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Tag Archives: book group
Just Desserts members shared “Memorable Stand-Alone Mysteries” last night
At the September 26th, 2019 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, 19 group members had the opportunity to share comments about a “Memorable Stand-Alone Mystery” that they’d read. Here’s the list of titles the group members shared. This meeting was audio-recorded for eventual release as a library podcast.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense “stand-alone” novels shared by Just Desserts members in September 2019:
- Scott read And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie, the best-selling mystery novel of all-time at over 100,000,000 copies sold!
- Rayma read Old Bones (2019) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (likely the first in a new series, but the only one out so far)
- Carolyn read Ripper (2014) by Isabel Allende
- Cathy read Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1934) by Agatha Christie
- Mary read The Stranger (2015) by Harlan Coben
- Cheryl read Jericho’s Fall (2015) by Stephen Carter (though she doesn’t recommend it)
- Christy read Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) by P.D. James
- Donna read In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015) by Ruth Ware
- Vera read A Place of Execution (1999) by Val McDermid
- Cindy read The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins
- Sharon read The Death of Mrs. Westaway (2018) by Ruth Ware
- Joan fondly remembered Rebecca (1938) by Daphne DuMaurier as her all-time favorite, but for this meeting read The Escape Room (2018) by Megan Goldin
- Jodi read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (2007/2018 translation) by Olga Tokarczuk for the meeting, and shared that her all-time favorite is Double Bind (2007) by Chris Bohjalian
- Charlotte read Gone For Good (2002) by Harlan Coben
- Jennie read The Keeper of Lost Things (2017) and The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes (2019) both by Ruth Hogan
- Don read The Survivors Club (2002) by Lisa Gardner
- Suzy read The Fourth K (1990) by Mario Puzo
- Ladena read Trust Me (2018) by Hank Phillippi Ryan
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – August 2019
At the August 29th, 2019 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith – a.k.a. J.K. Rowling), we held our monthly round robin in which all 16 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in August 2019:
- The Crossing by Michael Connelly – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Dog On It (audiobook) by Spencer Quinn – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Fallen by David Baldacci – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Open Carry by Marc Cameron
- Silkworm and Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith – this month’s author selection for Just Desserts
- Luther on DVD
- Redemption by David Baldacci – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
- After Anna by Lisa Scottoline – past author selection for Just Desserts
- One Bad Turn by Sinead Crowley
- The Frankie Drake Mysteries – Season 1 on DVD
- Death of a Greedy Woman by M.C. Beaton – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
- Various novels by Charles Finch on audiobook
- Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel on audio
- Born to Die by Lisa Jackson – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Foreign Influence by Brad Thor
- The 17th Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Hooked on Murder by Betty Hechtman
- Book, Line & Sinker by Jenn McKinlay
- What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross
- Invisible, Unsolved and Now You See Her by James Patterson – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in August 2019:
- Two of the three One Book – One Lincoln finalists: There There by Tommy Orange, and The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Killer Angels by Michael Sharra
- Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
- Jane Eyre on DVD (with Ruth Wilson)
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- Resolution by Robert B. Parker
- The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Join the discussion of Robert Galbraith’s “The Cuckoo’s Calling”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on August 29th, 2019, 16 group members discussed the 2013 novel The Cuckoo’s Calling by author J.K. Rowling, writing under her pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about The Cuckoo’s Calling and “Robert Galbraith”, in a reply comment to this blog post, below.
For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings and/or other announcements of interest to mystery fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, if you’re logged into your account on Facebook, you can visit the Events page for the Lincoln City Libraries, and mark whether or not you plan to attend upcoming sessions of Just Desserts – this is a great way for you to help us promote this engaging discussion group! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance — currently through our October 2019 meeting.
So…What do you think of “Robert Galbraith”, and the Cormoran Strike series, starting with The Cuckoo’s Calling?
Join us again on September 26th, 2019 for the next meeting of Just Desserts. We’ll have a special theme this month, instead of our normal assigned author/title. The discussion topic for September with by “Favorite Stand-Alone Mystery Novel”. All participants will have to chance to describe their all-time favorite stand-alone mystery novel — it can be a classic or modern story, but it can’t be part of a series. We hope to see you there!
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts group members – July 2019
At the July 25th, 2019 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (several of Donna Andrews’ “Meg Langslow” series), we held our monthly round robin in which all 15 attendees were able to share a few recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.
Here’s the list of mystery and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in July 2019:
- Some Close Darkness by Charlie Donlea
- The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
- Heart of Barkness by Spencer Quinn
- Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathan King
- Backlash by Brad Thor
- Never Die Alone by Lisa Jackson – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Tony & Susan by Austin Wright
- (A Book of Bones by John Connolly – coming this fall) – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Gereon Rath series by Volker Kutscher
- The Hector Belascoara Shayne by Paco Ignacio Taibo II
- The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith
- Whatdunits and More Whatdunits edited by Mike Resnick
- The entire Fletch series by Gregory McDonald
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in July 2019:
- The three 2019 One Book – One Lincoln finalists: There There by Tommy Orange, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, and The Faraway Brothers by Lauren Markham
- Star Trek Discovery season one on DVD
- The Warders series by Mary Calmes
- Doing Justice by Preet Bharara (on CD)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven
- Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone by Martin Dugard
- The Jell-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom
- The Library Book by Susan Orlean
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Join the Discussion of Tana French’s “The Witch Elm”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on July 25th, 2019, 15 group members discussed the 2018 psychological suspense novel The Witch Elm by Irish author Tana French. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about The Witch Elm and Tana French, in a reply comment to this blog post, below.
For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings and/or other announcements of interest to mystery fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, if you’re logged into your account on Facebook, you can visit the Events page for the Lincoln City Libraries, and mark whether or not you plan to attend upcoming sessions of Just Desserts – this is a great way for you to help us promote this engaging discussion group! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance — currently through our May 2019 meeting.
So…What do you think of Tana French, and her stand-alone novel The Witch Elm?
Join us again in August 2019 for a discussion of Robert Galbraith’s debut-novel thriller The Cuckoo’s Calling, in the 4th floor auditorium at the Bennett Martin Public Library, 14th & “N” St., in downtown Lincoln, on August 29th, 2019. [Galbraith is actually J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, but The Cuckoo’s Calling is her debut novel for adults in the mystery/thriller genre.]