Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

I should start this as Library Saturday surprises!
I had two books to return this weekend, the audio of A Separate Country and Grave Secret (almost through reading), but nothing to pick up off the hold list for two to three weeks in a row.
I was concerned the library tbr pile was getting too low ;) so went in search of Val McDermid's A Darker Domain which I had to return unread just a week or so ago.
While there I picked up Kate Mosse's Sepulchre and Season of the Witch. I have been looking forward to the second Mosse book in her Langeudoc trilogy and was intrigued by Natasha Mostert's book.

It is an anxious feeling that we get when we realize that we are nearing the conclusion of a book we are reading and don't have something there in the pile to be read next. Ann, you keep a good stack of books most of the time. NJ

Nancy wrote: "It is an anxious feeling that we get when we realize that we are nearing the conclusion of a book we are reading and don't have something there in the pile to be read next. Ann, you keep a good st..."

now really, nancy. who does that ever happen to? LOL
well ,except my mother maybe. she was a voracious reader but would read one book. then go to the bookstore to buy another. one at a time..

Nancy:
Oh yes, I do have plenty of books all of the time, especially in the piles at home of my own books. I don't know why I felt compelled to have another library book except for the multiple choices more books would offer. It was an anxious feeling though when I realized that I was "getting low" - you read me well.
Sherry:
I can't imagine reading like your Mom or Margie would do with the one book I was reading and one next book in the tbr pile only after finishing the first one. (is it really a pile if there is only one book? a tbrb then! LOL

Nancy wrote: "It is an anxious feeling that we get when we realize that we are nearing the conclusion of a book we are reading and don't have something there in the pile to be read next. Ann, you keep a good stack of books most of the time..."

Sherry wrote: " now really, nancy. who does that ever happen to? LOL
well ,except my mother maybe. she was a voracious reader but would read one book. then go to the bookstore to buy another. one at a time.. "

can't imagine reading like your Mom or Margie would do with the one book I was reading and one next book in the tbr pile only after finishing the first one. (is it really a pile if there is only one book? a tbrb then! LOL

neither can i, ann. i think i'd go into withdrawal without the humongous tbr i have.. not to mention the TBR on the kindle..lol (got to love those free books and sample chapters.)

my grandd looks at all my piles of books plus all the library ones and asks grandma do you read all those books?? LOL and this is a child that at 9 1/2 is already a reader, asking for books for Christmas, loving libraries, book stores and reading. boy she is like me for sure

Well I only have 4 chapter to read to finish my one book and it's dragging so I started yet another book last night. Now with Blackbird house that one is on the side for the time being. If I decide to continue with that book it will not be until next year. Push I don't know what I do yet. I'll get back to it but it's not a book you can sit and read for long periods of time. So I always have a pile going I guess you can say. I'm now into the 90's for my total books for the year. Hopefully I'll hit 100 or go past it. I think this is my worst count year for awhile if at all. Don't know how it happened either. New Year's resolution to read more books in a month. Still haven't decided about DLs for next year.

Nancy:
That is great! I hope we all get good books for gifts this year!

Nancy wrote: "my grandd looks at all my piles of books plus all the library ones and asks grandma do you read all those books?? LOL and this is a child that at 9 1/2 is already a reader, asking for books for Christmas, loving libraries, book stores and reading. boy she is like me for sure

DJ:
My count is only 67 so far so you have passed me by a long shot! It is my lowest count in recent memory too.

Donnajo wrote: " I'm now into the 90's for my total books for the year. Hopefully I'll hit 100 or go past it. I think this is my worst count year for awhile if at all. Don't know how it happened either. New Year's resolution to read more books in a month. Still haven't decided about DLs for next year. "

I haven't read nearly as much this year as the last several years, but I just hit 130 which astonishes me.

NR: The Council of the Cursed

Congrats Shomeret!
I would be thrilled with that number. (130)If I read Under the Dome A Novel and the new Diana Gabaldon book next year as I plan I expect my count will continue to be low.
Nothing to pick up at the library today :(

Shomeret wrote: "I haven't read nearly as much this year as the last several years, but I just hit 130 which astonishes me.

NR: The Council of the Cursed"

I've been absent from this board for a while, and I'm just going to jump in, so please forgive me if I'm not really on topic here. It looks like you are discussing year end book totals. I'll be around 55 this year, which is typical for me. I'll read several books a week in the summer, but I slow way down during the school year. I have Under the Dome and I'm saving it for Christmas break....coming up in a week!

kate

kate/Edukate12 wrote: "I've been absent from this board for a while, and I'm just going to jump in, so please forgive me if I'm not really on topic here. It looks like you are discussing year end book totals. I'll be aro..."

Yay, Kate's here! Welcome, Kate. Have fun getting reacquainted, and when you have a moment tell us what you're reading.

Kate!! Welcome back to Goodreads! The year end lists and counts are a great way to catch back up and get into the posting habit over here!

kate/Edukate12 wrote: "I've been absent from this board for a while, and I'm just going to jump in, so please forgive me if I'm not really on topic here. It looks like you are discussing year end book totals. I'll be aro..."

kate/Edukate12 wrote: "I've been absent from this board for a while, and I'm just going to jump in, so please forgive me if I'm not really on topic here. It looks like you are discussing year end book totals. I'll be aro..."

welcome back, kate! i think i'm at about 78 right now which is a little bit lower than normal. i've been spending too much time playing games on facebook..lol

Welcome back Kate. My count is low this year compared to other years. Its below 100 closer to 90. But I have 2 books I haven't written up in the journal yet so we will see. I don't know what happened with my count this year. I guess I'll have to try and get my monthly counts up next year. We have to start deciding on DLs too. I didn't get though that many this year. So I'll probably just move them over. I'm pretty sure I'll keep them all but I might look though them before the end of the year to decide. Maybe change them around some. I haven't read tham many straight mystery/thrillers so maybe I'll add some of them in for next year.

Thanks for the welcome guys. No guarantee that I'll get here often. Work is so stressful, but this is a release for me, so I do try to come and play when I can.

kate

I actually picked up three books from the library on Saturday...
The Double Jack Murders by Patrick F. McManus (love, love, love this series!)
There Goes the Bride by M.C. Beaton
and
The Witch's Grave by Shirley Damsgaard
I'm waiting for 9 Dragons to come in...I'm 36 of 36 ;)

I haven't had much to pick up at the library for weeks.
Today I can pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire again and try to fit it in before Stieg Larsson's last book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest comes out in the US later this spring. A friend at work has a UK Amazon copy I may be able to snag before then.
This lack of Library Saturday news was partly due to the future releases on my list and the fewer copies in circulation limiting what has been coming in. Library math is a different sort of challenge when only one or two books are in circulation for a county library system with 500,000 residents. ;(

Susie:
On Dec 14th you mentioned you were 36th on the list for Nine Dragons. I am curious as to where you are on the queue now. thanks! If I put myself on the list right now for the hardback I would be 97th. I am number 1 on the list for the audio if it ever comes in.

Susie in KS wrote: "I'm waiting for 9 Dragons to come in...I'm 36 of 36 ;) "

Ann wrote: "Susie:
On Dec 14th you mentioned you were 36th on the list for Nine Dragons. I am curious as to where you are on the queue now. thanks! If I put myself on the list right now for the ..."

Ann ~ Would you believe I got it around Christmas time?...so it will show up in my list for this month! I got it really fast. Now I'm 45th on the list for The First Rule. Let's see how long that takes ;)

Susie:
That was fast! Sometimes my library hold list moves quickly right before Christmas when I assume people ahead of me cancel their books due to lack of time.
I just got The First Rule last Saturday and started it today! I am hooked from the first few pages, no surprise. Hope your wait isn't too long!


Susie in KS wrote: "Would you believe I got it around Christmas time?...so it will show up in my list for this month! I got it really fast. Now I'm 45th on the list for The First Rule. Let's see how long that takes ;) "

Today I can pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire again and try to fit it in before Stieg Larsson's last book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest comes out in the US later this spring. A friend at work has a UK Amazon copy I may be able to snag before then. ..."

Ann, are you my separated-at-birth twin? I just borrowed a friend's copy of
The Girl Who Played with Fire and he has a UK version of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest waiting for me when I'm done. He says each book is better than the last. Decisions, decisions, go with Nine Dragons or The Girl Who Played with Fire?

Carol:
Must be! At the least it is "Great Minds Think Alike"!!

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Ann, are you my separated-at-birth twin? I just borrowed a friend's copy of
The Girl Who Played with Fire and he has a UK version of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest waiting for me when I'm done. He says each book is better than the last. Decisions, decisions, go with Nine Dragons or The Girl Who Played with Fire? "

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Today I can pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire again and try to fit it in before Stieg Larsson's last book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest comes out in the US later this spring. A friend at..."

carol- read dragons first. it's a much quicker read..
plus the closer you read TGWPWF to the time you read hornet's nest the better. hornet's nest starts right where fire left off.
you have some good reading ahead!!

Sherry that is excellent advice! Thanks for the tips.

Sherry wrote: "carol- read dragons first. it's a much quicker read..
plus the closer you read TGWPWF to the time you read hornet's nest the better. hornet's nest starts right where fire left off.
you have some good reading ahead!! .."

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Sherry that is excellent advice! Thanks for the tips.

Sherry wrote: "carol- read dragons first. it's a much quicker read..
plus the closer you read TGWPWF to the time you read hornet's nest the ..."

yw!
every once in a while, i have a good idea!

Sherry:
I'll take your advice too and try to time finishing The Girl Who Played with Fire close to the time I can borrow The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest! Thanks!

Sherry wrote: "read dragons first. it's a much quicker read..
plus the closer you read TGWPWF to the time you read hornet's nest the better. hornet's nest starts right where fire left off.."

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Today I can pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire again and try to fit it in before Stieg Larsson's last book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest comes out in the US later this spring. A friend at..."

I agree with the statement that each book is better than the last. Although I'm still impatiently waiting for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest to come out in the US, I thought TGWPWT was even better than TGWTDT!

Ann, I just had to tell you... I went to brunch with a friend whose birthday is also this month, and we exchanged gifts. When she handed me a bag sagging under the weight of a BFB, I just knew what it was... Under the Dome!!! I probably shouldn't have admitted I was already reading it but she's my best friend, no point pretending. She told me she could take it back and get something else, but I always like the idea of having the book on hand while I'm listening to it on CD so I can find things I've missed, or at least see what page I'm on for GR. Isn't that a hoot! I've been fondling it already, and was shocked to find that I am almost done (well, if being on page 725 of a 1,000 page book can be considered almost done). I told her she could borrow it when I was done.

LOL, Carol!
She is your best friend and knows you well! I am missing keeping up on my pages of Under the Dome since DD took it home to read. You and I are funny like that -- wanting to know what page we are on while listening or reading on a Kindle. ;)
I am eager to get further into it, I am around page 280 or so. (26%)

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Ann, I just had to tell you... I went to brunch with a friend whose birthday is also this month, and we exchanged gifts. When she handed me a bag sagging under the weight of a BFB, I just knew what it was...Under the Dome"

I'm working on Under the Dome. I suspect I will not read much else this week. I read Game Change (on the last election) on my train ride to NYC since the Steven King was too big to bring and lug around.

Barry wrote: "I'm working on Under the Dome. I suspect I will not read much else this week. I read Game Change (on the last election) on my train ride to NYC since the Steven King was too big to bring and lug ..."

Ooh, I want to read Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. Maybe I'll see if the library has it on CD, I've got to get to Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly. How did you like it, Barry?

Carol:
My library only has hardback copies of Game Change - five to be exact and 148 holds on those -- yikes! Kindle $8.61 release date 23-Feb

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Ooh, I want to read Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. Maybe I'll see if the library has it on CD"

Game Change was easily the best non fiction I have read in a decade, and that says lots since a year ago I would have sworn that would be Little Pink House. Game Change may have been presented in the news as something that raked the trash, but it was more of an inside look at the campaigns, and the people that made them. If only we knew these things in real time.

Barry wrote: "Game Change was easily the best non fiction I have read in a decade, and that says lots since a year ago I would have sworn that would be Little Pink House. Game Change may have been presented in ..."

well that's a rave! yes, I did note the criticism that the authors did a bit of a Woodward and Bernstein type journalism with lots of uncredited sources, but the blurbs I've seen made for compelling reading. Glad you liked it.

Barry wrote: "Game Change was easily the best non fiction I have read in a decade, and that says lots since a year ago I would have sworn that would be Little Pink House. Game Change may have been presented in ..."

I've been looking at this one. My mom was telling me about it before I ever saw it on Amazon. I might have to cave and pick it up!

I was afraid this might happen since both books were on order for a very long time in audio format. The library update shows BOTH books in transit to my hold shelf. arggghhh. Why at the same time!???
13 1/2 and Nine Dragons

Ann wrote: "I was afraid this might happen since both books were on order for a very long time in audio format. The library update shows BOTH books in transit to my hold shelf. arggghhh. Why at the same time!?..."

I recently got three holds at the same time. Why? It's either lucky or unlucky depending on your perspective. I did want to read these books. The only question is whether I'll be able to read them all now that my semester has started.

Good luck with your three library books, Shomeret!
With audio books in this case of double books on the way, I feel unlucky as I only listen to one at a time and can't easily gallop to the end of one when due dates loom. Also neither of these will be renewable since so many of us have them on hold. At least they are still in transit giving me time to finish my current audio.
As I reflect, since 13 1/2 is a stand-alone I may let it go for now and listen to 9 Dragons after The Language of Bees.
To pick up today Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman - if I figure out how to get there in the snow. Lisa Scottoline's columns in book form.

Shomeret wrote: "I recently got three holds at the same time. Why? It's either lucky or unlucky depending on your perspective. I did want to read these books. The only question is whether I'll be able to read them all now that my semester has started."

Ann, I'm #4 on the list for this new Scottoline. I love her legal thrillers; it will be interesting to see her writing a different genre.

Joyce:
I may not get to pick up Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman until early in the week depending on the road conditions tomorrow. You can get a taste of Lisa's style from her columns she has on her website.
http://scottoline.com/Site/Column/
I am also eager for the new Bennie Rosato book, Think Twice coming March 16. It looks to be an especially creepy legal thriller!

Joyce wrote: "Ann, I'm #4 on the list for this new Scottoline. I love her legal thrillers; it will be interesting to see her writing a different genre."

Ann wrote: "I was afraid this might happen since both books were on order for a very long time in audio format. The library update shows BOTH books in transit to my hold shelf. arggghhh. Why at the same time!?..."

I have a feeling this may happen to me too! I have seven books on my library wish list, and I'll bet 2 or 3 come at the same time ;)

I'll have to put my name on the reserve list for the scottoline book she has some of those articles on her website I believe I read them a few times and they are great. I get her email all the time and it sounded like a good book. I was at Costco today but it was a fast trip with my sister & brother in law before heading to my niece's so I only got to touch the books on the end while walking by.

Ann wrote: "Joyce:
I may not get to pick up Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman until early in the week depending on the road conditions tomorrow. You can get a tas..."

That one does sound good Ann!

Library Saturday today included taking back one unfinished and leaving one at home unfinished (yet for both)
I picked up the new stand-alone on audio,13 1/2 by Nevada Barr and John Burdett's The Godfather of Kathmandu I am looking forward to both books!

Ann wrote: "Library Saturday today included taking back one unfinished and leaving one at home unfinished (yet for both)
I picked up the new stand-alone on audio,13 1/2 by [author:Nevada Barr|4..."

Ann, I had a first time ever experience this Library Saturday. I returned a book and DIDN'T TAKE ANYTHING HOME!

Speaking of the library, do you have the ELF system there? It's an online service where you can register all your library cards and sign up to be notified when books are coming due, when holds are available, etc. I just signed up today.

Carol:
I didn't realize we had the Elf system at my library and just signed up. It is quite nice, though I can get the same info from the library site too, just not on one summary page. Thanks!
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Speaking of the library, do you have the ELF system there? It's an online service where you can register all your library cards and sign up to be notified when books are coming due, when holds are available, etc. I just signed up today. "

Ann wrote: "Carol:
I didn't realize we had the Elf system at my library and just signed up. It is quite nice, though I can get the same info from the library site too, just not on one summary page. Thanks!
Ca..."

You're welcome. What I like about it is I can register my two library cards, rather than going to two different web sites. It will also alert me by email before books are due, so if I want to go and try to renew them I can.

"all your library cards"? Why would you have more than one? My card is good throughout the state, and in the region can be used to pull books into my library from the online catalog.