Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to a Non-Mystery reader.

What a cool topic for today, Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. So don't forget to head on over there and check out the rest of the Tuesday Top Ten Lists at this link.

Hard as it is to believe I know there are people out there who do not read mysteries or thrillers. I know, I know, you're saying: huh? Me too.

But let's pretend that those who haven't been converted are merely waiting for the right approach. So without further ado, here are my

Top Ten Mystery and/or Thriller Books I'd Recommend to a Non-Reader of Mysteries and/or Thrillers.


1) The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

The book that begins it all. This is the only instance where a writer has managed to continue  characters created by someone else - in this case, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed Sherlock Holmes and John Watson - and done a hell of a job. King turns Holmes into a real life flesh and blood man and creates a new partner for him, a young woman of equal brilliance and eccentricity. If you have even just a vague notion of Holmes, this book will wow you.

2) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

This can probably be read as a luscious though sinister Victorian sojourn in the company of one of the foulest and creepiest villains in English literature. Damsels in distress, thwarted young love, moody evenings in the fog.  What more could you want?


3) The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

When a Scotland Yard inspector breaks a leg and is confined to hospital, his friend brings him books and mags to read. While looking at a print of the notorious crook-back, the reviled Richard III whom most everyone knows murdered the two young princes in the tower of London - his brother's children - so he, Richard could become King, Inspector Grant begins to muse.

The story has captured his interest and, having nothing better to do, he asks the friend to bring him more research material on Richard III. Thereby Tey spins a mesmerizing tale of long overdue retribution. Grant begins to realize that perhaps, history is totally wrong.


4) The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

A young girl disappears from her heretofore 'idyllic' neighborhood and family and friends are devastated. Megan Abbott brings to vivid life the often moody world of a thirteen year old Midwestern girl whose best friend's disappearance makes her question everything she knows or thought she knew. A moving, gut wrenchng read.


5) Not All Tarts are Apples by Pip Grainger

It's 1953 London and young Rosie Featherby is 7 years old. She is beloved by everyone who has had a hand is raising her, including her step parents Bert and Maggie. Rosie is trusting, caring and rather wise for her tender years. She thinks her London block is the best place in the world to be and who could blame her? The block is full of affectionate eccentrics who adore her.

But not everyone has Rosie's best interests at heart.

Certain events have begun to confuse the issue of who she really is and how she came to be brought up by the owners of a working class cafe on Old Compton Street in Soho.

A possible kidnapping is in the works.

The charm of this wonderful book is in the writing talent of Pip Grainger and the whole world on a London block she's created. The observant Rosie tells the tale from her point of view.


6) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

Derring-do during the French Revolution as 18th century English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney masquerades as a fop by day and a dashing hero by night. He crosses the channel accompanied by two or three faithful-until-death followers, and helps French aristos to escape the guillotine. In the meantime, his beautiful wife grows more and more contemptuous of his foolish foppishness.

7) The City and the City by China Mieville

I definitely can't do any better than to point you to this fabulous review of one of my all time favorite books. I'm not usually a reader of fantasy or science fiction, but sometimes a writer transcends genre and you have to go with the flow. This is a combo mystery/thriller/sci-fi tale which should fascinate any reader.


8) Lost In A Good Book by Jasper Fforde

Not the first in this literately inclined and very fun, mystery/thriller/fantasy series, but this particular volume is my favorite. It is visually full of everything wonderful from the mind of one of the more inventive writers working today.

Fforde is the king of puns, literary jokes, double meanings and imaginative other wordiness. He has created an alternate universe - an England where, among other things, computers haven't been invented nor has air travel, except for balloons and airships. In this place and time, the literary world is a live, separate entity. Pages of a book can be entered, classic tales can be altered and characters from books can interact with humans. Oh yes, and time travel is occasionally possible.

 It is the job of the literary detective to see that the classics aren't fussed with.  (Imagine altering the end of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or JANE EYRE - horrors!)

This is where Thursday Next, Literary Detective comes in. Fforde's heroine is charged with keeping a very vibrant literary world from running amok. Good luck.


9) Come to Grief by Dick Francis

A tale of thwarted friendship, misplaced loyalty, evil in the guise of normality and the resulting escalation of violence aimed at ruining a man's life. This is an Edgar Award Winner (Award named after Edgar Allan Poe) and rightly so. One of Francis's finest books. Read the intriguing synopsis here.


10) Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson

A literate 18th century historical mystery enhanced by incredibly good writing. An amazing debut. See my review from yesterday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'll Be Reading This Winter...

Well, you know there will be many more, but let's just keep it at ten for now.

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. Each week there's a new topic and new lists. Don't forget to check in and see what other Top Ten Books other bloggers are talking about today.

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1) 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I'll probably be reading this next, since its sitting here glaring at me. A time traveler tries to stop the Kennedy assassination. It's gotten great reviews and though I'm not a real King fan, I couldn't resist.

2) WICKED AUTUMN by G.M. Malliet

The first in a cozy new series featuring Max Tudor, the Vicar of St. Edwold. I love a good mystery set in an English village. I am really looking forward to this one.

3) DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY by P.D. James

No more need be said. I am anxious to see what James does with Austen's masterpiece.

4) REAMDE by Neal Stephenson

I was lucky enough to win a copy of Stephenson's new book, but I would have picked it up at the library regardless. I loved Stephenson's CRYPTONOMICON and I'm hoping this new book about a tech entrepreneur caught up in his own online war game, will be something equally wonderful.

5) COLD VENGEANCE by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Eccentric FBI agent, Pendergast, is devastated by the death of his wife, especially since he's found out she was murdered. Now he is out for revenge. A quest that will take him from Scotland, to NYC to Louisiana and will unearth deadly secrets he could never have imagined.

6) THE LONG NIGHT William L. Shirer and the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Steve Wick

I have this near the top of my tottering pile of TBR books. Shirer was one of the great reporters working in Berlin at the beginning of WWII. His judgement, wisdom and reporting skills were legendary. I read his masterpiece, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH many years ago, and I was happy to see this new book about Shirer's reporting work.

The following four books are on my Official Christmas Wish List.

7) CATHERINE THE GREAT Portrait of A Woman by Robert K. Massie

I've never read any of Massie's work, but I know his reputation as a great biographer. I've always been intrigued by this woman, Catherine, Empress of Russia. I think this will be a great read by a writer who, at 82 years of age, is still going strong.

8) IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS by Erik Larson

An American family in Hitler's Berlin. Larson, author of the THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, a fabulous read, now tells the story of a naive family's cruel awakening to the evil spreading throughout Germany and Europe.

9)  THE GREATER JOURNEY Americans in Paris by David McCullough

I've read a few snippets and am dying to read more.

10) THE AFFAIR by Lee Child

The very latest entry in the rock 'em, sock 'em, Jack Reacher series. If you love great thrillers, you will love Lee Child's work.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Authors I'd Want At My Thanksgiving Dinner

Top Ten Tuesday is the Weekly Meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. This week it's The Top Ten Authors I'd Want At My Thanksgiving Dinner. Sounds good.

So, here goes:

1) Clifton Fadiman

Early television punster and wit, editor at Simon and Schuster, then later at The New Yorker book review section and a judge at the Book of the Month Club. Author of The Lifetime Reading Plan. Father of Anne Fadiman whose book, EX LIBRIS alerted me to his wisdom as a parent.

2) Bennett Cerf

Because I remember his wit on the old television show, What's My Line? and also I want to hear his stories about the early days of New York publishing. After all, Cerf was one of the original founders of Random House.

3) Robert Crais

Only because I love his Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books and also he's gorgeous and funny and delightful. I'd just sit and stare and drive him crazy. Nah. We'd chat and laugh and have a good old time. I've met him before. He's terrific. In honor of his Louisiana background, I'd include boudin and maybe a platter of crawfish etouffee.

4) Lee Child

Another gorgeous author, creator of the take no prisoners, modern day knight in shining armor, Jack Reacher. Hey, you can never have too many handsome men at your table. When conversation lags, you can sit contentedly and just luxuriate. I've met him too and he is the ideal guest because of his British wit and his wonderful story telling ability. Also, he is totally unaware of his good looks. I like that in a man.

5) Anita Loos

Long-lived author of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and other wise and witty books, also writer of innumerable screenplays. She was working in Hollywood during its golden age. I'm sure she'd have many MANY stories and anecdotes to share. For her especially, I'd make sure we served champagne.

6) Janet Evanovich

Because she is a total hoot. At least, her Stephanie Plum, Trenton, NJ bounty hunter books make me believe so. I'd love to see her swapping stories with Loos and the guys around the table. It would be a very fun time. (She can even bring the dog if she wants.) I'd also want to learn what she really, REALLY thinks of the casting of ONE FOR THE MONEY. Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum?

7) China Mieville

Another gorgeous hunk. Handsome men are conducive to good digestion. Unless you're the nervous sort. I'd love to hear how Mieville comes up with his outlandish plots - what is it in his make-up that gives rise to such imaginative books as THE CITY AND THE CITY and KRAKEN. Would he be willing to spill the beans?

8) William L. Shirer

Author of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH and BERLIN DIARIES and other first hand accounts of the war. Because I'd want to hear his stories about WWII when he was a star reporter. I mean, as Anita Loos famously said: Fun is fun, but no girl wants to laugh all the time. 

9) Cornelia Read

Author of FIELD OF DARKNESS and three other Madeline Dare thrillers. She has a great sense of humor and is given to outrageous sayings which will add to the general Thanksgiving ambience. I personally know she is fond of champagne and chocolates.

10) M.M. Kaye

An author who led a fabulous life. I'd want to hear all the stories of her world travels during the time when travel was much more elegant than it is today. I'd want to know all about how she came to write her wonderful books, incluging THE FAR PAVILLIONS and all the mysteries set in exotic locales around the world.

Top Ten Tuesday: TOP TEN BOOKS To Read During the Halloween Season

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. Don't forget to check their blog for a complete list of all of today's participating bloggers.

I don't read much 'horror' so if you were expecting that sort of list, mine will be a disappointment. But just to be contrary, I have recently read Bram Stoker's DRACULA and loved it. So there's always the exception to the rule.

My list is kind of varied and I've included a couple of funny books in the mix just to keep things lively.

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REVENGE OF THE COOTIE GIRLS by Sparkle Hayter

A bizarre Halloween Girls' Night Out in NYC where anything and everything can happen to TV newshound Robin Hudson and her pals. When Robin's intern Kathy, who was supposed to join them on their Halloween jaunt, goes missing, it's up to 'the girls' to find her. A night of mischief and mayhem follows.

This book has to be read to be believed. It is truly hilarious.

DRACULA by Bram Stoker

Okay, now we get serious. A vampire on the move, planning a to turn England into a country of the walking dead, is serious business. I read and reviewed DRACULA a couple of weeks ago and I must admit I loved it. It was creepy, yeah, it was dark and weird and ghoulish and frightening - all of the above - but I couldn't stop reading.

I've said before and I'll say it again, I am SO NOT a fan of vampire books and yet, I seem to have two on my list (the only two strictly vampire books I've ever read - the one with Bela Lugosi doesn't count because he wasn't a REAL vampire.)

ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz

Yes, you've heard me talk about this book before. Can't help it. It is, to my mind, Dean Koontz's masterpiece. Just brilliant story telling featuring one of the most unforgettable characters you will ever meet. Odd Thomas is a self-effacing short order cook who can see the dead. Because of this, he is a bit reclusive.Wouldn't you be?

This is a book where everything depends on the main character's quiet and oddly charming personality.

THE TAKING by Dean Koontz

The end of our world as only Dean Koontz can envision it. A world-wide alien invasion focuses on a small California town. This has, as in a lot of Koontz's work, a strong female character whom we root for every inch of the way. A macabre tale which turns out to be not exactly what you thought it was.

FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK by Georgette Heyer

I'm a recent Georgette Heyer convert turned groupie. I love her Regencies - the few I've read anyway. But I'm also smitten with her mysteries. They are of the Agatha Christie school - set in that world - and very well written. They came as somewhat of a surprise to me since I hadn't known Heyer had written mysteries. FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK is set in an old, run-down but atmospheric, English country house recently inherited by siblings, Peter, Margaret and Elizabeth.

The house comes equipped with tales of ghostly night sightings, not to mention a mysterious cowled figure known as The Monk.

Thanks to Elizabeth Grace Foley for the recommendation. It was a good one!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I think what is often forgotten in descriptions of this Sherlock Holmes story is just how spooky it is. It's all dark and mysterious and full of inhospitable doings on the grim, gray moor. Perfect for Halloween.

THE YELLOW ROOM by Mary Roberts Rinehart

A Rinehart speciality, mysterious doings in a big old house in the country - this time it's a summer house. Carol Spencer finds a dead body when she arrives to open the house for the summer. With servants refusing to stay (always a problem in Rinehart's world) and dreaded doings at night making her more and more uneasy, Carol begins to fear for her life as she becomes a suspect in the first murder.

If you're not familiar with Mary Roberts Rinehart's books, I say: what are you waiting for?

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Third in the Pendergast series and the first one I read a few years ago. Based on this spooky, spine-tingling novel set in a very dark and gloomy NYC, I began reading the rest of the books in the series.

Agent Pendergast is not your typical FBI agent, he is unique in style and operation and seems to be in charge of the FBI's most macabre cases. Scary but manageable.

SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley

The only vampire story I would EVER recommend, besides DRACULA.  This brilliant fantasy take on vampires and ghoulies and many strange things that go bump in the night is set in a sort of alternate universe similar to ours except for the odd assortment of beasties and demons. It is also, despite its dark core, occasionally very funny.

The heroine is Rae 'Sunshine' Seddon, a baker at her step-father's coffee house. The 'hero' is named Constantine. He's a vampire. Forget TWILIGHT, read this instead.

Robin McKinley has a wonderful sense of the absurd and this book shows it. Just wonderful.

NEVER CROSS A VAMPIRE - A Toby Peters Mystery by Stuart Kaminsky

When Hungarian actor, Bela Lugosi, suspects he's being stalked, he turns to L.A. private eye, Toby Peters, for help. It's the mid 1940's, war is raging in Europe and back home in California, movie stars and celebrities keep getting into trouble.

I love this series. It's funny while at the same time there's an actual mystery (with a bit of private-eye noir) to be solved.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Whose Endings Left Me Agog, Agape and Aghast.

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week we post our top ten books on the given topic of the day. Don't forget to check in to see what books other bloggers are posting as their Top Ten.

Top Ten Books Whose Endings Left Me Agog, Agape and Aghast (not necessarily in a bad way):

Don't worry. No Spoilers. Far as I can help it, anyway.

1) THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD by Agatha Christie

When I read this Hercule Poirot mystery for the first time, many, MANY years ago, I remember wondering how Christie was able to do what she did in this tale of murder in the English village of King's Abbott. Of course I re-read it looking for the clues and still couldn't rightly figure it out, though I spotted a few sleights of hand.

This is the book that instantly catapulted Agatha Christie into the Valhalla of the Mystery Gods. It is definitely considered her most memorable and influential book  But I can't really say anymore without giving away the magician's trick.

2) AND THEN THERE WERE NONE by Agatha Christie

The second most famous of Christie's shocking endings, I suppose. A bunch of people gather on an island off the English coast at the palatial home of a wealthy man whom none of them actually knows. They are cut off from the mainland except by boat and the boatman seems to have disappeared.

The tension builds as murder by murder, each of the visitors is bumped off. Who could possibly be killing them off one by one? And why?

3) THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT by Agatha Christie

Christie used a similar sleight of hand in this book published previously to THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD - but no one seems to have noticed. Certainly this book didn't approach the notoriety that TMORA did.

When a daring young woman takes a sea voyage in search of clues to the identity of the man in the brown suit, she finds adventure, romance and intrigue. Not to mention, kidnapping and murder.

Note: I could easily fill this list with books by Agatha Christie alone since she was the Queen of Surprise Endings, but I'll restrain myself.

4) GARBO LAUGHS by Elizabeth Hay

Hay is a wonderful Canadian writer whom I discovered by accident and boy am I glad I did. GARBO LAUGHS is the story (more or less) of Harriet Browning who, denied her fair share of movies as a child, now indulges herself in daily movie-thons to the exclusion of everything else, i. e. reality and her family.

What happens when a woman would rather be watching movies than living life? Wait and see.

The ending comes out of left field and left me shocked, but bemused and sort of glad.

5) PASSAGE by Connie Willis

A doctor and a group of her students are studying the scientific effects of near death experiences at a labyrinthine hospital.

This sci-fi story, by the incomparable Connie Willis (thank you yet again Nancy Pearl for introducing me to Willis) contains one of the most shocking events I've ever happened upon in a book. Actually, this twist occurs in the middle of the story, but its effects reverberate for the rest of the book.  In the end you still can't quite believe what happened. So I'm including it in this list because it is such a cataclysmic thing - story-wise.

I know I'm building it up, but trust me, you will NEVER see this coming and once it does, you may put the book down and walk away.

I did, for awhile. Then I came back to see what happened next. Willis is a very daring writer.

I am not ordinarily a sci-fi reader and this book is not really what you might think of as sci-fi, but I don't know what else to call it.

6) BY A SLOW RIVER by Philippe Claudel

A retired policeman obsessed with the long ago murder of a young girl recounts a grim narrative of life as it was lived in his small French village during WWI.  Does one murder matter when just a few miles away, young men are killing each other over a few yards of muddy ground?

The unflinching ending will surprise and dismay.

7) A QUEER KIND OF LOVE by George Baxt

Pharaoh Love is an openly gay NYC Detective. He gets along because the higher-ups and his mates at the cop shop admire his flamboyant knack for catching murderers. His arrest record is unmatched.

The idea of an openly gay homicide cop is a bit far-fetched considering these books were published in or around 1994, but Pharaoh Love is one of Baxt's best creations and if you've never read any of the gritty, razzle-dazzle Love books, I recommend them. This one especially has quite a surprise ending which may or may not leave you smiling.

George Baxt was also the author of many mysteries which involved Hollywood stars and/or celebrities helping solve crimes. i.e. THE WILLIAM POWELL AND MYRNA LOY MURDER CASE. To see a complete listing of all Baxt's books, please check here.

8) ETHAN FROME by Edith Wharton

A grim story of forbidden love in a cold and harsh New England setting. Ethan Frome is a man who married the wrong woman and lives to deeply regret it when love in the form of his wife's young and lovely cousin comes to stay.

The ending, not what you'd expect, is still ghastly.

9) BRAT FARRAR by Josephine Tey

Eight years after a 13 year old boy named Patrick Ashby 'committed suicide' - his body was never found - he turns up again to claim an estate. Or does he? Patrick's twin brother says the young man calling himself Brat Farrar is an impostor, but the rest of his family accepts him.

10) PLOT IT YOURSELF by Rex Stout

A series of brutal murders is set in motion when a book organization which represents authors and publishers hires Nero Wolfe to stop what is obviously a lucrative swindle involving an especially egregious form of plagiarism.

Whodunit will shock you.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Want To Re-Read.

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the gals at THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH. Each week there's a new topic and a new list to work on. Don't forget to check in to see what books other bloggers are talking about today.

If you read this blog you know that I re-read my favorites all the time, most especially vintage mysteries, i.e. Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and others. But I also re-read all my favorite classics as well. So finding books I want to re-read that I haven't already, was a real struggle.

But I've managed to come up with ten that for one reason or another, I haven't re-read yet, though I definitely plan to.

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Top Ten Books I Want To Re-Read:

1) THE OLD SILENT by Martha Grimes

Actually this is one of my favorite Richard Jury books in the series - perhaps my number one favorite - (I even own a signed copy) but I've always been afraid that if I re-read it, I'll find fault. Richard Jury (love that name!) is such a melancholy character. I do wish one day Grimes would write a happy ending for him. But that's just me, I suppose.

2) SHADES OF GREY by Jasper Fforde

Oh definitely need to re-read this one, if only to grasp more of the detail in this tale of a world (sort of like ours) in which most of the population can only see in shades of grey. A departure from Fforde's Thursday Next books.

3) LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde

The second in the Thursday Next, Literary Detective, series set in an 'alternate' reality. Fforde has such an inventive and quick witted mind that his books can't possibly all be grasped in the first reading. Especially when the story is chock full of fantasy, puns, literary allusions and brief detours inside the actual pages of a book, oh, and occasionally a bit of time travel.

4) WELL OF LOST PLOTS by Jasper Fforde

The third in the Thursday Next books. Same reason as above.

5) SOMETHING ROTTEN by Jasper Fforde

The fourth in the Thursday Next books. Same reason as above and also because I want to meet up with Hamlet again. This time, Shakespeare's Danish prince is hiding out at a boarding house in the 'real' world - Swindon, Thursday Next's home town (in an alternate England). Hamlet's on the run from the Goliath Corporation which has outlawed all things Danish including Danish pastry.

6) A DIRTY JOB by Christopher Moore

Moore is another author who occasionally must be read twice if only because I'm always thinking he can't have meant that - can he? This man has a dangerous mind.

The story involves a newly bereaved father left alone to raise his little girl. Of course, this being a Moore book, the little girl just happens to be the grim reaper. What is a father to do?

7) THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr

Carr's best book. A story set in the colorful and dangerous world of turn of the 20th century New York City. (Theodore Roosevelt is one of the characters.) A person unknown has been quietly killing off his victims, though the crimes have yet to be linked. The police are stumped simply because they're not aware that serial killing exists. It's up Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or 'alienist' and his friend, reporter John Schuyler Moore to put the pieces of a deadly puzzle together.

8) MOHAWK by Richard Russo

From the back cover: "Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks."

This is Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Russo's first book. In it  he explores the lives of Mohawk's blue collar citizens in his own inimitable style, a mixture of wit and sly, precise vision. Russo is about the only 'modern' literary writer who writes stories I actually want to read.

I read this a long time ago and I think it's time for me to visit the town of Mohawk once again.

9) CRYPTONOMICON by Neal Stephenson

Such an undertaking requires a large chunk of time. But boy, will it be worth it. I loved this monumental book the first time around and am prepared to love it again. I got lost in it the first time and I am prepared to get lost in it again.

10) THE BOOK OF Q by Jonathan Rabb

You've heard me talk about this title before. It's the book that DA VINCI CODE should have been if written by a talented writer. 'Q' is a story about conspiracy in the Catholic Church - a long hidden document, you know the routine. But oh so moody and intriguing, so intelligently worked out, so well-written.