This week's Weekly Geeks task is to ask our readers for their recommendations.
Well, you know me, I'm a committed, even addicted, crime fiction reader. I have a huge TBR, a stack of review books constantly demanding attention, and a stack of library books I should probably never have borrowed.But even so, I'm constantly open to suggestion.
If you are really persuasive, you might even get me to venture outside the crime fiction genre.
So leave me a comment, give me the titles (and authors) of the best two or three books you've read this year, and tell me why I should read them.
If you would like to, you can always write a mini-review for me to publish on my blog. See this post for details.
And, are you looking for recommendations?
You might like to visit the Book Review Blog Carnival. This is a fortnightly carnival that I participate in, but it caters for tastes much wider than crime fiction. Look for the widget over in the right hand column and check out the most recent posts. Most recently it was at At Home With Books and the new edition will be posted this weekend at Books For Sale?
If you like crime fiction, here are my top reads for the last 20 months:
- 5.0, SHATTER, Michael Robotham
- 5.0, NEMESIS, Jo Nesbo
- 5.0, FAN MAIL, PD Martin
- 5.0, DIRTY WEEKEND, Gabrielle Lord
- 5.0, A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, R.J. Ellory
- 5.0, BLACK OUT, Karin Fossum
- 5.0, PLAY DEAD, Richard Montanari
- 5.0, A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES, Reginald Hill
- 5.0, BENEATH THE BLEEDING, Val McDermid
- 4.9, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR, Fred Vargas
- 4.9, ECHOES FROM THE DEAD, Johan Theorin
- 4.9, SHADOW, Karin Alvtegen
- 4.9, THE PRIVATE PATIENT, P.D. James
- 4.8, ONE GOOD TURN, Kate Atkinson
- 4.8, LUCIFER'S SHADOW, David Hewson
- 4.9, SEARCH THE DARK, Charles Todd
- 4.9, A PALE HORSE, Charles Todd
- 4.8, ARCTIC CHILL, Arnaldur Indridason
- 4.8, THE REDEEMER, Jo Nesbo
- 4.8, THE CRUELLEST MONTH, Louise Penny
- 4.8, VOODOO DOLL, Leah Giarratano
- 4.8, WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?, Kate Atkinson
- 4.8, THE LORDS' DAY, Michael Dobbs
- 4.8, WATER LIKE A STONE, Deborah Crombie
- 4.8, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Stieg Larsson
- 4.8, NOT DEAD ENOUGH, Peter James
- 4.8, CARELESS IN RED, Elizabeth George
- 4.8, A TEST OF WILLS, Charles Todd
- 4.8, OVERKILL, Vanda Symon
Finally, check out what my fellow Weekly Geekers have written about and the recommendations they are making.
12 comments:
It is always difficult to recommend books to a very well read person but here goes:
The Darkest Room: Johan Theorin
Mrs D'Silva's Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta: Glen Peters
If The Dead Rise Not: Philip Kerr
Woman with Birthmark: Hakan Nesser
I could go on.
Thanks for the recommendations Norman. I have the Hakan Nesser on the shelves at the moment, and have just ordered the Theorin and the Kerr from the library. They hadn't heard of the other title.
Kerrie,I notice that about half the authors on your list are among my most favoured, and there are only five I actually dislike, which rather confirms the impression I've had that you and I have somewhat similar tastes. Anyway, I recommend two authors. First, Arturo Perez-Reverte: The Club Dumas; The Flanders Panel; The Seville Communion. Second, Pierre Magnan: The Murdered House; its sequel, Beyond the Grave; Death in the Truffle Wood. My reason is the same for both, and it is the same reason any author/book gets onto my A-Plus list, joining Reg Hill, Vargas, Nesbo, Alvtegen, Asa Larsson, Camilleri, et not that many al. To join the exalted, everything has to be in place, and I mean everything -- plot, fine prose, characterization, sense of place, sense of time where appropriate, atmosphere...A rule of thumb I have sometimes thought could be used in considering this is whether an author can be surely depended upon to absorb you in his/her tale when you are most in need of escape, when the goings-on in one's own life are a touch oppressing and tend to pre-occupy. Magnan, Perez-Reverte and the others on that list can certainly do that for me, and it is no mean feat.
Kerrie -
I agree with Uriah that it's difficult to recommend books to someone with your deep literary knowledge and background - rather like recommending a recipe to a chef : ). However, I very much enjoyed Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear's Anasazi series, beginning with The Visitant. The series takes place in the American Southwest and what's fascinating about it is that there are two time frames (present and distant past) in each novel. That is, the mystery takes place in both times and connects the two at the end. Not an easy feat to accomplish, but the Gears do it well. The Gears also are really effective at vivid description. If you haven't read the series, you may be interested.
Give Paul Auster a chance. You will truly like his books.
The New York Trilogy is a good start.
Weekly Geeks: Recommendations
Thanks for the recommendations Phillip. I have read the first or so in the Arturo-Revertze novels, and then for some reason never got back to the rest, and also with Magnan, I read the first, and again never got to the next. I'll try to add those to my list of authors to be looked for. So many good books to read aren't there?
Margo, I'm not as nearly well read as I'd like to be. My library has a copy of THE VISITANT so I'll order it. Thanks for the suggestion.
I've come across the name Paul Auster, Gautami, but never read any. My library seems to have them in an omnibus (or is it just one book?) - anyway I've ordered it.
I recommend Penny Warner's books. I have one of them on my Weekly Geeks post this week, Silence is Golden.
My post is here.
Great list! Have you read The Alienist by Caleb Carr? It's crime fiction, but set in Victorian-era ... New York, I think? Very smart read.
Can I tempt you out of your crime fiction genre with something related? I'm thinking of Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by William Bass. If you enjoy the forensic aspects of crime fiction, I think you might enjoy this.
Thanks for the recommendation Dreamy Bee. My library has it, so I might just give it a try
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