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Tag Archives: just desserts
Just Desserts recommended reading list for January 2013
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the January 31st, 2013 Just Desserts meeting, after discussing our monthly “assigned” author, 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 books that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:
- What the Cat Saw by Carolyn Hart
- Firefly Beach by Meira Pentermann
- Tell No Lies by Julie Compton
- Gone for Good by Harlan Coben
- A Necessary Evil by Alex Kava
- Mad River by John Sandford (several readers)
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (several readers)
- Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald (for the Nov/Dec Just Desserts reading challenge
- Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
- The Agony of Leaves by Laura Childs
- Multiple works in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon (this month’s assigned author)
- A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron
- Books in the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben
- Buzzard’s Table by Margaret Maron (several readers)
- Books in the Scumble River series by Denise Swanson
- Books in the Mystery Shopper series by Elaine Viets
- Books by David Baldacci
- The Old Grey Wolf, the final Charlie Moon mystery by James Doss (who has died)
- The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
- The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olson
- Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman
- Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver
- Three books by James Lee Burke
- A Place of Execution by Val McDermid
- The Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
- A Time to Kill by John Grisham
- In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy
- The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
- Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore
- The Dark Winter by David Mack
- A Novel Way to Die and Double Booked for Death by Ali Brandon
- Broken Harbor by Tana French
- Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
- City of Whispers by Marcia Muller
- The Complaints by Ian Rankin
- Hotwire by Alex Kava
- Two in the Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger
- The Fourth Bear, second in the Nursery Crimes series by Jasper Fforde
- Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
- The Con Job, a Leverage tie-in novel, by Matt Forbeck
So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?
The Works of Donna Leon
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on January 31, 2013, we discussed the entire Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon, starting with, Death at La Fenice.
Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about 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! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance.
What do you think of Death at La Fenice and the entire Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Leon?
Join us on February 28th at the South Branch Library for a discussion of The Camel Club by David Baldacci!
Your 2012 Just Desserts hiatus reading assignment: John D. Macdonald
During the Nov/Dec 2012 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 2012 is John D. McDonald, creator of the classic mystery/suspense series featuring Travis McGee. McGee isn’t a typical P.I. or detective, but instead calls himself a “salvage consultant”, specializing in recovering lost or missing items. His standard fee is 50% of the value of the item recovered. McGee lives aboard a large houseboat called “The Busted Flush”, which he won in a poker game, and which is now docked at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. McGee appears in 21 novels, starting with The Deep Blue Goodbye in 1964 and ending in The Lonely Silver Rain in 1984. The Lincoln City Libraries have all but one of the 21 Travis McGee novels (we are missing #9).
We encourage Just Desserts participants to read any book in the Travis McGee series (click this link to jump to the library catalog), at some point in November or December 2012, 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 MacDonald and Travis McGee information:
- Travis McGee series entry on Wikipedia, including series order
- John D. MacDonald entry on Wikipedia
- The JDMHomepage – a comprehensive fan site about MacDonald
John D. MacDonald wrote much more than the Travis McGee series. In total, he wrote over 40 additional stand-alone novels, in both the mystery/thriller, general fiction and science fiction genres.
We look forward to seeing your comments here over the course of the next two months!
So…here’s your question: Which of the Travis McGee novels did you read, and what was your opinion?
Scott C. – Just Desserts coordinator and hos
October 2012 reading recommendations from Just Desserts members
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting on October 25th, after our book discussion, we spent time doing a round robin at the table, giving all attendees an opportunity to share what they’ve been reading lately. Here’s what was popular in October 2012 with this mystery-savvy group:
Mysteries
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- Phantom by Jo Nesbo
- Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben
- The Camel Club series by David Baldacci
- The Berger & Mitry series by David Handler, including The Snow White Christmas Cookie
- Death by Darjeeling and others by Laura Childs
- Oh, Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
- Sherlock Season One
- Rock Bottom by Sarah Andrews
- Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs
- NYPD Red by James Patterson
- Long Lost by Harlan Coben
- Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
- The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
- The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
- Criminal by Karin Slaughter
- The B&B series by Mary Daheim
- A Fistful of Collars by Spenser Quinn
- The 1948 film Impact
- Brethren by John Grisham
Non-Mysteries
- Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly
- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
- Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
- Oklahoma City by Andrew Gumbel
- Season of Wonder by Ann Patchett
- Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- Quiet by Susan Cain
- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
- The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
- The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
What mysteries have you been reading lately?
Harlan Coben’s “Promise Me”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met in October2012, we discussed a 2006 entry in Harlan Coben’s best-selling “Myron Bolitar” series, Promise Me.
This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on October 25, 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.
Just Desserts is going on its end-of-year hiatus, but we encourage you to join us again in January 2013, when we return to having our monthly gatherings.
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! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance.
What do you think of Promise Me and the Myron Bolitar series by Coben?