What we're reading, the MTS edition

pdichellis · Mar 23, 2014

vagough said:
And for those Connelly/Bosch fans out there, I also just watched the pilot episode of "Bosch" on Amazon last night. Excellent! Evidently Amazon has ten pilots out for voting -- five for adults, five for kids -- and will decide which one to develop into a full-fledged series based on public input. (Obviously I voted for Bosch!)

Good news for Connelly/Bosch fans -- looks like the "Bosch" pilot episode got lots of votes. Variety mag is reporting Amazon gave the green light to produce the whole series.

http://variety.com/2014/digital/new...ma-from-x-files-creator-exclusive-1201129456/

Best wishes,
Peter DiChellis

heyjude · Mar 23, 2014

The Last Savanna by Mike Bond. Beautiful, unsparing writing. Bond is particularly good at that skill I lack: making the place a character.

He's been described as an existential eco-thriller writer. Good assessment. I came away from that book sadder, though. Must read something fun and light next.

Silver-Midnight · Mar 23, 2014

I'm reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.

pdichellis · Mar 26, 2014

Recently finished Criminal Karma by Steven M. Thomas. The main character is a smart, professional criminal, so the point-of-view and insights are about how to commit crimes instead of how to solve them: Different ways to crack a safe, plan a robbery, reduce risk while committing a burglary, etc. Good storytelling, interesting change of perspective.

Best wishes,
Peter DiChellis

bookworm92 · Apr 1, 2014

Midway through A Study in Scarlet. It's included in a complete Sherlock Holmes collection. I'm going to read the whole series.

muse · Apr 1, 2014

The prisoner of Brenda by Colin Bateman.

Full of quirky humour and realistic flavours of Belfast. I really enjoyed it, especially the slightly insane MC.

jeseymour · Apr 1, 2014

Reading "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan. Not as good as the Percy Jackson series.

vagough · Apr 2, 2014

Am starting to read Lisa Gardner's D.D. Warren series, having now finished her Quincy-Rainie books. So far, I like Quincy-Rainie better, but the reading is still in the early stages.

sheadakota · Apr 18, 2014

On a Robert Crais reading frenzy. 're-reading all his best ones. On Taken now.

jeseymour · Apr 18, 2014

Just finished "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan. Have "The Mark of Athena" but considering re-reading "The Complete Illustrated Sherlock Holmes" because we just binge-watched the first two seasons of Sherlock on Netflix. Kicking myself because the third season is not on Netflix, and although it was streaming on PBS, it just expired in March. Ahhh!

pdichellis · Apr 18, 2014

Recently finished A Good Death by Christopher R. Cox. A newspaper reporter turned private eye travels to Thailand to investigate a suspicious death report. The author, a journalist who has worked in Southeast Asia, knows the territory and brings the setting alive. Well-written, nice complexity. Parental warning: some X-rated scenes in a Bangkok bar.

Best wishes,
Peter DiChellis

Nancyleeny · Apr 18, 2014

I have a terrible confession. I have always been a voracious reader, from the age of 10 to about 10 years ago, so for about 30 years. A book a day most times. I am also a high school English teacher. And I am so bored with most books I pick up, I haven't been reading fiction for a while. It is the same story, recycled over and over. I did like "Gone Girl," just because it was actually different.

I am trying to get back into it, exploring new mystery writers who I may like. I am rereading Diane Mott Davidson, since that is the genre I am working in, but I can't even get through her books. I used to love Susan Isaacs, but her new books are terrible!! (apologies to any fans, this is just my opinion.) Patterson, Delaware, Cornwell, it is the same story, over and over and over.

Would love some good suggestions. My friend suggested Junot Diaz, but it isn't what I'm doing right now.
Thanks,
Nancy

Melville · Apr 18, 2014

Nancyleeny said:
I have a terrible confession. I have always been a voracious reader, from the age of 10 to about 10 years ago, so for about 30 years. A book a day most times. I am also a high school English teacher. And I am so bored with most books I pick up, I haven't been reading fiction for a while. It is the same story, recycled over and over. I did like "Gone Girl," just because it was actually different.

I am trying to get back into it, exploring new mystery writers who I may like. I am rereading Diane Mott Davidson, since that is the genre I am working in, but I can't even get through her books. I used to love Susan Isaacs, but her new books are terrible!! (apologies to any fans, this is just my opinion.) Patterson, Delaware, Cornwell, it is the same story, over and over and over.

Would love some good suggestions. My friend suggested Junot Diaz, but it isn't what I'm doing right now.
Thanks,
Nancy

Delaware? You don't mean Kellerman, do you? If so, his latest, KILLER, is quite good.

Otherwise, it sounds as if you're reading the paperbacks you can find on the shelf at Walmart.

Since you have some background in literature, why not expand your reading into the literary realm of MTS?

These books can be both exhilarating and challenging.

Susan Hill
Benjamin Black
Fred Vargas
Tana French

Or the global bestsellers:

Ian Rankin
Jo Nesbo
Henning Mankell
Qui Xaiolong (particularly RED MANDARIN DRESS)

Or the usual best:

Michael Connelly
Lee Child
Robert Crais
Lisa Gardner
Carol O'Connell

Have you tried any of those?

Nancyleeny · Apr 19, 2014

Thanks for the suggestions. I clicked on a link with MTS on the title, but don't know what it is. Can anyone clarify? THanks!
Nancy

Never mind. I figured it out!

Silver-Midnight · Apr 25, 2014

Still on Dark Places (Gillian Flynn) and The Valley of Amazement (Amy Tan).

heyjude · Apr 26, 2014

I read my first J. A. Konrath, and you guys. Ew.

Also it was more of the same "religious guy is nuts!" theme you know I love so well.

No more Konrath for me. Remind me.

tarak · Apr 28, 2014

I just finished Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I freely admit my knowledge of life in North Korea was sparse. I knew it was bad, and that was about it. Had no clue about the level of deprivation there. Much of it was sad, but it was also amazing to read about how the people she examined persevered.

Not sure what to read next. I think I need something fluffy.

jeseymour · May 16, 2014

I just started last year's Edgar winner - Dennis Lehane's Live By Night. I am not a fan. Slogging through it because it won the Edgar and it must be an important work. But not really enjoying it.

pdichellis · Jun 8, 2014

I've been reading more than posting lately. Here are two I liked and why:

The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley (1978) – A private eye tracks missing persons via hard-drinking road trips across the West in the 1970s. Features a beer-swilling bulldog, a runaway porn princess, and a roaring-drunk, best-selling poet. Crumley dishes up a hardboiled crime story with hairpin plot twists, whip-cracking dialogue, and sharp insights about life and love. Wonderfully written.

The Good Cop by Brad Parks – Series character Carter Ross returns in this year’s Left Coast Crime award winner for best humorous mystery novel. This time around, wise-cracking investigative reporter Ross digs into the suspicious apparent suicide of a local cop, catching the attention of a mysterious group of gun smugglers. Fans of Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole might especially enjoy Parks’ series. Smart investigating and wry, go-to-hell humor.

sheadakota · Jun 8, 2014

I just finished Skin Game by Jim Butcher. I do so love me some Harry Dresden. Fantastic addition to the series

Helix · Jun 8, 2014

Just started Gary Disher's new book Bitter Wash Road, which is set in regional South Australia. The MC is a cop who's not much liked by his colleagues for various reasons. He has to deal with their hostility plus track down a couple of thrill killers. As you do.

Melville · Jun 9, 2014

Helix said:
Just started Gary Disher's new book Bitter Wash Road, which is set in regional South Australia. The MC is a cop who's not much liked by his colleagues for various reasons. He has to deal with their hostility plus track down a couple of thrill killers. As you do.

I'm nuts about Garry Disher... his Inspector Hal Challis series is one of the best there is.

His books, though, aren't easy to track down in the USA.

jeseymour · Jun 9, 2014

I'm reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. By some guy named Arthur Conan Doyle. It's pretty good.

Namatu · Jun 9, 2014

tarak said:
I just finished Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I freely admit my knowledge of life in North Korea was sparse. I knew it was bad, and that was about it. Had no clue about the level of deprivation there. Much of it was sad, but it was also amazing to read about how the people she examined persevered.

Not sure what to read next. I think I need something fluffy.

This book is awesome. I also recommend Escape from Camp 14, by Blaine Harden. Not so fluffy though.

I just started Alex Berenson's The Counterfeit Agent.

Melville · Jun 9, 2014

jeseymour said:
I'm reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. By some guy named Arthur Conan Doyle. It's pretty good.

Hey, I heard of that guy! Wasn't he some Scottish doctor who was having a hard time making ends meet so he turned to writing quick-cash stories?

What we're reading, the MTS edition

Murder! You want fries with that?

Making my own sunshine

Murder! You want fries with that?

standing on head, typing one-handed...

Traveling down the Query Road...

part of the human equation

Murder! You want fries with that?

Reader first, writer second

Making my own sunshine

for certain qualities of "sane"

Murder! You want fries with that?

part of the human equation

socially distancing

Reader first, writer second

Lost in mental space.

Reader first, writer second