested in Mallory and wants to read a fiction book I heartily recommend Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer. I loved this book. ❤️

>24 sushicat: Thanks Sushicat, will check it out. 😀

Many interesting offerings are already on my TBR:

Doc / Ready Player One / Columbine / Shake Hands With the Devil / My Sister's Grave / In the Blood

Or already read:
Into Thin Air - though I don't rate it as highly as I'm very much bothered by his treatment of Boukraev
The Night Circus - loved that one
The World Without Us - there was also a series on TV based on this - but I liked the book better
This Is Our Story - seems to have impressed a number of us

I really want to read more of Jennifer McMahon, but have two other books by her already on the shelf. And many more that titillate ...

>23 sushicat: I'll second The Winter People and Endurance!

>23 sushicat: >25 Andrew-theQM: >28 LibraryCin: The Winter People is my favorite book by Jennifer McMahon. It will also fit our sub-genre challenge this month.

>23 sushicat: Thanks for the "Bookie's". I'll have to come back and pick some out of your jars:)

>23 sushicat: big fan of Jo Walton. I really enjoyed her Small Change trilogy

I have to add Grave Doubts by Elizabeth Corley to my Bookie Jar. Genre - physiological thriller.

More "bookies" in the jar... The Crucifix Killer, The Executioner and The night Stalker...the first 3 books in the Robert Hunter series. genre: vary dark and gritty, physiological mysteries.