We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to discuss what you’ll be reading this summer. Jump right in and tell everyone what’s on YOUR summer reading list!
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I have MANY books on my summer reading list – I had an especially busy spring, and I have a lot of catching up to do!
In no particular order:
DEAD LIKE YOU by Peter James
THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES by Marcus Sakey
THE LAST CHILD by John Hart
LEARNING TO SWIM by Sara J. Henry
THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett
And several young adults:
ROT AND RUIN by Jonathan Maberry
THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES by Carrie Ryan
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
UNWIND by Neal Shusterman
Recent reads:
SPIRAL by Paul McEuen
BURIED SECRETS by Joseph Finder
DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth
And of course, I’ll be bringing LOTS of new titles back from ThrillerFest! Can’t wait!
I just finished Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me. It was published in 1952 (he also wrote The Grifters, among others). Chilling! It is a first person tale of a serial killer. At first it seemed a bit dated and a little hokey. The further into it I got, I couldn’t put it down. There was one scene – where the main character finds a long lost photograph he took as a child – that is as chilling and unforgettable as the shower scene in Psycho. I see why it’s a classic. And I read Harlan Coben’s Hold Tight. Another fun fun read! Vacation is such a great time to catch up…..just on to Michael Koryta’s The Cypress House. Looks to be super scary….
Right now, I’m reading The Queen of Patpong, by Tim Hallinan. Next, I plan to read Edmund Crispin’s Holy Disorders because it’s set in Oxford and I’m going there in August for the St. Hilda’s Crime and Mystery Weekend. Then I’ll reread Aaron Elkins’s wonderful Skullduggery because I have to lead my bookclub discussion of it at our first fall meeting.
I feel overwhelmed, in a delightful way, by all the great books I have to choose from this year. I just finished Fallen by Karin Slaughter. I’ve been a fan of Karin’s writing from the beginning, and I’ve watched her growing and challenging herself with every book. This one is her best. Don’t miss it.
One of the most impressive novels I’ve read in a long time is Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. This harrowing story, told in first person by a woman with amnesia, is — if you’ll pardon the expression — unforgettable.
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens is an astonishingly rich debut novel.
I loved The Cypress House by Michael Koryta, although I usually don’t care for paranormal elements. This one is a strong crime novel — backwoods noir — and is not overburdened by the main character’s psychic powers.
Right now I’m reading The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly, a Micky Haller novel.
Thanks for this list, Sandra. Do you know, I’ve never read anything by Karin Slaughter, but I brought Fallen home from ThrillerFest (it was on my table at the awards banquet). Now I can’t wait to read it!
It’s great to have these wonderful leads! I’m going to start with THE KILLER INSIDE ME, which I’ve never read, and sounds excellent.
I just finished Mark Alpert’s FINAL THEORY and loved it. Suppose Einstein really did figure out the grand unified field theory but it was too dangerous to let the world know?
Another physicist book I read (just coincidence, really!) is SOLAR by Ian McEwan.
For a good legal thriller: THE INSIDER by Reece Hirsch — I’m in the middle of it now.
CHOSEN by Barbara Elsborg. Not for the faint of heart.
FIRST BLOOD by David Morrell (after I pry it from Dd’s hands)
I have read the following so far this summer:
Confessional; Higgins, Jack
Portrait of a Spy; Silva, Daniel
Robert Ludlum’s (TM) The Bourne Dominion (Jason Bourne);Ludlum, Robert, Van Lustbader, Eric
The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel; Gerritsen, Tess
Carte Blanche; Deaver, Jeffery
Now You See Her; Patterson, James, Ledwidge, Michael
Freaks: A Rizzoli & Isles Short Story; Gerritsen, Tess
Promised Land; Parker, Robert B.
The Girl with the Long Green Heart; Block, Lawrence
A Season in Hell; Higgins, Jack
Trader of Secrets: A Paul Madriani Novel (Paul Madriani Novels); Martini, Steve
Buried Prey; Sandford, John
Save Me; Scottoline, Lisa
10th Anniversary (Women’s Murder Club); Patterson, James, Paetro, Maxine
The Lock Artist: A Novel; Hamilton, Steve
Palindrome (Avon); Woods, Stuart
Bel-Air Dead; Woods, Stuart
The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel; Connelly, Michael
I won’t bore you with the nonfiction reading list. There’s still one month left, I’m open to suggestions.
Great selection, galt.
Jack Higgins has been around a long time, and has always been one of my favorites.
I’m also a Daniel Silva fan, and I think he really hit his stride when he created Gabriel Allon and Gabriel’s network of friends and co-workers.
Lots of others on your list that I also like. Steve Martini is not only a great storyteller – he’s also an excellent writing instructor. I bought and listened to some of his lectures from past ThrillerFests. He’s an interesting guy, and very helpful.
My list includes some old and recent titles, both in Spanish and English:
Travesuras de la niña mala, by Mario Vargas Llosa
The Dance and other love stories, by EJ Knapp
The Halo Effect, by M J Rose
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchel
Operación Pico Bonito, by Selvin Fernandez
Freezing Point, by Karen Dionne (Already read Boiling Point, yes I know I read them in reverse order)
José
Aww, thanks, Jose! Hope you enjoy the book!
Currently I’m reading Zoe Sharp’s excellent SECOND SHOT. I’m really enjoying Charlie Fox.
Next up is something a little different, Guillermo del Toro’s and Chuck Hogan’s THE STRAIN and THE FALL.
David DeLee
FATAL DESTINY – a Grace deHaviland Novel
I recently read M.J. McGrath’s WHITE HEAT – a crime novel set in the Arctic – and reviewed it here at The New York Journal of Books – my first official book review!
Next up is Trackers by Deon Meyer. I’ve never read any of his, though I know they’re well-spoken of, but I have read all of Roger Smith’s work (both write about South Africa from South Africa). Can’t wait!
I always have a pile of science thrillers on my TBR list. Just finished:
Devil’s Plaything by Matt Richtel
Primacy by J.E. Fishman
Next up:
The Vault by Boyd Morrison
Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear
Instinct by Jeremy Robinson
and the novel that started the phrase LabLit:
Experimental Heart by Jennifer Rohn
and because I’m deficient in my classic sci-fi, I just finished The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and I plan to read I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
This summer I read from Michael Connelly: “The Lincoln Lawyer”, “Blood Work”, “The Poet” and “The last Coyote”
And I also read “If the Dead Rise Not” from Philip Kerr and “The Scarpetta Factor” from Patricia Cornwell.
Loved it!
Elke De Ridder, Belgium