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Category Archives: Just Desserts

Reading list from June Just Desserts “Series Share” meeting

Wednesday, 06 July 2016 17:34
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Just Desserts Logo 225Series Share FourHey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the June 2016 Just Desserts meeting last week, we held our annual “Series Share” meeting, in which group members were encouraged to read the first or second volume in a new series that’s started within the past couple of years, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format. 25 members were in attendance, and 23 contributed reviews. Here’s a list of the novels/series that were mentioned by group members, plus whether they gave them a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”:

  • Scott – The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel – ^^
  • Pat – tried the first book in the Grantchester series by James Runcie, but gave up and tried The Last Mile, second in the Amos Decker series by David Baldacci – ^^
  • Rayma – The Lost Ancestor, second in the Forensic Genealogist series by Nathan Dylan Goodwin – ^^
  • Ted – presented a list of 10 of his favorite authors, and talked about the Lew Archer series by Ross MacDonald, including his favorite, the 10th volume, The Zebra-Striped Hearse – ^^
  • Susan – Keeper of the Castle, third in the Haunted Home Renovation series by Juliet Blackwell – ^^
  • Mary – also read The Last Mile by Baldacci, and Bread of the Dead, first in the Santa Fe Café series by Ann Myers – ^^
  • Don – Linda, as in The Linda Murder, the first Evert Backstrom novel by Leif G.W. Persson – ^^
  • Brandon – hadn’t read any “new” series, but recommended the works of Dashiell Hammett, also The Highwayman, the latest novella in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson – ^^
  • Tracey – Midnight Crossroad, the first in the new Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris – ^^
  • Suzy – Crime and Poetry, first in the Magical Bookshop Mystery series by Amanda Flower – ^^
  • Carolyn – Read It and Weep, 4th in the Library Lovers Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay – ^^ /vv, and The Absent One, 2nd in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen – ^^
  • Ladena – Eeny Meeny, first in the Helen Grace series by M.J. Arlidge – ^^
  • (two observers – no recommendations offered)
  • Linda – The Grey Ghost Murders, second in the Sean Stranahan Mystery series by Keith McCafferty – ^^
  • Barb – The Nebraska Quotient and Moving Targets, first two in the Nebraska Mystery series by William J. Reynolds (from back in the 1980s/1990s) – ^^, also The Case of the Colonist’s Corpse, a Star Trek mystery novel by Bob Ingersol and Tony Isabella – ^^
  • Melba – Book of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell – vv (recommends earlier volumes in this series)
  • Linda – The Poacher’s Son, the first in the Mike Bowditch mystery series by Paul Doiron – ^^
  • Vera – The Doll’s House, 3rd in the Helen Grace series by M.J. Arlidge – ^^ /vv
  • Valery – Blood on the Snow and Midnight Sun, first (and only) two in the Blood on the Snow series by Jo Nesbo – ^^, also the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny – ^^
  • Cathy – Mycroft Holmes, the first in a new Sherlockian series by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – ^^
  • Jody – Can Anybody Hear Me? and Are You Watching Me? By Sinead Crowley – ^^
  • Joan – The Cracked Spine, first in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series by Paige Shelton – ^^
  • Charlotte – Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall, 2nd in the Honeychurch Hall series by Hannah Dennison – ^^
  • Paula – One Foot in the Grape, first in the Cypress Cove mystery series by Carlene O’Neil – ^^ /vv
[ ^^ – recommended | vv – not recommended | ^^/vv – so-so recommendation ]

So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?

Info and Links about Bryant & May series for July Just Desserts

Sunday, 05 June 2016 12:26
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Just Desserts Logo 225Because of the cancellation of our May meeting, and the subsequent readjustment of our Just Desserts schedule, pushing all the June through September meeting themes backwards by one month, any group members still wanting to track down a copy of one or more of the Bryant & May/Peculiar Crimes Unit mysteries by Christopher Fowler don’t have to do so for June…but we still encourage you to place holds now for any of those titles for the July meeting, as there are limited numbers of copies of all titles in the series. Not everyone is going to be able to read Full Dark House (the first in the series), as there are only two copies and there are already two holds on it — but that’s currently the ONLY volume in the series with any holds on it!

Here’s the message included to members of the Just Desserts e-mail list previously:

“In [July], attendees will be discussing the entire Bryant & May series (12 volumes to date) by Christopher Fowler. The library owns all twelve but only a few copies of each, so I highly encourage folks who want to participate that month to consider placing holds on whichever volumes you want to sample, this far in advance, to guarantee that everyone can get ahold of at least one. Of the 12 volumes in the series, most can be read as stand-alone novels, although #1 Full Dark House is a origin story, #3 Seventy Seven Clocks is a flashback story and #7 and #8 On the Loose and Off the Rails are a connected two-part storyline. Only three of the titles are available from the library in eBook format, and none in audiobook (although most if not all titles are available in eBook format on both Amazon and BarnesandNoble.

Here’s a hotlink to background about the series on Wikipedia
Here’s a hotlink to the series order on FantasticFiction.co.uk
and, most importantly, Here’s a hotlink to all Christopher Fowler books in the libraries’ collection, so you can place holds electronically! (be aware Fowler has a few non-Bryant & May titles)”

Weather cancels May Just Desserts meeting — but let’s still talk on-line!

Thursday, 26 May 2016 17:55
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Just Desserts Logo 225Sadly, the weather conditions have forced us to cancel the May 2016 “Series Share” Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion club meeting. We’re pushing the meetings for the rest of the year back by one month, so we’ll still have a “Series Share”, just in June instead of May.

In the meantime, since we were unable to gather, let’s use this Just Desserts blog entry to have a Round Robin, like we usually do at the end of each meeting. If you’re willing, please respond with a comment to the following question:

What mysteries have you read in the past month that you would like to recommend to your fellow Just Desserts book club members?

(do not share your “Series Share” titles — save those for the June meeting)

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – April 2016

Friday, 29 April 2016 14:51
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Just Desserts Logo 225Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the April 28th Just Desserts meeting last night, after discussing our monthly “assigned” book, we did a round robin at the table, asking attendees to share what mysteries they’d been reading lately that they felt they could recommend. Here’s a list of the novels or authors that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:

Mysteries

Non-Mysteries

So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?

Jo Nesbø’s “The Redeemer”

Friday, 29 April 2016 10:17
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Just Desserts Logo 225redeemerWhen the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on April 28th, 2016, 22 of us enjoyed discussing The Redeemer, a 2009 entry in Norwegian author Jo Nesbø’s hugely popular “Harry Hole” series. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about The Redeemer, or the rest of 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 Redeemer and the “Harry Hole” mystery/thriller series by Jo Nesbø?

Series Share FourJust Desserts will be having our annual “Series Share” meeting in May, specifically May 26th! Participants are encouraged to read the first or second volume in any NEW mystery series that has premiered in the past 2 to 3 years, and be prepared to briefly describe the set-up, tone, writing style, and your overall opinion about this new series to the other group members.

We hope to see you then!