What with the weather being hideous, and still feeling accomplished from the weekend, yet not motivated to tackle anything tonight, I decided to take the night off. I didn't go anywhere, I didn't talk to anyone. I simply snuggled up in a blanket and read, only taking a break to cook dinner.
One of my Saturday errands took me to the Central Branch of the Free Library where I hit pay dirt on some of the books I wanted to read. So I reached toward my 15 book limit and took out bunches of them. And seeing as how I only have three weeks and 3 renewals, I thought I'd best get going.
I read mostly mysteries, and these days search for authors (with the help of my sister who always has great suggestions) who have a pile of books to their name. I then proceed to use amazon and the Free Library catalog to put the books in order (if possible, I prefer to read the books in order so I don't miss the subplots and introductions of recurring characters), and find them in the library system.
So what am I reading lately?
-Books about coffee and tea: Cleo Coyle's Coffee House mysteries featuring Clare Cosi and set in NYC, and Laura Childs' Teashop mysteries featuring Theodosia Browning and set in Charleston, S. Carolina. Both of these series smack of being ghost written, or perhaps the poduct of several authors, a la Nancy Drew, but they are frivilous and fun. The coffee house mysteries especially make me long for a cup of coffee every time.
-Books set in Maine: This is just a coincidence, but at about the same time, I found two new authors: Sarah Graves, originally from the Philadelphia area, but who now lives in and remodels a house in Maine. Her series is Home Repair is Homicide, and features tips about restoring old houses, an area of great interest just now. The second is JS Borthwick, who's detective Sarah Deane is a college professor.
-Books by Rhys Bowen: She seems to have written a million books, but they are conveniently divided into three series. The one I have now is the Molly Murphy series about an Irish immigrant to NYC at the turn of the 20th Century. I'm on Book 2. So far, so good.
This is just a smattering of course.
Along with the thrill of finding a new author is the disappointment when an author stops writing (or takes a long hiatus). I think these authors should write more. Now.
-Madeleine Robins who wrote the Sarah Tolerance mysteries
-Joanne Dobson who wrote the Karen Pelletier mysteries (but wait! her website says there will be another in 2009!)
-Margaret Lawrence who wote about 18th century midwife Hannah Trevor
-Julie Kaewert who wrote booklover's mysteries
-Sharon Kay Penman's medieval mysteries
-Fiona Buckley's Ursula Blanchard mysteries
And on and on...
I think I'll go read a bit before bed...
3 comments:
I like mysteries too but so many are poorly written, even by my low literary standards. Thanks for the suggestions, time to go to the library!
All the authors you listed are women but perhaps you'd consider Stuart Kaminsky. He has several series. My favorites are -
- Abe Lieberman - Chicago Jewish cop with Irish Catholic partner
- Rostnikov - a Russian police inspector who always has to juggle what he thinks is right with office politics. His hobby is plumbing.
- Rachel
Somehow I've tended toward women authors and women protaganists, but I don't feel exclusive about that. And who could resis a detective who's hobby is plumbing?
I can recommend Sarah Caudwell. She only wrote about six books, but they're excellent and hilarious.
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