Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Absolute top books of the year:

Kerley: Buried Alive
Crais: The Sentry
Spencer Fleming: One was a Soldier.

Special honorable mention:
Lisa Lutz (NTMA)
Stieg Larson with The Girl who...

Bottom of the barrel:
Lisa Scottoline, who should have stayed in bed the day she wrote Save Me
J Flynn for the wandering The Next President
special mention to Laura Lippman for abandoning us for a different genre.

Barry:
I am hoping to get to Buried Alive very soon, especially now seeing your rating of it! I total agree with your top books!

I have ten A rated M/Ts for 2011 which is quite unusual.

1)The Debba by Avner Mandelman
2)Gunshot Roadby Adrian Hyland
3)The Buddha of Brewer Streetby Michael Dobbs
4)The Musician's Daughterby Susanne Dunlap (YA historical mystery)
5)An Incomplete Revengeby Jacqueline Winspear
6)Mozart's Last Ariaby Matt Rees
7)The Ronin's Mistressby Laura Joh Rowland
8)Zora and Meby Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon
9)Devil-Devilby Graeme Kent
10)A Single Eye by Susan Dunlap

Susanne Dunlap and Susan Dunlap should not be confused with each other. They are two very different writers.

Most Disappointing: The Reincarnation Beliefs of North American Indians by Warren Jefferson which I rated D because I felt that very little of the material had to do with reincarnation.

here are my top m/t's for the year:
the drop- michael connelly
shock wave- john sandford
the affair- lee child
buried prey- john sandford
one was a solder- julia spencer-fleming
the fifth witness- michael connelly
the bricklayer- noah boyd
the sentry- robert crais

and my top non m/t reads:
the dove keepers- alice hoffman
the wild rose- jennifer donnelly
the night strangers- chris bohjalian
night road- kristen hannah
i remember nothing -nora ephron
pictures of you- caroline leavitt
left neglected- lisa genova

So hard to just pick a few...
2011 I got to catch up on Louise Penny's series, so that was tops for me
Also,
Fallen by Karin Slaughter
Steig Larson's series
No Colder Placy by SJ Rozan

Of course it was such a great year to have books from all my all time favs: Coben, Child,Connelly, Crais, Sandford

Sherry-
Those that I did not give an 'A' on your list were 'A-'. Sometimes it is just the side of the bed I awaken on. (If I have to go to work that day, it's the wrong one)

Barry wrote: "Sherry-
Those that I did not give an 'A' on your list were 'A-'. Sometimes it is just the side of the bed I awaken on. (If I have to go to work that day, it's the wrong one)"

lol, barry. i know that feeling.
i tried the lutz books and just couldn't get into the first one. maybe it was a mood thing. i'll give her another shot

Top 16 2011 Books: (any genre)
Of the sixty-three I finished reading, these rose to the top. Twenty one overall were audio books, seven read on the Kindle - I expect that ratio to rise in 2012. Thirty-three were from a library loan - love my library!!
Ten of these top books were part of a series, eight were audio books. A really good year!!
The best of the best:
Stockett, Kathryn The Help
Stabenow, Dana Though Not Dead
Hamilton, Steve Misery Bay
King, Stephen 11/22/63
Top Books read
Slaughter, Karin Broken
White, Randy Wayne Night Vision
Collins, Suzanne Catching Fire
Winspear, Jacqueline A Lesson in Secrets
Albert, Susan Wittig Mourning Gloria
Coben, Harlan Live Wire
Fforde, Jasper One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
Spencer-Fleming, Julia One Was a Soldier
Zusak, Markus I Am the Messenger
Slaughter, Karin Fallen
Towles, Amor Rules of Civility
Morgenstern, Erin The Night Circus

I'm seeing Spencer-Fleming on quite a few lists. Nice selections Ann.

Thanks Barry! Besides being a favorite series, as usual being so well written, with atmospheric depiction of the setting, and great characters, One Was a Soldier was very topical as well. A stunner of a book.
I really had to chuckle at your bottom of the barrel comment on Save Me. The fact that it was on audio was the only reason I finished it, it really took a while to warm up to even lukewarm for the MC, Rose; and I love Scottoline's books almost all of the time. I am hit and miss with Laura Lippman though, so when those are a miss I am not surprised.

Barry wrote: "I'm seeing Spencer-Fleming on quite a few lists. Nice selections Ann." and "Bottom of the barrel: Lisa Scottoline, who should have stayed in bed the day she wrote Save Me "

Smokin' Seventeen made GR's best MT book?
http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice...
wow, I should have been ready to vote sooner.

I am so glad to see that someone has done a basic best of list this year. I felt guilty for not doing anything but I was so afraid my computer would finally crash at the worst possible time. I have to invest in a new furnace first.
Anyway, I will list my favorite books of the year.
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Once a Spy - Keith Thomson
Guilt by Association - Marcia Clark
One Was a Soldier - Julia Spencer-Fleming
Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny
The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly
On the Line - S J Rozan
The Detachment - Barry Eisler

I also had 16 books, like Ann, that I rated at least 9.5. 4 were rated higher than that.

The Cream of the Crop:
, , and
The Rest of the Best:
, , , , , , , , , , and

Don't feel guilty, Cheryl, this thread works just fine for our top books - I hope your computer holds on and good luck with the new furnace.

Cheryl wrote: "I am so glad to see that someone has done a basic best of list this year. I felt guilty for not doing anything but I was so afraid my computer would finally crash at the worst possible time. I ha..."

Melodie:
I had hoped to get to Mockingjay in 2011, but other books got in front of it, and it was nice to see Misery Bay and Live Wire on other top lists. As previously discussed, One Was a Soldier was such a good book!

I still haven't read Misery Bay, had it here twice from the library.

I read 86 books and listened to 44 audios in 2011 which was down from my 2010 totals of 96 books and 50 audios. My total page count though was actually higher in 2011 with 29,448 pages read vs. 28,782 in 2010. Of the 130 total reads I rated 35 either 4 or 5 stars.

My top reads for 2011 (in order read):

M/T

Betrayal
Karin Alvtegen

The Exception
Christian Jungersen

The Power of the Dog
Don Winslow

One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
Christopher Brookmyre

The Debba
Avner Mandelman

Midnight Fugue
Reginald Hill

Resolution: A Novel of Crime
Denise Mina

Miernik Dossier
Charles McCarry

The Mercy Seat
Martyn Waites

The Boy in the Suitcase
Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnette Friis


Non M/T

Air
Geoff Ryman

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Jon Krakauer(read by Phillip Franklin)

The Children of Men
P.D. James(read by David Case)

Rules of Civility: A Novel
Amor Towles(read by Rebecca Lowman)

Against my better judgement, I am putting together a spreadsheet where I will try to figure out our group 'best'. More likely, I will just reprint my own list and attribute it to the group.
For those to whom I have granted the keys to my kingdom, the spreadsheet is an added page to "Past Reads"

Do whatever you think is right....but DON'T PRESS THE BIG RED BUTTON!

My biggest disappointments of the year were:

, , , and

Without a doubt the biggest wastes of time were the Steven Tyler book and SHOE DONE IT!

My favorite books of 2011

Oops lol

Shock Wave - Sandford
The Affair - Child
Sixkill - Parker (maybe not one of the best of 2011 but as his last book I wanted to add it)
Buried Prey - Sandford
The Drop - Connelly
The Sentry - Crais
Non M/T
Left Neglected - Genova
Catching Fire - Collins
Mockingjay - Collins

That is nice of you, Barry!
Barry wrote: "Against my better judgement, I am putting together a spreadsheet where I will try to figure out our group 'best'. More likely, I will just reprint my own list and attribute it to the group.
"

M/T 2011 (good reads)
What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
The Spy by Clive Cussler & Justine Scott
The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver
World's Greatest Sleuth by Steve Hockensmith
Threat Warning by John Gilstrap
Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The Affair by Lee Child
Gideon's Sword by Preston & Child
1/22/63 by Stephen King

Fiction
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Historical Fiction
Sara's Key by Titiana De Rosnay
Centennial by James A. Michener

Non Fiction
Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume I by Twain
Hound Dog by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Nothing Like It in the World--Men who built the transcontinental railroad by Stephen E. Ambrose
A Stolen Life, A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

33 books this year. Centennial & Mark Twain were over 1,000 pages each)

Best M/T's:
The Reversal, Michael connelly
Steig Larsson Trilogy
The Simple Truth, David Baldacci
Agent X, Noah Boyd
Though Not Dead, Dana Stabenow

Worst M/T's:
Key West Connection, RWW writing as Randy Striker
American Assassin, Vince Flynn

DNF: Caught, Harlen Coben. It was either stop after 30 pages or die of boredom.

Best Fiction:
Fall of giants, Ken Follett
Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove will always hold a special place in my heart. Loved the book so much I even bought the DVD.

A friend talked me into reading the book. I told her I wasn't enjoying it, she kept telling me to keep reading, she was so very right. I loved it.

Brakedrum wrote: "Lonesome Dove will always hold a special place in my heart. Loved the book so much I even bought the DVD."

I don't know anyone who read the book that didn't love it. I read it years ago, just before the TV movie was on.

I thought they did a good job with the tv series

I'll look back and report my top 10 when I get online the next time. most likely it's going to be all the julia spencer fleming books I read but I'm sure I'll find other's.

I'll wait to post the counts then.

okay here goes. I took some from I had to do a top 10 before the end of the year and I kind of pick out more that had some supense. so this is what I came out with

1. The hunger games & catching fire by Suzanne collins
2. Prey by Linda Howard
3. Marked by PC Cast
4. Kill me if you can by James Patterson/Marshall Karp
5. Kisscut by Karin slaughter
6. Raven on the wind by Kay hooper
7. Split second by Catherine coulter
8. Sizzling sixteen & Smokin Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
9. The Virgin of Small plains by Nancy Pinkard
10 The Julia Spencer Fleming series that I was glad to finally read.

also I have to add
Buchanan series by Julie Garwood
Honolulu by Alan Brennert
And
Anna & the french kiss, and Lola & the boy next door both by Stephanie perkins, YA

I had other books that were 9 1/2 or 10 but I had to cut the list down someplace.

OK
So about 70 books got votes, but only 10 got more than one vote.

5 One was a soldier Spencer Fleming
4 The Sentry Robert Crais
3 Steig Larson's series Steig Larson
3 the affair- lee child
2 11/22/1963 King, Stephen
2 buried prey- john sanford
2 The Debba Avner Mandelman
2 the drop- michael connelly
2 the fifth witness- michael connelly
2 The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

11/22/63 probably lost out some on spanning 2 years.

Barry wrote: "OK
So about 70 books got votes, but only 10 got more than one vote.

5 One was a soldier Spencer Fleming
4 The Sentry Robert Crais
3 Steig Larson's series Steig Larson
3 the affair- lee child
..."

Didn't LIVE WIRE and MISERY BAY each get 2 votes?

Ann and Melodie tiered their books, I only counted the top tier.

Barry wrote: "Ann and Melodie tiered their books, I only counted the top tier."

OK! I'm a little slow on the uptake!

I'm happy to see I read all of the top rated books, and can see why they did so well. 2012 already has a top book for me, 11/22/63.

Thanks for tallying, Barry! Sorry I didn't get mine in in time, I missed the mention of the deadline.

Barry wrote: "I'm happy to see I read all of the top rated books, and can see why they did so well. 2012 already has a top book for me, 11/22/63."

11/22/63 will make my top 10 this year, too. i love starting the year with a really good book!

Barry wrote: "OK
So about 70 books got votes, but only 10 got more than one vote.

Thanks Barry, for doing this.

Another vote for making the top 10 list for 2012!

Thanks, Barry

What a guy.

Barry wrote: "OK
So about 70 books got votes, but only 10 got more than one vote.

5 One was a soldier Spencer Fleming
4 The Sentry Robert Crais
3 Steig Larson's series Steig Larson
3 the affair- lee child
..."

thanks, barry for doing this. the only one i haven't read is the debba

I did not set a deadline, and if you vote, I will add you to the tally.

Thanks for compiling, Barry! It is tough for a book released at the end of the year to split the votes across two years top book ranks. 11/22/63 will likely make both years top lists.

Not to mention dealing with Carol.

Barry wrote: "Not to mention dealing with Carol."

{{sigh}} the things I put up with over here.