Showing posts with label pick of the month 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pick of the month 2012. Show all posts

2 January 2013

What I read in December 2012

Crime Fiction 2012
December was a Kindle month. We were travellling and so e-books provided a good alternative to carry a weighty heap of books with me.

I was also trying to complete some of my 2012 reading challenges and they to some extent determined my reading choices. The 9 books were all read on my Kindle.

My Pick of the month was THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny
  1. 4.6, DEATH LIES BENEATH, Pauline Rowson
  2. 4.8, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, Donna Leon
  3. 3.9, THE EDGE OF NOWHERE, Elizabeth George - young adult title, beginning of a series
  4. 4.5, LETHAL INVESTMENTS, K.O. Dahl -translated
  5. 4.9, THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, Louise Penny
  6. 4.5, THE BOMBER, Lisa Marklund - translated
  7. 4.2, HICKORY, DICKORY, DOCK, Agatha Christie
  8. 4.4, SISTERS OF MERCY, Caroline Overington - Aussie author
  9. 4.7, DEATH OF A CARPET DEALER, Karin Wahlberg - translated

What's to come on MiP

Well, the New Year has rolled in and I'm trying to catch up with my regular posts.
So here's a list of what's to come in the next day or so:
  • My review of GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn which I'm still thinking about
  • Starting my collection of your best reads for 2012 - the initial post with the Mr Linky will come up later this morning
  • Birthday celebrations for MiP - my blog turns 5 today
  • A summary of the Agatha Christie Blog Carnival for December 2012
  • The meme Best New-To-Me Authors for September to December 2012: scheduled for January 5
  • My post for my Pick of the Month for December 2012
  • My post with my best reads for 2012 - I'm not sure I can confine myself to my top 10 - there seem to be a lot of 5s.
  • A list of the reading challenges I will participate in - that will come later in the month.

1 January 2013

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month December 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for December 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June  July  August  September  October  November 


1 December 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month November 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for November 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June  July  August  September  October


30 November 2012

What I've read in November 2012

Nearly at the end of the month, and I won't finish any more books this month.

I read 12 books this month - nearly all on my Kindle. My choice of books was largely determined by the fact that I wanted to complete the Global Reading Challenge for 2012 which I did.

There are 4 books by Australian authors, means I am close to completing  self-imposed target of 20 books for the 2012 Aussie author challenge- just one to go.

Last month my pick of the month was A DECLINE IN PROPHETS by Australian author Sulari Gentill - this was the winner of Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Fiction 2012 (Australian Sisters in Crime)

This month my choice is the next book in Sulari Gentill's Rowland Sinclair series:  MILES OFF COURSE  If you haven't caught up with this series, make time to do so.
A close second was PERFECT HATRED by Leighton Gage
  1. 3.9, THE JEWELS OF PARADISE, Donna Leon  - Kindle
  2. 4.6, WINTER CHILL, Jon Cleary  - Aussie author, audio book
  3. 4.4, SUICIDE RUN, Michael Connelly - Kindle 
  4. 4.7, PERFECT HATRED, Leighton Gage  - Kindle
  5. 4.5, ALL YOURS, Claudia Pineiro  - Kindle
  6. 4.4, WHO KILLED PALOMINO MOLERO?, Mario Vargas Llosa  - Kindle
  7. 4.4, A POCKET FULL OF RYE, Agatha Christie  - Kindle
  8. 4.4, FAULT LINE, Robert Goddard  - British author, audio book
  9. 4.8, MILES OFF COURSE, Sulari Gentill  - Australian author, historical setting, library book
  10. 4.5, SCARED YET? Jaye Ford  - Australian author, review copy
  11. 4.4, BEYOND FEAR, Jaye Ford  - Australian author, library book
  12. 4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER, Shamini Flint   - library book

See what others have chosen for their Pick of the Month for November.

2 November 2012

What I read in October 2012

The 10 books I've read in the last month have been all sort of middling quality (but nevertheless quite satisfying reads) as you can see from my ratings, apart from a couple of outstanding Australian authors.
4 books from the local library, 2 on my Kindle, 3 translated (I'm enjoying A.C. Baantjer),  and 2 audio books.

My pick of the month was A DECLINE IN PROPHETS by Australian author Sulari Gentill - this was the winner of Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Fiction 2012 (Australian Sisters in Crime)


AFTER THE FUNERAL was my 45th novel read in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge.  
See what others have chosen for their Pick of the Month for October.

1 November 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month October 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for October 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June  July  August  September


2 October 2012

What I read in September 2012

I had a better reading month in terms of numbers of books read and most were satisfying reads.

There were 4 audio books, 4 translated titles, 2 read on the Kindle, and 5 borrowed from my local library.
There were no Australian authors unfortunately.

My pick of the month was the latest in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series, THE GLASS ROOM.
  1. 4.2, ROUNDING THE MARK, Andrea Camilleri  - library book, audio book, translated
  2. 4.3, BLACK OUT, John Lawton - library book
  3. 4.2, THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS, Agatha Christie 
  4. 5.0, THE GLASS ROOM, Ann Cleeves - library book
  5. 4.5, LONG TIME COMING, Robert Goddard  - audio book
  6. 4.1, THE OTHER CHILD, Charlotte Link - translated
  7. 3.7, CLASSIC DETECTIVE STORIES, read by Edward Hardwicke -  audio book 
  8. 4.2, DRY BONES, Margaret Mayhew   - library book
  9. 4.6, TRUE MURDER, Yaba Badoe  - Kindle
  10. 4.4, DEKOK AND THE DEAD HARLEQUIN, A.C. Baantjer  - Kindle, translated
  11. 4.5, THE BLACK PATH, Asa Larsson - translated
  12. 4.5, THE CORONER, M.R. Hall - audio book, library book

Read the reviews I wrote at http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/p/latest-additions.html

Check what others have chosen for their September Pick of the Month

1 October 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month September 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for September 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June  July  August  


5 September 2012

What I read in August 2012

August was a bit of a slow reading month for me. Books just took me a bit longer to read for some reason. Not because they were bad reads though.

  1. 4.5, THE STONE-CUTTER, Camilla Lackberg  - audio book
  2. 4.2, ASIA HAND, Christopher G. Moore  - Kindle
  3. 4.6, THE CROWDED GRAVE, Martin Walker  - library book
  4. 4.5, THE HEADHUNTERS, Peter Lovesey  - library book
  5. 4.5, THE HOUSE OF SILK, Anthony Horowitz  - audio book
  6. 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY, Michael Robotham  - Australian author
I'm pleased to say that my Pick of the Month was  SAY YOU'RE SORRY by Michael Robotham which I received as a review copy from the publisher.
Michael is an Australian author who has won various awards including the Ned Kelly Award for best crime fiction.

It was the first book I read for the month and was published on August 14.

To whet your appetite......

My name is Piper Hadley and I went missing on the last Saturday of the summer holidays three years ago.

When Piper and her friend Tash disappeared, there was a huge police search, but they were never found. Now Tash, reaching breaking point at the abuse their captor has inflicted on them, has escaped, promising to come back for Piper.

Clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and his stalwart companion, ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, force the police to re-open the case after Joe is called in to assess the possible killer of a couple in their own home and finds a connection to the missing girls. But they are racing against time to save Piper from someone with an evil, calculating and twisted mind...  Read more

Check what others have chosen as their Pick of the Month for August. 

1 September 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month August 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for August 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June  July 


2 August 2012

What I read in July 2012

Pick of the Month July 2012
An excellent reading month, with a mixture of formats including 4 hard backs from my local library.
I caught up with some favourite authors too - Agatha Christie, Peter Lovesey, Michael Stanley, Ian Rankin, Donna Leon, Aline Templeton, and Elly Griffiths. Regretfully no Australian authors, again, But I'm rectifying that now by reading Michael Robotham's latest.
Two outstanding books contended for my Pick of the Month.
Both are police procedurals but widely separated by setting but the main detectives have a lot in common including their size.

COP TO CORPSE is Peter Lovesey's latest, and I truly think with this one that it doesn't matter if you haven't read the earlier ones, but you'll want to afterwards.

DEATH OF THE MANTIS is #2 in the Kubu series and you really would be advised to read #1 first.

Both are terrific reads.

1 August 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month July 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for July 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May  June


10 July 2012

Current activities on MiP

Like astral collisions, the coincidence of the end of June, the beginning of July, the beginning the week, and the end of the quarter, means there are lots of things happening on my blog at present.

Here is a summary of the memes and various "collection" points.
Crime Fiction 2012

Pick of the Month is an opportunity to tell readers about the best crime fiction that you've read in the previous month. A new meme runs at the beginning of each month.

There are usually 15 or so participants and it is a great way to keep up with what other crime fiction addicts are reading, as well as making your own contribution.

Pick of the Month for June is here.


Best Crime Fiction 2012 asks readers to nominate their best reads for the first six months of this year.

These are not necessarily recently published books and eventually I'll aggregate the various lists and publish them by title and by author.
Readers can participate in this meme even if they don't have a blog, by simply leaving a list of their best reads as a comment.

This is the 5th year I've run this activity and here is a summary post for previous years.

The current post is here.



The Crime Fiction Alphabet invites bloggers to participate in a weekly meme linked to the letters of the alphabet over a period of 26 weeks.

It has about a dozen participants and results in some very interesting lists.

Find out more about it on this page. This week we are up to the letter H but you can join any time, and also miss a week or two if need to.



New to me authors is a quarterly meme that gives bloggers a chance to highlight crime fiction books that they have read in the last 3 months where the author is "new" to them.

Participants are asked to indicate their best reads, so again readers will be able to locate some quality reading.


The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge is one of my oldest projects, bringing together a group of readers who are reading Agatha Christie titles on a regular basis, either in order of publication, or simply as they come to hand.

There is a monthly blog carnival with its own blog site where participants list their reviews of Agatha Christie titles, news items and discoveries, and their progress in the challenge.

The project began in January 2009 and has every sign of continuing indefinitely. It welcomes new participants, whether they are just beginning on their Agatha Christie reading journey, or whether they are already addicted AC readers.

2 July 2012

What I read in June 2012

I spent over half of this month away from home so almost all my reading was done on my Kindle.
No Australian authors unfortunately but 5 translated ones (T) and I finished off the Canadian Book Challenge for 2011-2012 (C)

  1. 4.7, THE HOLY THIEF, William Ryan (30 June)
  2. 4.2, APRIL FOOL, William Deverell (25 June)(C)
  3. 4.4, THE BURNING EDGE, Rick Mofina  (21 June) - Kindle (C)
  4. 4.5, KILLER REELS, Rob Kitchin (18 June) - Kindle
  5. 4.9. BEFORE THE POISON, Peter Robinson (18 June) - Kindle (C)
  6. 4.6, A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED, Agatha Christie (16 June) - Kindle
  7. 5.0, THE QUARRY, Johan Theorin (15 June) - Kindle (T)
  8. 4.6, NEXT OF KIN, Elsebeth Egholm (13 June) - Kindle (T)
  9. 4.5, THE FINAL MURDER, Anne Holt (11 June) - Kindle (T)
  10. 4.7, DREGS, Jon Lier Horst (8 June) - Kindle (T)
  11. 4.5, THE FLATEY ENIGMA, Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson (4 June) - Kindle (T)
My Pick of the Month was THE QUARRY by Johan Theorin which I gave 5 to, but  BEFORE THE POISON by Peter Robinson was a very close second.

THE QUARRY is #3 in Theorin's seasonal quartet set on the island of Oland off the east coast of Sweden, connected to #1, ECHOES FROM THE DEAD, by the elderly character Gerloff Davidsson. In his mid 80s Gerloff decides that he must get away from the retirement home he is living in, and goes back to his summer cottage in Stenvik which is located near a quarry.
Two new houses have been built there since he last visited and the only other nearby resident is Per Morner who has inherited an old stone mason's cottage.

Theorin weaves a fascinating story that binds the residents together. One of the new houses is owned  by a writer whose wife lived nearby when she was a child. Little by little Theorin reveals that there are connections between these people that actually go back decades. And in the background is the constant quarrel between the elves and the trolls, and the coming of Walpurgis Night when the dark powers gather together.

Review posted here.

Check what others have selected as their Pick of the Month for June.

1 July 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month June 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for June 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for previous months in 2012:
January   February   March   April   May


2 June 2012

What I read in May 2012

Crime Fiction 2012
My books this month are almost entirely Kindle, particularly since May 11 when we left for overseas.
This has worked out particularly well, even just in terms of not having to carry a huge bag of books with me.

I have also been able to read five books by Australian authors for the last week or so, making my lack in previous months.
  1. 3.2, MURDER AT THE ROCKS, Jill Paterson (31 May) - Kindle - Australian
  2. 4.8, THE PRECIPICE, Virginia Duigan (30 May) - Kindle - Australian
  3. 4.6, THE MISSING, PD Martin (28 May) - Kindle - Australian
  4. 4.6, DEATH MASK, Kathryn Fox (28 May) - Kindle - Australian
  5. 4.8, CHELSEA MANSIONS, Barry Maitland (26 May) - Kindle - Australian
  6. 4.4, COOKING THE BOOKS, Kerry Greenwood (24 May) - Kindle
  7. 4.7, THE ABOMINABLE MAN, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo (21 May) - Kindle
  8. 4.2, THE BROTHERS OF BAKER STREET, Michael Robertson (20 May) - Kindle
  9. 4.6, DEFENDING JACOB, William Landay (18 May) - Kindle
  10. 4.4, CROOKED HOUSE, Agatha Christie (15 May) - Kindle
  11. 3.1, BICYCLE SHOP MURDER, Robert Burton Robinson (14 May) - Kindle
  12. 4.6, BELIEVING THE LIE, Elizabeth George (12 May) - Kindle
  13. 4.6, THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END, Elly Griffiths (11 May) - audio book
  14. 4.7, A DISSECTION OF MURDER, Felicity Young (6 May) - Kindle
  15. 4.8, THE HANGING SHED, Gordon Ferris (3 May) - Kindle

It was a close thing for Pick of the Month between CHELSEA MANSIONS, Barry Maitland  THE HANGING SHED, Gordon Ferris,  and THE PRECIPICE, Virginia Duigan.

I have chosen THE PRECIPICE because it is such an unusual book.

See what others have chosen.

1 June 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month May 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for May 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for January and February 2012

3 May 2012

What I read in April 2012

Crime Fiction 2012
I didn't read so many books in April, and have come to the conclusion that getting to over 160 books this year won't be the doddle that it seemed it might be at the end of March.

My list this month is dominated by library borrowings which just goes to show what a good resource my local library is.
There are a couple of translated books, three audio books,  but it is dominated by British crime fiction.
Once again I've only read one by an Australian author so I'm feeling a bit guilty.

My Pick of the month was a toss up between the first two that I read including the one by the Australian author (4.8, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Wendy James) but in the long run I had to stay with my rating system and choose 5.0, THE CALLER by Karin Fossum

But as you'll see from the list below, I didn't really read one dud title this month.

  1. 4.5, A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES, Ruth Rendell (29 April) - library book
  2. 4.5, THE FALLS, Ian Rankin (29 April) - audio library book
  3. 4.5, GRAVE STONES, Priscilla Masters  (25 April)- audio book
  4. 4.6, TAKEN AT THE FLOOD, Agatha Christie (24 April) 
  5. 4.7, PHANTOM, Jo Nesbo (21 April) - library book
  6. 4.6, WINGS OVER THE WATCHER, Priscilla Masters  (18 April) -audio book
  7. 4.6, LYING DEAD, Aline Templeton (16 April) - library book
  8. 5.0, THE CALLER, Karin Fossum (10 April) - translated, library book
  9. 4.8, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Wendy James (6 April) - library book, Australian

1 May 2012

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month April 2012 - a meme

Crime Fiction 2012
Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for April 2012, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

Check out Pick of the Month contributions for JanuaryFebruary and March 2012

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