Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

During the later part of the month I was finally able to start reading books on the page again. Had a really high quality month.

Top Reads


The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Michael Lewis
I found this book fascinating. Lewis did a great job of explaining the whole sub-prime meltdown by focusing on a few quirky investors who bet against the rest of the market. I listened to the audio version which was ably read by Jesse Boggs


Exile
Denise Mina
The second book in the Maureen O'Donnell trilogy lives up to promise shown in the first Garnethill: A Novel of Crime. Gritty, dark, with realistic characters who are just barely hanging on in urban Glasgow.


The Hours Before Dawn
Celia Fremlin
This won the Edgar Award for best novel back in 1960 and features a mother trying to cope with a newborn who will not stop crying, two older girls, a typical English husband of the 1950s who shows his concern about the household by showing up unannounced for lunch and expecting a hot meal with meat, and new boarder in the attic.


Bad Traffic: A Novel
Simon Lewis
This will probably be on my year end top ten list. Very entertaining tale of a Chinese police inspector who travels to England after a distress call from his daughter who is studying there. Lots of action and violence. A real page turner.

Good Reads


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer
I did not enjoy this quite as much as I expected. A good listen but was not overwhelmed. I think part of the problem was that, while I usually love audios with multiple narrators, this was a bit overdone and overacted. Quite a few of the island characters came off as simpletons. I also found the whole tone of the book a bit too twee for my tastes. The audio was read by Paul Boehmer, Susan Duerden, Rosalyn Landor, John Lee, and Juliet Mills


Mixed Blood: A Thriller
Roger Smith
Debut thriller set in South Africa. Parts of this were very well done. I found the descriptions of the poverty and hopelessness of characters who lived in the poorer Cape Flats area of Cape Town completely convincing. On the other hand, the bad guy was too over the top for me and the main character was a bland American who I could not care less about. I did like the ending though and will check out his second book Wake Up Dead: A Thriller.


The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
Good action and characters but perhaps a little too Young Adult for me. Now a major motion picture. Listened to the audio read by Jesse Bernstein.


The Greenway
Jane Adams
A young woman whose cousin disappeared twenty years ago comes back to the small English town to confront her demons. Nicely done tale of suspense with a touch of the supernatural.


Rituals of the Season
Margaret Maron
One of my favorite series. It is always nice to catch up with Judge Deborah Knott and her family and the mystery in this book was pretty good too. Audio narrated by C. J. Critt


Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man who found $1 Million that fell off a Truck
Mark Bowden
Another good read that can be taken as a cautionary tale about drug abuse and how meth can addle your judgement. The author did a reasonable job with the narration on the audio version. Bowden is becoming one of my must read authors no matter what the subject.

OK Read


The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys
Alan Light
Not a complete waste of time since I can now differentiate one Beastie from another but pretty lightweight.

A lot of diverse books here! I had never heard of The Hours Before Dawn - the synopsis sounds creepy, but good. I've added it to my ever-growing list. Thanks for the recommendation.

My April reads were

This is the first in the series. I liked the story and characters well enough to try the second book

an okay entry in this series

an enjoyable entry in this series

The first in a series. Although I enjoyed some of the characters and their relationships, I found the mystery quite predictable

Meredith

I had looked at the Percy Jackson book before and wondered if it would be too much a kid's book. Glad I didn't bother. I've read almost all of Riordan's Tres Navarre adult mystery books and really liked them.

Sandi:
It was a diverse month! As Marcy noted too, I am intrigued by The Hours Before Dawn, and like Melodie, I had wondered about Rick Riordan's YA books. I like the Tres Navarre adult books too.

Sandi wrote: "During the later part of the month I was finally able to start reading books on the page again. Had a really high quality month.."

Marcy wrote: "A lot of diverse books here! I had never heard of The Hours Before Dawn - the synopsis sounds creepy, but good. I've added it to my ever-growing list. Thanks for the recommendation."

What an intriguing mix, Sandi. You really dipped into a lot of different books. How did you pick them?

I've heard good things about The Big Short, and it seems like I can't turn on an interview show without falling over Michael Lewis hawking his book. Glad to know that it's on audio, I might request it.

The one about the Chinese policeman in London sounds interesting also.

Sandi wrote: "During the later part of the month I was finally able to start reading books on the page again. Had a really high quality month.

Top Reads

[bookcover:The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machi..."

Ann wrote: "Sandi:
It was a diverse month! As Marcy noted too, I am intrigued by The Hours Before Dawn, and like Melodie, I had wondered about Rick Riordan's YA books. I like the Tres Navarre adult books too. ..."

>>What an intriguing mix, Sandi. You really dipped into a lot of different books. How did you pick them?<<

I usually get most of my ideas from this group (I have pages of lists from books mentioned over the years), the Readers and Reading group, and I follow a couple of people's reviews on Amazon (this guy is probably my favorite and where I heard about Bad Traffic: A Novel http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-r...).

I had never hear of Celia Fremlin though until I read about her death on author Martin Edwards website (http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blo...). There are so many authors who, for whatever reason, seem to fade away but at least now, with the help of the internet, they can be rediscovered without having to just luck into them among the stacks at the library or used book store.

Just curious, Sandi:
Where did you find a copy of The Hours Before Dawn? Finding a copy of a book published in 1959 isn't always easy!

Sandi wrote: ">>The Hours Before Dawn Celia Fremlin
This won the Edgar Award for best novel back in 1960 and features a mother trying to cope with a newborn who will not stop crying, two older girls, a typical English husband of the 1950s who shows his concern about the household by showing up unannounced for lunch and expecting a hot meal with meat, and new boarder in the attic.
I had never hear of Celia Fremlin though until I read about her death on author Martin Edwards website (http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogsp...). There are so many authors who, for whatever reason, seem to fade away but at least now, with the help of the internet, they can be rediscovered without having to just luck into them among the stacks at the library or used book store. "

>>Just curious, Sandi:
Where did you find a copy of The Hours Before Dawn ? Finding a copy of a book published in 1959 isn't always easy! <<

Luckily, my library had it on the shelf. On the other hand, I had to request Exile (published in 2000 and the second book of a trilogy) through inter-library loan.

Sandi:
Lucky you! Our library doesn't have it. It is always a shame, but older books seem to go missing so often, and not always just from use of wear and tear.

Sandi wrote: ">>JLuckily, my library had it on the shelf. On the other hand, I had to request Exile (published in 2000 and the second book of a trilogy) through inter-library loan.."

Great list Sandi...what does "twee" mean?

>>Great list Sandi...what does "twee" mean?<<

Hi Mary,

Good to see you around again. I used twee as shorthand for too cute or quaint for my taste.

Ahhh...I see. Nice to see you too. Have you decided to go to BC this year? Robert and I will be there.

>>Have you decided to go to BC this year? Robert and I will be there.<<

Yes, I made my reservations and paid for my registration last week. Am excited to be going to California and seeing everyone again.

Me too...counting the months & days. Is your brother coming? Are you sharing rooms with anyone?

>>Me too...counting the months & days. Is your brother coming? Are you sharing rooms with anyone? <<

Yes, Jeff is coming too. He can't wait to eat at some of the eateries we have seen on the Travel Channel and the last couple of days of Fleet Week will be going on when we arrive so he wants to try and take in some Ship tours and catch the air show.

Okay...I have a place for our group dinner...it's in Yountville (Napa) called Bistro Jeanty. www.bistrojeanty.com Right across the street is another place called French Laundry, which is the number 1 rated restaurant in the US. But I don't thing we can afford that one...or could get into that one. I have a friend that works at Bistro Jeanty. Last time we were in Napa\SFO this was THE BEST MEAL we had the whole trip. It still stands out as one of the best meals we've had anywhere. We'll have to get a rental of take bart or something...but it's definitely worth it. Keep in mind for Jeff that my hubby will be there and he won't be doing the "boring book stuff" as he calls it. So maybe they can pal around together. Robt loves ship tour and air shows. I can't tell you how many old ships I've been made to crawl through. for his bd a couple years ago I sent him on a flight on a C17 or maybe B17 or maybe B14. Anyway...really old plane. He loved it.

One more comment about BC: my goal this year is to wrangle an invite to the Lee Child party. I think that would be great fun! I understand he hosts a big shindig each year and it is the best fun of the conference. Guess I'll have to flirt with him in the Starbucks queue again...harder this time!

Re Bistro Jeanty--Sounds lovely, Mary QC. I would like to meet MTers for dinner, but I might have a transportation issue with this one. I'm a mass transit person and BART does not go to Yountville.

Mary/Quite Contrary wrote: "Okay...I have a place for our group dinner...it's in Yountville (Napa) called Bistro Jeanty. www.bistrojeanty.com Right across the street is another place called French Laundry, which is the number..."

My husband's boss was in Napa a couple of years ago to visit his daughter. They all went to French Laundry and for 6 of them dinner with all the wines and tip was $2700.00. Don't know about the rest of you, but I know I couldn't afford it....and wouldn't pay that kind of money for a meal even if I COULD afford it! But then I'm not a gourmet anyway!

I agree...no food is worth that kind of money to me.

Bistro Jeanty is a small little french bistro, charming, with great atmosphere, fireplace, and wonderful food. The food prices are comparable to Atlanta, but the wine is better and therefor higher...but nothing like French Laundry.
For example, my meal will be:

tomato soup $10.50
filet $38.00
potatoes $5.50
creme brule $6.50

$60 plus tax, tip, and wine

The filet is the highest entre at $38 but most are $17-25. The online menu includes prices. I know it's not for everyone, but for whoever wants to join, it should be wonderful. My mouth is watering right now and it's still 4.5 months away. Okay, must go order a pizza now, I'm starving.

Shom...my brother in law is local, so maybe we can work something out with the transportation. Also, my husband might be renting a car since he'll be tooling around, so if you want to join us, whatever restaurant we meet at, I hope we can sort our the transportation as I would love to meet you.

Sandi...sorry to hijack your monthly reads thread! I got carried away. I'll add a Bcon discussion so we can kick this around without using your thread.

Mary/Quite Contrary wrote: "I agree...no food is worth that kind of money to me.

Bistro Jeanty is a small little french bistro, charming, with great atmosphere, fireplace, and wonderful food. The food prices are comparabl..."

Yes, I looked at the prices and it's at the high end for me, but doable. I occasionally patronize restaurants in that price range on special occasions. Meeting M/Ters for dinner would be a special occasion.

I'm definitely not opposed to eating there if transportation can be arranged.

>>Bistro Jeanty is a small little french bistro, charming, with great atmosphere, fireplace, and wonderful food<<

The menu looks great, guess we have plenty of time to figure out transportation issues.

Count me in for dinner also!! Don't want to throw a wet blanket on a great idea but Yountville is at least 1 hour (probably closer to 90 minutes each way during rush hour)from SF. The menu does look yummy though.

90 minuttes? Ugh...I guess I was a blissfully ignorant passenger when i was there. We don't have that kind of time at BC! We'll have to find an alternative. Bummer...I was so excited to share my favorite restaurant with this group.

Now that I am living in the Bay area half time, I hope I can follow thru on this suggestion at some point. Bistro Jeanty does sound good. I was hoping to kidnap DH for a getaway wine/food weekend. Thanks for the suggestion, Mary.