A Great Month for Reading

 

LUCY BURDETTE: As you can see by the pile in the photo, I’ve had no shortage of books to read over the last few weeks. John has a new hip and is getting along famously, but in those first scary days when I was the sole caregiver, I wanted something soothing and so familiar. I was thrilled to discover the small Jenny Colgan book that serves as a prequel to her Mure series, which I adore. Hank’s book was daytime reading—full of twists and rocket fuel adrenaline, well done Hank! Now I’m finishing the new Ann Cleeves, which is a Matthew Venn book. It’s solid as always and I’m completely buffaloed about who could have killed these people. I’m sure Matthew will figure it out. I also read Ann Patchett’s Whistler for a second time (which I rarely do) because some friends were getting together to discuss it and eat cake. I loved it the second time too—such great depiction of characters. Kristan Higgins is the queen of women’s fiction, writing about four friends whose lives are upended by a terrible accident. 

Now I have to decide what’s next…what are you reading and how do you decide?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, mostly it’s the book by the author I get to interview next or a book I have been asked to blurb! It’s fun to have my “job” assign me books–it lets me read some I might not have heard of or chosen. As a result, I’m just beginning Hallie Shepherd’s CALL OFF THE DARK  (a new author for me, and no idea what this will be) and just finishing the brilliant Jason Rekulak’s WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN.  It is so scary I can hardly read it! (And aw, thank you for the kind words about MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER! And it’s already in second printing, yay.) And next on the blurb list..the new LIsa Jewell! So looking forward.  

HALLIE EPHRON: YAY on that second printing, Hank! And YAY on John’s new hip, Roberta!!

I’m not doing a huge amount of book reading right now because I’m in the middle of teaching a 2-week class for the Sisters in Crime Guppies on how to write a compelling protagonist. I’ve broken it into 6 lessons and there’s a full contingent of participants and masses of homework for me to respond to.

When I’m done for the day the last thing I feel like doing is reading.

But queued up next are some books I somehow managed to miss when they came out awhile back. THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB by KarenJoy Fowler (I loved her WIT’S END.) And Elena Ferrante’s MY BRILLIANT FRIEND.

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve been reading mostly for endorsements lately, including the upcoming GIRL FROM IPANEMA by Mia Sosa and Ellie Alexander’s suspense/cozy MURDER MOVES IN. Both are excellent and I highly recommend them. I also have a book by the delightful Ang Pompano called SIMMERING SECRETS to read. Right now, I’m attending the Ashland Mystery Festival in Oregon and planning a visit to the post office tomorrow to mail back all of the books I’m purchasing at the local indie bookshop Bloomsbury Books.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've been in and out of the hospital the last couple of weeks with some health stuff, so have definitely needed comfort reading. I ran across a series by LT Shearer about a retired Metropolitan Police detective who lives on a narrowboat in Little Venice (obviously irresistible to me) and who is befriended by a talking cat called Conrad. I never read Lillian Jackson Braun's books so I don't know how these compare. This series is a bit of an oddity, as it sounds super cozy but the mysteries, especially in the later books, are actually well-plotted police procedurals. The first book is THE CAT WHO CAUGHT A KILLER and I was charmed enough to plow through all five.

Also, I read MAD ABOUT YOU by British author Heidi Stevens. This one is set in the Cotswolds and I loved it so much I didn't want to read anything else when I finished it. Lucy, as you like Jenny Colgan you would probably love Stevens!

Now I've started Meg Mason's SOPHIE, STANDING THERE, for Kris Atomic's online book club, and I'm also reading a new biography of Charles Darwin, ORIGIN STORY, by Howard Markel.

Next up will be Ann Cleeves new Mathew Venn.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: After a bit of a dry spell, I’m finding a plethora of great, fun mysteries this fall! I just finished MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL by Lucy Foley and Agatha Christie. Yes, it’s a new Miss Marple, okayed by the Christie estate. (Who benefits from that, I wonder?) It’s a stunningly scenic everyone-trapped-by-the-weather novel set in 1950. I have to admit, I figured out whodunnit about ⅔ of the way through, but it was so well-written I enjoyed the ride all the way to the end of the piste. 

Currently reading HOW TO WRITE A MURDER by Jessica Brody. Like THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF, which I raved about last time, this is a group of mystery writers gathered together in a remote place, this time for a conference. I’m only a little way in, but so far, it’s a real page-turner.

I missed Benjamin Stevenson’s latest Ernest Cunningham mystery when it came out this spring, so EVERYONE IN THIS BANK IS A THIEF is waiting in the wings. 

My total author crush Emily St. John Mandel has a new speculative fiction novel just out, EXIT PARTY. I think I’m 157 on the waiting list at the Portland Public Library, so we’ll see if my patience can outlast my desire to stick to my book budget this quarter.

Reds, what are you reading these days?