Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Love the movies, never read the book. But the authors come to mind easily: John le Carré, Tom Clancy, Jason Bourne's father Robert Ludlum and the master himself Ian Fleming.

What will it be for you? Are there any espionage thrillers written by women? Just asking.

I could have sworn I added a book about Mata Hari to my list at one point, but I can't find it. There are several out there though.

I am going to read Code Name Verity. I picked up a cheap kindle book earlier in the year and have been meaning to read it!

Oh! I don't know why I didn't think of Ian Fleming. I bought my husband his complete series years ago. I might choose one of those for this prompt (and it was one I was struggling with)

I am not excited for this one! I'd like to pick something a little out of the box for this one, but I don't even know where to start to find something.

I have enjoyed every version of The 39 Steps I've ever seen, including a comedy Broadway production where 4 people played 150 characters! Hey that version has also been published!!


However, I've never read it, so I may chose this one.

Although I still need to read American Assassin for my family recommendation this year, so if I like it I might use the second in that series.

Agatha Christies's The Secret Adversary is a post WWI spy thriller.

Kirsten *Don't Blame Me I Voted for Hillary" wrote: "Agatha Christies's The Secret Adversary is a post WWI spy thriller."

I love Tommy and Tuppence!

Me too!! Loved Francesca Annis as Tuppence!

I had Trust Me, I'm Lying on my to-read shelf. Also The Chemist is listed as espionage and Heist Society.

I found Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett by searching goodreads.

I'm starting his Century Trilogy next year as well, seems like a good way to test the waters before jumping in to the beast that is Fall of Giants.

Not my favorite genre, but I forgot Tommy and Tuppence. I love them! I did buy The Bourne Identity when it was on sale for Kindle... so maybe?

There is a pretty popular female series - Liz Carlyle? I've never read them though.

I loved Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. Not usually into espionage, but this book was great!

I enjoy the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva and still have a few I haven't read -- including the very first one! I'll probably read one of these.

Sara wrote: "I could have sworn I added a book about Mata Hari to my list at one point, but I can't find it. There are several out there though.

I am going to read Code Name Verity. I picked up..."

Was it Mata Hari's Last Dance? I haven't read it but it is on my TBR. I loved Code Name Verity. I listened to it earlier this year on Audio and love it. I needed Kleenex.

I may also do The Secret Adversary as I think I already have it queued up in Overdrive for my listening while driving.

Love and Let Spy

Loved the whole Lord and Lady Spy Series by Shanna Galen. Its pure fun :-)

Glad i find this book in my tbr-pile. I dont want my first choice Absolute Power read. Ím not into spy thrillers ;-)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Asset by Shane Kuhn was really good.

I love cold war spy novels. One of the Guardian reviewers included Exposure as one of their favorite books of 2016 so I'll give it a try.

Sara wrote: "I could have sworn I added a book about Mata Hari to my list at one point, but I can't find it. There are several out there though.

I am going to read Code Name Verity. I picked up..."

It's an excellent read!!

This is my least favorite prompt this year. Espionage is definitely not my cup of tea. Would The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series work for this? Haven't read any of them so don't know.

Juanita wrote: "Are there any espionage thrillers written by women? Just asking."

The Widow File by S.G. Redling, it gets pretty violent, but it was fun. It's also only 203 pages, so those who aren't thrilled by thrillers can get it done and over real quick. :)

Michele wrote: "This is my least favorite prompt this year. Espionage is definitely not my cup of tea. Would The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series work for this? Haven't read any of them so don't k..."

I'd say Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is more mystery/thriller rather than espionage. You could check out The Expats - it's kind of espionage-light.

I will ptobably read a David Baldacci for this; I have missed his over the top spy stories lately.

The Sympathizer
The Day of the Jackal

Perhaps a book aimed at younger readers:
Stormbreaker
Fledgling
Independence Hall

Camp Secret - first in a middle grade spy series written by former CIA intelligence officer Melissa Boyle Mahle

Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?

The Man From St. Petersburg

Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

I don't know anything about Etiquette and Espionage, but I will be reading Cloud and Wallfish, which is YA. I did a google search for espionage thrillers (I typically read a lot I the thriller/suspense genre and wanted something a little different) and found this one.

Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

You are free to interpret the prompts how you wish. I would say that you could certainly use this if you wanted to. And from reading the description, I'm adding it to my to-read list! lol

Am I the only one who just keeps finding MORE books to read with this challenge. Here I thought I'd be crossing a whole bunch of my TBR books and instead I keep finding new titles to add to my list. LOL.

I am planning to read The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax Dorothy Gilman for this prompt and just added Etiquette & Espionage to my list!

I'm planning to read Waiting For Sunrise by William Boyd for this category. It's been on my list for a while.

Karen wrote: "Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

I don't know anything about Etiquette and Espionage, but I will be reading [book:Clo..."

Karen wrote: "Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

I don't know anything about Etiquette and Espionage, but I will be reading [book:Clo..."

I definitely think that would work for this prompt! Gail Carriger is really fun.

Don't forget about the granddaddy of the genre, Eric Ambler.

I still haven't decided what I'm going to read for this task. Since I read so many mysteries, I may just wait and see which ones turn out to be espionage thrillers.

This is definitely not one of my favourite genres, but I read The Bourne Identity years ago and really loved it, so I'd definitely recommend that one. It really surprised me! I'm on a mission (no pun intended) to read all of the James Bond books, so this will give me a push to read the next.

I've been planning to read Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for a while now, so that's what I chose. I second the recommendation for Eric Ambler. For some reason A Coffin for Dimitrios didn't work for me, but I loved Journey into Fear. I also remember enjoying Helen MacInnes's books, published mostly in the 50s and 60s, and they usually included a bit of romance if you like that.

Nikki wrote: "I've been planning to read Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for a while now, so that's what I chose. I second the recommendation for Eric Ambler. For some reason A Coffin for Dimitrios didn'..."

I think I have a few Helen MacInnes books, so maybe I'll finally read one of them this year.

I'm still kicking myself for not realizing that I used to live just a few doors down the street from Eric Ambler. Man, what a missed opportunity! Alas, he was in rather frail health at the time, so probably not crazy about the idea of some random college girl from America knocking on his door.

Sara wrote: "I could have sworn I added a book about Mata Hari to my list at one point, but I can't find it. There are several out there though.

I am going to read Code Name Verity. I picked up..."

Was it Mata Hari's Last Dance or maybe The Spy by Paulo Coelho

Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda don't bother.

What a load of dreck

I'm surprised The Sympathizer hasn't been mentioned yet now that I think about it !

Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

If you're still looking for YA espionage, especially something light and fluffy, look at this series: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. It's about a top secret spy school for gifted girls. Complete fluff, immensely readable. I used it for my "can read in a day" category in the 2016 challenge.

I am reading nonfiction about the first long range reconnaissance patrol of the Continuation War (July 1941), would that count? Obviously it is a military intelligence and sabotage mission and three won't return home so it's a "thriller" from real life.

Absolutely. I want to hear how you liked this. Sounds good.

Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended The Invisible Library on her podcast this week. This is about a librarian who is involved in espionage :) How perfect! I will probably read this soon.

Anne wrote: "Absolutely. I want to hear how you liked this. Sounds good."

I've already read another book by the same author about the last LRR patrol of the war (August-September 1944), and it was very good. (His grandfather took part in that one, too, and had kept the field journal.) Their mission lasted over a month even though pretty much everything went wrong, including two planes crashed into the woods, the leader got sick and the whole war ENDED while they were still deep behind enemy lines. (I don't remember if the second pilot had been on leave and got called back but anyway he was drunk and complained how he had been in the arms of a woman two hours earlier and now he was in the middle of nowhere with some 20-30 men in the Karelian wilderness...) One of them had to be evacuated by plane in secret because the cease fire had already started and the men had to walk back some 200 km (?) to reach the border, so their war lasted a couple of days more.

Sara wrote: "Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended The Invisible Library on her podcast this week. This is about a librarian who is involved in espionage :) How perfect! I will probably read this soon."

Ah, that's awesome! This book is already on my TBR list - what luck!

Karen wrote: "Mandee wrote: "Would Etiquette & Espionage count? This is NOT my genre... anything in YA if that won't cut it?"

I don't know anything about Etiquette and Espionage, but I will be reading Clo..."</i>

[book:Etiquette & Espionage isn't a thriller, so it depends on how strictly you want to stick to the label (and this category is really hard for me too, so I don't think I'll be very strict with it personally...)

Any opinions on whether Zoo Station would be an espionage thriller? It's shelved that way several times, but I'm just not 100% sure on this one.

I'm not terribly worried because my boyfriend has the original James Bond books by Ian Fleming for Kindle (my Kindle account, no less) AND a bunch of John le Carré books, including the entire George Smiley series (the series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is part of).

I just finished mine, I read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John me Carre. It wasn't the type of book I would normally read but it's been on my list of books to read ever since I saw the film.
It's good - but you have to pay attention! It's complicated and you do have to remember who is who and where everyone sits in the plot.
Enjoyable though.

I am currently reading The Drafter by Kim Harrison. It 'seems' to fit the category, (special agent on a corrupt list and she doesn't know why) but it is categorized as "romantic suspense". Am I cheating if I use it as my espionage category?

April wrote: "I am currently reading The Drafter by Kim Harrison. It 'seems' to fit the category, (special agent on a corrupt list and she doesn't know why) but it is categorized as "romantic suspense". Am I che..."

No I think an espionage with a romance angle still counts as espionage.

Would the chemist count for this prompt?