Tag Archives: discussion group

Margaret Coel’s “The Silent Spirit”

silentspirit When the Just Desserts mystery fiction group met in February 2012, we discussed a volume in Margaret Coel’s popular “Wind River” series, The Silent Spirit.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on February 23, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on March 29th, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the “The Last Coyote”, an entry in Michael Connelly’s popular and long-running Harry Bosch series.

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!

What do you think of The Silent Spirit?

Mystery recommendations from Just Desserts members – January 2012

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the January 2012 Just Desserts meeting, 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, (especially over the November/December “hiatus” that the group takes), that they felt they could recommend. Here’s a list of the books that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:

MYSTERIES

A House to Die For by Vicki Doudera
Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree by Nancy Atherton
The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson
The Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke
10^th Anniversary by James Patterson
The Do-it-Yourself series by Jennie Bentley
The Yellow Rose series by Leann Sweeney
The Cats in Trouble series by Leann Sweeney
Night of the Living Deb by Susan McBride
The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas by Blaize Clement
As the Pig Turns, an Agatha Raisin novel by M.C. Beaton
Maigret Goes Home by George Simenon
The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg
Tag Man by Archer Mayor
The Drop by Michael Connelly
Northwest Angle by William Kent Kreuger
Back of Beyond by C.J. Box
Acqua Alta by Donna Leon
Foul Play at Four by Ann Purser
Books by Louise Penny
Seven Sisters by Earlene Fowler
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues: A Jesse Stone novel by Michael Brandman
Books by George Simenon
A Brutal Telling by Louis Penny
Headhunters by Jo Nesbo
Breakdown, a V.I. Warshawski novel by Sara Paretsky
The Death on Demand series by Carolyn G. Hart
Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King
Countdown by Iris Johansen
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjowall
The Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Stieg Larsson trilogy on audio
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
The Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
Books by Henning Mankell
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo on audio
Books by Donna Leon
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

NON-MYSTERIES

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost
Dirty Little Secrets by Cynthia Jaynes Omolulu
Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly
Nanjing Requiem by Ha Jin
The Wedding Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
This Time Together by Carol Burnett
Pearl in China by Anchi Min
Flower Net by Lisa See
Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation by Charles Glass
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

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

Earlene Fowler’s “Delectable Mountains”

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction group returned from its Nov/Dec 2011 holiday hiatus, at our first meeting of 2012, we discussed a volume in Earlene Fowler’s popular “Benni Harrper” series, Delectable Mountains.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on January 26, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on February 23rd, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the “The Silent Spirit”, an entry in Margaret Coel’s popular Wind River series, featuring Father John O’Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden.

And, for additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings, 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!

What do you think of Delectable Mountains?

Your 2011 Just Desserts hiatus reading assignment!

simenon During the Nov/Dec 2011 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we encourage regular attendees to continue to participate as a group…but in a virtual way. While we may not have an actual meeting scheduled during these two months, this blog is available to keep everyone active with their mystery reading and discussions.

Our “hiatus author” for 2011 is Georges Simenon, creator of the legendary sleuth Inspector Maigret. We encourage Just Desserts participants to read any book in the Inspector Maigret series (or watch an episode of one of the Maigret TV or movie adaptations), at some point in November or December 2011, then come back here and leave a comment about whatever you read or watched, as a response to this discussion topic.

As a bit of background, here are some links to Simenon and Maigret information:

In all, there have been 75 novels and 28 short stories written by Simenon that feature Maigret, and the Lincoln City Libraries still have over 45 of these.

We look forward to seeing your comments here over the course of the next two months!

Scott C. – Just Desserts coordinator and host

Mystery recommendations from Just Desserts members – October 2011

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the October 27^th, Just Desserts meeting, 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 that were hot in October with this mystery-savvy crowd:

Split by Catherine Coulter
Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck
Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt
Murder and the First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt
The Hyde Park Murders by Elliott Roosevelt
Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
Shockwave by John Sandford
Blood Red Indian Summer by David Handler
Dead by Midnight by Carolyn G. Hart
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
The Cruelest Month, part of the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson
On the Line by S.J. Rozen
The Treacherous Teddy by John J. Lamb
The Ranger by Ace Atkins
Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton
Thunder Bay by William Kent Kreuger
Kill and Tell by Linda howard
Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb
Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton
A Rule Against Murder, part of the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
The Wheel of Fate by Kate Sedley

Non-Mysteries read recently by group members:

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah
Cutting for Stone (on CD) by Abraham Verghese
The Story of Beautiful Girl (on CD) by Rachel Simon

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

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