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Tag Archives: book group
Reading Suggestions from Just Desserts members – October 2013
Here is the list of reading recommendations from the October 2013 Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting. After discussing our book-of-the-month, the group did a round robin, asking members to say what they’d been reading lately that they’d recommend.
Here is the list of titles that were hot with this mystery-savvy bunch of readers in October:
MYSTERIES/THRILLERS/SUSPENSE
- Ready to Die by Lisa Jackson
- Never Go Back by Lee Child (several people)
- The Louis Kincaid series by P.J. Parrish
- The Christmas Carol Murder by Leslie Meier
- W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton (several people)
- Let it Burn by Steve Hamilton
- The Sound and the Furry by Steve Quinn
- Killing Custer by Margaret Coel
- Death on Demand, Design for Murder, Something Wicked and Honeymoon With Murder by Carolyn G. Hart
- Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton (on CD)
- The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (on CD)
- Finding Nouf and The Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris
- Death Comes Silently by Carolyn Hart
- How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
- A Tap at the Window by Linwood Barclay
- Let the Dark Flower Blossom by Norah Labiner
- Nearer Home by Joy Castro
- Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill
- Sleight of Hand by Phillip Margolin
- Alone by Lisa Gardner
- And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman
- Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M.C. Beaton
- The Litter of the Law by Rita Mae Brown
- A Brew to a Kill by Cleo Coyle
- Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
- Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (several people)
- Jack Reacher the movie adaptation based on the books by Lee Child
- Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
- The Joe Gunther series by Archer Mayor
- The English Girl, The English Assassin and The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
- Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson
- Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich (on CD)
- Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman
- The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson
- Leverage: The Con Job by Matt Forbeck
- Covert Affairs: Season Three on DVD
NON-MYSTERIES
- The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses
- Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier (on CD)
- A Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
- The Butler: A Witness to History by Will Haygood
- Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
- The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
What you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Your Just Desserts hiatus reading assignment: 2013 — Elmore Leonard
During the Nov/Dec 2013 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we encourage regular attendees to continue to participate as a group…but in a virtual way. While we may not have an actual meeting scheduled during these two months, this blog is available to keep everyone active with their mystery reading and discussions.
Our “hiatus author” for 2013 is Elmore Leonard, one of the most distinctive “voices” in American mystery/thriller writing of the past 50 years. Leonard began his fiction career putting out western novels, before putting out his first thriller, The Big Bounce, in 1969. Since then, Elmore Leonard was a regular fixture of the best-seller lists, and many of his novels were also turned into successful films and television series, including Mr. Majestyk, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob (TV series), Rum Punch (filmed as Jackie Brown), and Out of Sight (both a film and a TV series were based on this one). The recent TV series Justified is based on the characters Leonard introduced in Riding the Rap and Fire in the Hole, and was continued in his final novel Raylan. Leonard died in August 2013. [ See our complete Remembering…Elmore Leonard booklist on BookGuide ]
We encourage Just Desserts participants to read any mystery or thriller book by Elmore Leonard, at some point in November or December 2013, then come back here and leave a comment about whatever you read or watched, as a response to this discussion topic.
As a bit of background, here are some links to Elmore Leonard information:
- Elmore Leonard’s official website
- Elmore Leonard entry on Wikipedia
- Elmore Leonard entry on the Internet Movie Database
We look forward to seeing your comments here over the course of the next two months! So…here’s your question: Which of the Elmore Leonard novels did you read, and what was your opinion?
Scott C. – Just Desserts coordinator and host
Carolyn G. Hart’s “Death on Demand” series
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on October 24th, 2013, 21 of us enjoyed discussing the Death on Demand series by Carolyn G. Hart; participants were asked to read any of the first 10 volumes in this 20+ volume series, and we discussed them all in general terms.
Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this series 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.
What do you think of the early volumes in the Death on Demand series by Carolyn G. Hart?
The Just Desserts group will now take our annual November/December hiatus, and will return in January with all-new meetings and all-new authors. Watch for a post in early November that encourages Just Desserts members to continue with reading mysteries over the hiatus!
September 2013 Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members
Here is the list of reading recommendations from the September 2013 Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting. After discussing our book-of-the-month, the group did a round robin, asking members to say what they’d been reading lately that they’d recommend.
Here is the list of titles that were hot with this mystery-savvy bunch of readers in September:
MYSTERIES/THRILLERS/SUSPENSE
- Mystery Scene magazine — link goes to the official website for the magazine; the libraries do not subscribe to this magazine at this time
- Old Bones by Aaron Elkins
- Blood, Ash and Bone by Tina Whittle
- Midnight at Marble Arch by Anne Perry
- Inferno by Dan Brown
- Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M.C. Beaton
- The Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle
- The works of The works of Joanne Fluke
- A Serpent’s Tooth by Craig Johnson
- Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
- Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger
- Murder of a Stacked Librarian by Denise Swanson
- Murder at Death’s Hotel by Kenneth M. Cameron
- Second Watch by J.A. Jance
- Ready to Die by Lisa Jackson
- Watchin the Dark by Peter Robinson
- Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs
- Spider’s Web by Margaret Coel
- The Hercule Poirot stories by Agatha Christie
- The Embroidery series by Monica Ferris
- The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner
- Last Wool and Testament by Molly Macrae
- W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
- Killing Custer by Margaret Coel
- The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter
- The Beast by Faye Kellerman
- Stranded by Alex Kava
- The Toby Neal series as Kindle files (Broken Ferns, Black Jasmine, Blood Orchids)
- The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)
NON-MYSTERIES
- Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky
- The entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
- Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
What you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Lisa Gardner’s “Alone”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on September 26th, 2013, 13 of us enjoyed discussing Lisa Gardner’s Alone, the first volume in her popular D.D. Warren series.
Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book 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.
What do you think of Alone by Lisa Gardner?
Join us next on October 24th at the South Branch Library for a general discussion of the first 10 volumes in Carolyn G. Hart’s fan-favorite Death on Demand series. Here’s a list (with links to our catalog) of those first ten volumes:
- Death on Demand [1987]
- Design for Murder [1988]
- Something Wicked [1988]
- Honeymoon With Murder [1988]
- A Little Class on Murder [1989]
- Deadly Valentine [1990]
- The Christie Caper [1991]
- Southern Ghost [1992]
- Mint Julep Murder [1995]
- Yankee Doodle Dead [1998]