Books 2007

[inulro]

I read 75 books in 2007. That's probably about 25 more than usual (most years I average a book a week). Oddly enough that's not entirely down to the amount of time I spent unemployed - the months that I wasn't working, or was only working part time, are not necessarily the months where I clocked up the most titles. So I aim to keep it up next year.

Since I've made the decision to keep working full time, making major inroads with the pile o'non-fiction isn't all that realistic a goal. I suspect I'll be reading a lot of crime fiction and supernatural thrillers. I would like to end the year with a smaller pile of unread books.

Are there any crime writers I should be looking out for? I read Gaudy Night in 1992 and loved it but never got round to reading any more Sayers, something I intend to rectify soon. For reference I like PD James, Kathy Reichs, John Connolly and Ian Rankin. I tried a Sue Grafton and it didn't do anything for me. I also tried a Karin Slaughter, and although I couldn't stand the characters and their drama getting in the way of the investigation, the mystery itself was seriously compelling.

Comments

[badnewswade.livejournal.com]

James Ellroy!

The man is a giant in cri-fi. Prepare to be blown away...

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Good point. I have a feeling he may not be my thing, but I always thought that about Raymond Chandler and look how wrong I was there.

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

I don't read much crime writing apart from Ian Rankin, but I really enjoyed The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh when I picked it up on holiday a couple of years ago. The main character's a Glaswegian antiques dealer, who comes across some disturbing photographs and tries to investigate their provenance. Dodginess follows.

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's a good one.

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

(apologies in advance if I've already recommended these authors, or even discussed them with you: I tend to forget who I've recommended to whom!)

If you like PD James, try Ruth Rendell (or her Barbara Vine pseudonym). Minette Walters is also good, tho' her characters/situations can be very cruel.
Val McDermid - the Tony Hill psychological thrillers or her other, lighter stuff.
Lee Childs - his Jack Reacher stories are about a guy who's like a 1-man A-Team, only less silly. Serious but good.
John Sandford. Recent re-discovery. US police procedurals with a kick.
Laurie King - historical Sherlock Holmes pastiches and modern-day San Fransisco cop crime.
Dennis Lehane - pretty much anything, tho' he has a series about a pair of (US) private detectives. One of them, 'Gone Baby Gone' has been made into a film (but it won't be released here for ages 'cos of Madeline McCann. That's the official reasoning, BTW)
Carol O'Connell - her Mallory series, about a US female detective with a serious lack of social skills, bordering on psychopathy.

Other crime authors I read last year and enjoyed: Linda Fairstein, Michael Connolly, Christopher Fowler (I tend to consider him 'horror/fantasy' 'cos of hs early stuff, but he's been writing crime recently).

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I read the latest Barbara Vine and I thought it was pretty good - I wouldn't turn away another one, but I'm not sure I'd actively seek it out.

I was wondering about Michael Connelly because his books are always next to John Connolly in the library.