Books of the (First) Year

Do you know what today is? It's National Book Lover's Day - and it also happens to be the day I'm celebrating a full year of this blog. Coincidence? I think not.
In honor of this day, we're supposed to tell everyone what books we're reading. So I thought I'd show you my to-be-read stack. The funny thing is, at this moment I'm not reading. I'm enjoying the anticipation of these great books. And I'm trying to decide which one to start reading first. That's a good place to be.
This year has been full of fantastic books, many of which you can find here. Over the last few weeks, I've read another big stack of books. Filling up the tank, so to speak, in order to tell you about more good reads.
Thanks for reading this blog, and for following along on my book adventures. I'll bring you more reviews, recipes, and things to think about in the weeks to come. In the meantime, I think I'll start with Broken Harbour by Tana French.
Now go read a book!

The Murderous Month of May

According to Booklist, May is Mystery Month, but really any day of the year is the perfect time to read a mystery as far as I'm concerned.
I'm often asked who my favorite authors are, and really it's impossible to nail down just one or two. So in celebration of this murderous month, I'll give you a list of my favorite mystery writers.
You may not be familiar with some of these names, but isn't that a good thing? There's nothing better than stumbling on a new series of fabulous books or an incredible new (to you) writer.
Feel free to send me your favorite mystery titles and authors, too. My reading stack is a little low.

Favorite Mystery Writers

Jussi Adler-Olsen

Hailing from Denmark, Adler-Olsen lightens the Nordic Noir genre with his world-weary detective Carl Morck, who feels like he's been put out to pasture in his new Department Q, featuring a team of just one detective (Carl) and one odd assistant.

Fiona Buckley

After a seven year hiatus, Buckley (aka Valerie Anand) has picked back up with her terrific Ursula Blanchard series. The Tudor-era detective in this case is a dead ringer for Queen Elizabeth I, a fact that makes her both a pawn and a tool for the Queen.

Ann Cleeves

Her Shetland series, featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, is engrossing and perfectly captures life on the remote Shetland islands. She has another great series that features DI Vera Stanhope. I'm diving into those books this summer.

Lindsey Davis

I'm completely in love with Marcus Didius Falco, the savvy, witty, and infuriating Roman detective that stars in Davis's 20-book series set in 70AD. I've hooked many a reader on this terrific group of books.

Dick Francis

Every single one of his 40-some mysteries involves horse racing in some fashion, and the books are always a quick read. But don't make the mistake of thinking they're shallow. There's a reason that I worked hard to put every single one of his books on my shelves.

Tana French

French's set of Irish detective novels has been heaped with awards, with good reason. They are gritty, stark, and utterly compelling. Start with Into the Woods, an absolutely incredible novel for any genre.

David Fulmer

Take the infamous New Orleans red-light district of Storyville, add the evocative time period when Jazz was just taking form, and then mix in Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr and a heaping helping of real-life crooked politicians and criminals and you have an intoxicating (and additive) brew.

Elizabeth George

I defy you to find a writer that is better at giving you fully developed and completely alive characters. I catch myself thinking of Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers as people who truly live in my world. George is one of the top writers of our era. Period.

Sue Grafton

Her alphabet series may have started out as a fun way to write a series, but the private detective Kinsey Milhone took mysteries to a whole new level. Is the series stale after so many books? Quite the opposite. I think the newest book (V for Vengeance) is one of the best in the group.

Arnaldur Indridason

Iceland is the perfect setting for crime, with a rugged and forbidding landscape as a backdrop to dark deeds. Detective Erlendur takes it one step further as a loner fighting his own personal demons.

Stieg Larsson

Unless you've been living under a rock, you don't need me to describe Larsson's trilogy to you. I'll just say: It's worth all the hype.

Peter Lovesey

You gotta love a curmudgeon and Peter Diamond, a detective in modern-day Bath, is a rumpled, grumpy, lovable guy with a nose for solving crimes.

Denise Mina

It's a man's world when it comes to detectives and police procedurals, and that's what makes Mina's DI Alex Morrow so amazing. Who else could solve mysteries and whip her squad into shape, all while pregnant with twins? A fabulous case of Tartan Noir.

Jo Nesbo

The king of Nordic Noir, Nesbo's detective Harry Hole is conflicted, afflicted, and addicted. If you like your mysteries dark and deep, this is the series for you.

Summer Anticipation

It's a rainy grey day here today, so I am looking forward to warmer days. Summer isn't actually my favorite season, but it is a fabulous time to find new books.

I just received early news about some terrific titles coming out in the summer and I thought I'd share the sneak peek with you:

• Broken Harbour, by Tana French
  An expert in suspense writing, French takes another track with the Dublin Murder Squad in this fourth book of the series. Each one offers a different look at the same group of investigators, which is a refreshingly unique way of writing a series. (In July from Viking)
• Buddhaland Brooklyn, by Richard Morais
  I loved Morais' book The Hundred-Foot Journey, so I've been looking forward to this new title for a while. Buddhaland Brooklyn is the story of Seido Oda, sent from his serene life in Japan to open a Buddhist temple in the frenetic New York borough. (In July from Scribner)
• The Painted Bridge, by Wendy Wallace
  A young Victorian woman is sent to a London asylum against her will, where she discovers that the line between sanity and madness is very thin.
  (In July from Scribner)
• Under the Banyan Tree, by Vaddey Ratner
  A fictionalized version of the author's own childhood, Banyan tells the story of a young girl and her family who are caught up in the bloody Cambodian revolution in the 1970s. (In July from Simon & Schuster)
• The Man Who Would Be Jack, by David Bullock
  A new look at the mystery of Jack the Ripper's identity, the author makes a strong case that the murderer was Thomas Cutback, who lived in Whitechapel. He fit the description, he had the means and opportunity, and the murders ceased when he died. So is he the Ripper? (In August from Biteback)

Psycho Thrillers

There is something about a good psychological thriller. If it's done right, it combines the best of mysteries with the most fascinating characters. Here are three of the spookiest that I guarantee you won't be able to put down.

The Hypnotist
by Lars Kepler
Some of the best thriller-mysteries are coming out of Scandinavia today. In the tradition of Stieg Larsson, the Swedish husband-and-wife team of Alexander and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (writing as Lars Kepler) offers a compelling and fast-paced hunt for a killer ― or two. Dr. Erik Maria Bark has sworn never to practice hypnotism again after his last session goes horribly wrong. But he is coerced into one last try when Detective Joona Linna asks him to hypnotize the sole survivor of a horrible triple murder. The 15-year-old boy is gravely hurt, and is the only witness to the crime. When the victim later stumbles out of the hospital and disappears, and then Bark's own son is kidnapped, the chase is on to unravel the mystery. Word to the wise: Don't read this one before bed. (2011 - Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

In the Woods
by Tana French
Tana French has an uncanny knack for writing such vivid characters that you miss them like old friends when you've finished reading about them. She also is an expert at writing beautiful and atmospheric words about ugly deeds. In the Woods is the story of a cold-case crime. In 1984, a young boy was found in the woods, bloodied and holding tightly to a tree. His two friends were found dead and he has no memory of what happened. Fast-forward 20 years and that boy is now Detective Rob Ryan, a man who has pushed that horrible day far out of his mind. But a new case that seems a little too close to comfort brings his own past rushing back. (2007 - Penguin Books)
Other Recommended Books by Tana French: The Likeness, Faithful Place

Bleeding Heart Square
by Andrew Taylor
In 1934 England, Lydia Langstone escapes her abusive and aristocratic husband to live with her father in a down-at-the-heels boarding house in Bleeding Heart Square. There she finds quirky and sinister characters, as well as an old legend that the devil once danced in the square itself. But it's her own family mysteries, and the disappearance of the boarding house's former owner, that really give Langstone the chills. Has evil danced back into the square, or is someone she is close to giving the devil a run for his money? (2010, Hyperion)