Mystery Writers Cs, Ds, and Es

For the Coursera course I'm taking--"Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World" (I do so love typing that)--I'm reading Dracula by Bram Stoker and I am bored to tears. What a tedious book. Someone will have to explain its charms to me one day.

So, onward with my mystery lists.

5. Jane Casey
I've read all of Jane Casey's three police procedurals (The Last Girl was published in May) and I think I like them. I wish our heroine DS Maeve Kerrigan was a little stronger and not so odd about relationships, but she's likable. I want to say the series is getting better, but since I though the first one was best, I cannot. (London)

6. Michael Connelly
I'm late to the Michael Connelly bandwagon, and still trying to figure out if I want to read these novels. I worry that Harry Bosch is a little too stereotypically hard-boiled. But a friend said to stick with them, and I probably will pick up the series again soon. I've read the first four of 18. Since many of these books are older, I download them onto my Nook. (Los Angeles)

7. Deborah Crombie
Once upon a time, I loved Deborah Crombie's series about Metropolitan police detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. They were smart and even had sex appeal. But not lately. And so, I haven't read the last two yet. I own them, and they fill me with guilt. Now that Duncan and Gemma are married and adopting kids all over the place, they're rather boring. (London)

8. Jeffrey Deaver
I tried. I really, really tried. But I just didn't love the first book and probably won't read any more Lincoln Rhyme novels. (New York)

9. Ake Edwardson
I've only read one of Edwardson's Inspector Erik Winter books -- Room No. 10 -- and I liked it much. It's often difficult to read Scandinavian mysteries in the proper order because they're not always translated into English in the proper order. But I think Room No. 10 was first and I will have to track down the others (or wait for their translations). (Sweden)

Comments

"The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin

I’m a horrible blogger. Several times this past year, I thought I should just quit this. But I keep being drawn back. So, I’m going to do a little catching up and see how well I remember some of the books I read much earlier this year. Stay tuned. Today, however, I’m just going to write about one. I’ve been singing the praises of The Fifth Season all year even though I’m late to the party: It was published in 2015, and Jemisin is well-known as a gifted writer in the sci-fi and fantasy world. Since then, she has come out with the next two books in The Broken Earth trilogy and has won the Hugo Award three years running. No author has ever done that, let alone a black, female author. Back in 2015 she was the first African-American to win the Hugo for Best Novel. Actually, this year’s Hugos were dominated by women as female authors won in all the major categories. This is important. I’ve been noticing odd twitter posts lately about how women really don’t play video games or ar

"Beartown" by Fredrik Backman

I’m about to be overly effusive: I loved Beartown by Fredrik Backman and I think it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. (See Tangent 1.) I even love the cover. Backman lured us into his Swedish world of curmudgeons and the neighbors who love them with A Man Called Ove and his other novellas. But this isn’t A Man Called Ove . This book has a much larger scope. This feels like the book Backman has always wanted to write but had to wait to give to us until he developed an audience. You got it, bro. I will read whatever else you write in the future. This book more deeply develops his ideas about communities. It is also about parenthood and all the responsibilities that go along with it. It’s about family and best friends who are like family. It’s about belonging. It’s about sorrow and happiness. And there’s some hockey. (Tangent 2.) You will hate some of the parents (Kevin’s, William’s). You will love some of the teens (Amat, Maya, Ana, Benji, Bobo, Leo...). Be prepared

"The Boy at the End of the World," by Greg van Eekhout

I’m very grateful for The Boy at the End of the World , by Greg Van Eekhout. It’s a good, though not outstanding, book. More important, it fills a gap: science fiction for 3 rd -5 th graders. Because at some point during the school year, a teacher will assign a science fiction book report and I will have a hard time recommending books. I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy. And we know how much I like dystopian fiction (a lot). I have no problem finding good science fiction books for teens. In fact, some of the other librarians are tired of me telling teens (regardless of the assignment), “You must read Feed . Everyone should.” Or “You have to read Ender’s Game . You'll love it.” But younger kids come into the library looking for science fiction and it feels like there’s nothing very good. Most of them balk at the length of The True Meaning of Smekday (by Adam Rex), no matter how hard I sell it. They shrug their shoulders at The City of Ember (Jean DuPrau), even when I

Stacked Shelves

Search This Blog