 |
Tag Archives: just desserts
Join the discussion of Michael Connelly’s “Fair Warning”
After 10 months of Zoom meetings, tThe Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its first monthly in-person meeting on June 24th, 2021. 10 Attendees discussed the latest entry in the Jack McEvoy series by author Michael Connelly. If you read Fair Warning, and would like to contribute your comments about it, please do so as a reply comment to this blog post, below.
For reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings (once they resume) and/or other announcements of interest to mystery fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, now that in-person meetings are possible again, 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!
So…What did you think of Fair Warning? Have you read the earlier works in this series?
The following handout was prepared for the members of Just Desserts: The Jack McEvoy series by Michael Connelly.
Now that we’ve returned to in-person public meetings again, we hope to see you at future gatherings of the Just Desserts group. Watch the libraries’ website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the latest updates! In the meantime, we hope Just Desserters will join us on July 29th, 2021, for a discussion of the suspense novel One by One by Ruth Ware.
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – May 2021
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
Following the “Series Share” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which all 14 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in May 2021:
- An Obvious Fact, Western Star and Next to Last Stand, in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson (all as audiobook re-reads) – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
- Camino Winds by John Grisham
- A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
- Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
- Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
- Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose
- Several books by prolific British author Roy Lewis, including Murder in the Barn and Murder in the Manor (both in the Arnold Landon series)
- Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Lost Village by Neil Spring
- Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews
- Alone by Kendra Elliot
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in May 2021:
- Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes
- The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
- Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
- The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
- The Princess Spy by Larry Loftiss
- Miss Julia Happily Ever After by Ann B. Ross
- Ophie’s Ghost by Justina Ireland
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Just Desserts – Series Share 2021 Results
At the May 2021 Just Desserts meeting that took place online using Zoom meeting software, 14 members participated in our annual “Series Share” discussion, in which attendees were encouraged to read the first or second volume in a new series that’s started within the past few years, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format, and three more group members shared their selections via e-mail. Here’s a list of the novels/series that were mentioned by group members. We asked all attendees to also give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” for whatever series they sampled – all participants this month gave a “Thumbs Up” to whatever they read – with only one “so-so” rating (mentioned below):
- The Mercy Carr series by Paula Munier, including the first three volumes A Borrowing of Bones, Blood Search and The Hiding Place
- The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas, starting with A Study in Scarlet Women
- The Heathcliff Lennox mystery series by Karen Baugh Menhuin, starting with Murder at Melrose Court (actually four different group members all read this!)
- The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Orman, starting with The Thursday Murder Club (two group members read this!)
- The World’s End Bureau Victorian Mysteries series by Alys Clare, starting with The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits
- The Vera Stanhope mystery series by Ann Cleeves, in this case #4 Silent Voices – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Charlotte Holmes YA series by Brittany Cavallero, starting with the first two, A Study in Charlotte and The Last of August (this reader preferred them as audiobooks)
- The Pelican Harbor series by Coleen Coble, starting with One Little Lie (this was the only so-so recommendation of the evening!)
- The Robin Lockwood series by Philip Margolin, starting with The Third Victim, Perfect Alibi and A Reasonable Doubt
- The Mobile Response Team series by Allison Brennan, starting with Third to Die
- The Bree Taggert series by Melinda Leigh, in this case #2 See Her Die – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Jane Wunderly series by Erica Ruth Neubauer, starting with the first two, Murder at the Mena House and Murder at Wedgefield (which this reader preferred as an audiobook)
- The Home to Ireland series by Carlene O’Conner, starting with Murder in Galway
- The new series of Harlem-set mysteries by Karla F.C. Holloway, starting with A Death in Harlem, and Gone Missing in Harlem
- The Queen Elizabeth II series by S.J. Bennett, starting with The Windsor Knot
- The Heather Wells series by Meg Cabot, starting with the first three Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, and Big Bones
- The Aloysius Archer series by David Baldacci, starting with One Good Deed
What new mystery series that started in the past 2-3 years have you sampled lately that you’d recommend?
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members in April 2021
At the April 29th, 2021 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group on Zoom, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (the various series novels of British author Elly Griffiths), we held our monthly Round Robin in which all 13 online attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in April 2021:
- Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile by Gyles Brandreth
- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
- Deep in the Alaskan Woods by Karen Harper
- Various in the Walt Longmire series (Death Without Company, Kindness Goes Unpunished, The Dark Horse, Junkyard Dogs, Hell is Empty, and As the Crow Flies) all as audiobooks by Craig Johnson – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Baugh Menuhin
- Ocean Prey (a new team-up novel featuring both Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers) by John Sandford – past author selection for Just Desserts
- These Women by Ivy Pochoda
- The Outcast Girls by Alys Clare
- Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Outsider by Linda Castillo – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
- The Scorpion’s Tale by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
- The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Lost Boys by Faye Kellerman – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Winter Kill by Ragnar Jonasson
- The Perfect Alibi by Philip Margolin
- Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
- I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in April 2021:
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- Shadow and Bone, the Netflix series based on the fantasy novels by Leigh Bardugo
- Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown
- Santa in Montana by Janet Dailey
- The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag
- The Captured: A True Story of Indian Abduction on the Texas Frontier by Scott Zesch
- Clara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Last Bookshop in London: A Tale of World War II by Madeline Martin
- Interlibrary Loan by Gene Wolfe
- The Show Runner: An Insider’s Guide to Successful TV Production by Cy Chermak
- Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
- Anxious People (as an audiobook) by Fredrik Backman
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Just Desserts – April 2021 – Join the Elly Griffiths discussion!
The Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its monthly meeting on April 29th, 2021, online using Zoom meeting software, due to the libraries ongoing pandemic safety precautions. Attendees discussed the three different series written by British author Elly Griffiths, with participants having read several different selections by this author. If you read anything by Elly Griffiths, and would like to contribute your comments about it, please do so as a reply comment to this blog post, below.
Titles read by group members included: The Crossing Places (7 readers, 6 enjoyed it and one found it so-so — the first in her Ruth Galloway series), The Zig Zag Girl (6 readers, 4 enjoyed it and 2 didn’t — the first in her Mystery Men series), Stranger Diaries (5 readers, 4 enjoyed it and 1 was still reading it — the first in her Harbinder Kaur series), and others, such as The Janus Stone, and Smoke & Mirrors.
For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings (once they resume) and/or other announcements of interest to mystery fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, once in-person meetings are possible again, 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!
So…What did you think of the works of Elly Griffiths? Which have you read?
The following handout was prepared for the members of Just Desserts: The Works of Elly Griffiths.
We hope to return to public meetings, including Just Desserts, at some point in the current Book Group season. Watch the libraries’ website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the latest updates! In the meantime, we hope Just Desserters will join us on Zoom on May 27th, for our annual “Series Share” meeting.