Best Sellers

Friday, April 24, 2015

Remaining May Titles

The last weekend before we move on to June titles is here. I will try to squeeze in as many of the remaining May titles as I can.

First, Craig Johnson has his eleventh Walt Longmire Mystery coming on May 12th, Dry Bones. 
This mixture of western with mystery with likable, fallible characters and just the right amount of humor has been very popular. It was the basis of an A&E television series that has been cancelled but Netflix is in negotiations to bring us another season. Longmire is the Sheriff of a rural county in Wyoming. When a complete fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex is found and a rancher is found drowned, others enter the fray.

Walter Mosley has the 5th in the Leonid McGill mystery series coming also on May 12th, And Sometimes I Wonder About You. McGill is Mosley's New York bases PI and his life is in chaos. His wife attempted suicide and is in a sanatorium, his father is missing, his son is involved with another case and is never around AND he has broken up with his girl friend. When an unemployed office manager comes to him with a missing person's case, McGill turns it down. Then the office manager turns up dead and McGill's office is broken into. He is forced to take on the case. Can he find the missing female and can he solve the murder?

Joyce Carol Oates, a multi-award winning author and professor at Princeton University, has Jack of Spades coming out on May 5th. It features a best selling mystery author, Andrew Rush, who unknown to everyone, is also the author of a dark and lurid series penned by Jack of Spades. He carelessly leaves one of those books lying around and his daughter discovers it and starts asking questions. Then a local woman accuses him of copying her self-published works. Rush starts have evil thoughts. Psychological suspense at it's best.

Lincoln Child has a solo novel coming out on May 5th, The Forgotten Room. It returns Jeremy Logan last seen in The Third Gate. Logan is called to  investigate a death at a Newport RI think tank. A respected member went crazy and attacked a colleague and then killed himself. Logan finds a secret room filled with evidence of a long suspended project.

Jason Matthews won awards with his debut thriller, Red Sparrow. He is back on June 2nd (am I jumping the gun with a June book? I guess I am) with the same major characters in Palace of Treason. Captain Dominika Egorova of the Russian Intelligence Service is back in Moscow, working undercover for the CIA. She gets in big trouble when her the Russian authorities discover her name on a restricted list.

OK - those are the last ones I have for you in May. I had to throw in the last, even though it is technically a June list because his first book was so very popular. Hope you find something to read. Get ready for June titles next week.








Friday, April 17, 2015

More May Titles

May is a relatively popular month for publication of titles designed for summer beach reading. Not just the big names but lots of debut authors as well as aspiring best selling authors come out with titles this month.

Anne Hillerman continues with her father's Joe Leaphorn series with Rock with Wings which comes out on May 5th. Sgt. Jim Chee and his wife, Officer Bernie Manuelito TRY to take a vacation but 2 separate cases get in their way.

David McCullough has The Wright Brothers also coming out on the 5th. McCullough, a two time Pulitzer Prize winner, takes on the story of the Wright Brothers and their dedication to flight.

Rita Mae Brown with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, gives us the 23rd Mrs. Murphy Mystery - Tail Gait on May 26th. This title has two story lines, one taking place in current time with postmistress Mary Minor Haristeen investigating a murder and one taking place during the Revolutionary War. Events in the past effect events today.

Lyndsay Faye has The Fatal Flame, third and supposedly last in the Timothy Wilde series, coming out on May 12th. This series takes place in nineteenth century New York. Someone is starting fires and Wilde has to find out who is behind it. Revenge, murder, blackmail and prostitution - it was an interesting time to live in NYC.

Alex Grecian has his 4th Scotland Yard's Murder Squad series title arriving on May 19th, The Harvest Man. This series is, obviously, a British historical police procedural mystery. Jack the Ripper is back and Sgt. Hammersmith is still obsessed with finding him to the point of losing his position with Scotland Yard. A new murderer has shown up also, the Harvest Man - who carves off the faces of his victim. Just the case for Inspector Day, a new father of twins whose in-laws will not leave.

While we are in Jack the Ripper mode, Stephen Hunter has I, Ripper coming out on May 19th. This is a re imagining of Jack's person story and of an Irish journalist who covered the case. Reviewers have loved the language and place setting of London in the 1800's. If you like historical novels and you like true crime titles - this might be just your cup of tea.

One more is John Lescroart's The Fall which arrives on May 5th. Lescroart is a best selling legal suspense author and this one is no different. Dismas Hardy is the lawyer and he is joined in this book with his daughter, Rebecca. When a young African American teen falls to her death from a San Francisco area overpass, a young middle school teacher is implicated. Rebecca becomes involved and her father joins her in the effort to find out why this young girl died and who was responsible.

Enjoy these. Next week there are still more to discuss.


Saturday, April 11, 2015

May LibraryReads Announced

The May list of the 10 titles that librarians around the country think are going to be popular came out April 10th. There were only two on there that I did not have on my list. One of those I immediately changed my mind about because it sounds.....well fascinating and the other - I really didn't change my mind but it is in the catalog.

We lead off with the biggest vote getter and it is the one that changed my mind and made me want to read it. Uprooted by Naomi Novik is described as a Grim fairy tale for adults. I haven't read fantasy in a long time but the reviews I have read about this book, made me put my name on the holds list for it. There is a bloodthirsty wicked sentient forest; a wizard and a magic wielding heroine. Sounds like a fantasy, right? It has been strongly recommended by a fantasy author I do still read, Robin Hobbs. In addition, some of the reviews have said "one of the few books this year that has managed to captivate me"; "awesome"; "will become a classic". How could you not want to read it?

Now, in no particular order are the reminding nine.

A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson. If you read Atkinson's Life After Life and loved it, then you must get your hands on this one. This one focuses on Teddy Todd, the little brother of Ursula. It skips back and forth in time as we look at things through Tedd's eyes.

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Hmmm. Dystopian fiction fans, add this book to your hold list. Here there is a very current day issue, scarcity of water. A few people have it in abundance but most have barely enough to live. The struggle of the haves and the have nots.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. This is the other unexpected entry for me. It is a romantic fantasy. A semi-literate 19 year old huntress is pulled into another world and falls in love with the faerie king. The beginning of a series. Seems to be very popular with a newly defined reading population, the 'new adult'. They generally range from early 20's to early 30's.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. If I am going to read Science Fiction, I will probably be reading Neal Stephenson. I really like his work. This one is defined as 'hard' science fiction which means to me, I glaze over those parts quickly because I don't have a lot of interest in the technicalities of how things work. People are aware that the earth is going to end. They develop plans - some going one way, some another, with supplies for a few thousand years. They plan to come back when Earth is habitable again. Reviewers are comparing it to the recently very popular 'The Martian'.

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths. This is the 7th in Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series - a British forensic anthropologist. Ruth is called in to investigate when a downed World War II plane is excavated with pilot - but discovers the pilot isn't who he was suppose to be. Cold case investigation with familiar characters.

Early Warning by Jane Smiley This is the second book in the Langdon trilogy which follows the Iowa farm family introduced in Some Luck. This title covers the period of time from 1953 until the early 1980's. Smiley, a Pulitzer Prize winning author is from the Midwest and is a great supporter of the family farm. This trilogy is in many ways, in honor of that tradition.

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton. Bolton's newest takes place in a small community on the Falkland Islands. A child goes missing - and then another - and then a third. It is hard for the little community to admit that there is a murderer in their midst. Reviewers had said; "brilliant"; "Bolton's best book yet"; and " a real page turner". Sounds like a good one.

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza. This title takes on the battle of a 40 year old cancer survivor coming back to work at a high fashion mag to find her tech savvy assistant had replaced many staff and was running things the 'new' way. Said to be funny and uplifting.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. This is Haruf's last book. He died in Nov of 2014. His titles are always looks at small town life. This is no different. This title is the story of two elderly residents of Haruf's small town Holt, CO. They turn to each other to combat the loneliness. This causes reactions from town residents and family members. Life is still life in a small town and no one depicted it better than Haruf.

Friday, April 3, 2015

May's Big Name Entries

Now it is April and we can start on the books coming out in May. There are quite a few by major authors. I know there will be something that should tempt you.

Ace Atkins' has Robert B. Parker's Kickback, part of the Spenser series, coming out on May 19th. Spenser is asked to help investigate why so many youth are being sentenced to a lock down juvenile facility for minor pranks. Of course, he finds corruption.

Clive Cussler & Boyd Morrison have Piranha, an entry into the Oregon Files series, coming out on May 26th. A German scientist on the verge of some big discovery went down with his ship during the 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee on Martinique. Now an American weapons designer has wrapped up the scientists discovery and has evil plans. One thing is his hatred of Jan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon. Things get dicey.

John Sandford has Gathering Prey coming out on April 28th. That is almost May and by the time you start to read it, it will probably BE May. This is the 25th in the Lucas Davenport series. In this title, Lucas' adopted daughter, Letty, befriends a Traveler ( a roaming group of peaceful panhandlers). Letty hears from her friend that someone is killing members of the group. Lucas and Letty investigate.

Jeffery Deaver has Solitude Creek, the 4th in the Kathryn Dance series, coming out on May 12th. at a concert on the Monterrey peninsula, someone cried 'FIRE' and people were trampled to death what the attendees tried to escape. The problem is, there was no fire and someone caused the deaths to see people respond to their fears. Now he wants to do it again. Dance, a California Bureau of Investigation agent, must find out who and where before more deaths occur.

Nelson DeMille has Radiant Angel coming out on May 26th. This is the 7th in the John Corey series. Corey has left the Anti Terrorist Task Force and returned to NYC taking a supposedly easy job with the Diplomatic Surveillance Group. When he identifies one of the Russian 'Diplomats" as a former colonel in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, he becomes concerned that something else is going on. Particularly when said 'diplomat' disappears.

Finally, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro have 14th Deadly Sin coming out on May 6th. The Women's Murder Club is back again. Paetro has been a co-author since the 4th one. All the members of the club are recovering from their last outing. Lindsay Boxer especially finds things going well - that is until she is put on the investigation of a series of crimes by a gang dressed as cops.

That is quite a variety there. Hopefully there is something for you. Enjoy!