Friday, July 23, 2010

Alright...help.

I tend to read a lot of series books, so I find myself reading a lot of books, but they all come from a handful of pretty well known authors. On the current list, I have J.D Robb, Lee Child, Janet Evanivich, Iris Johanson, Tess Gerritsen, David Baldacci, and the occasional John Grisham among a few others. I also have some Jeffery Archer and Jeffery Deaver books I haven't gotten to on the shelf. Pretty much though, I can picture how my bookshelf is laid out and tell you what authors I read because they are all lined up by series.

I want to branch out though, and find some not as well known authors that might be just a bit different that what I normally read. So, from the whole almost handful of people out there that pop on here, what do you recommend?

4 comments:

seana graham said...

You do know that I'm a bookseller, don't you?

I could recommend tons of branching out stuff, but I'll just throw in a couple for now. This year, I've discoverd Sophie Hannah, who's a Brit who writes crime fron the point of view of women and domestic life. Not cozies, though--more like the grand master or mistress of this kind of stuff, Ruth Rendell. The one I've read so far is The Wrong Mother, but there's a lot more where that came from.

I also discovered this rather crazy French series by a woman named Fred Vargas. She's written this very offbeat Parisian detective team. Chalk Circle Man is the first, but I didn't start there, so I don't know that it matters so much.

And this reminds me of Donna Leon, who writes a great series about a detective in Venice. Even though Venice appears corrupt, you are still going to want to go there after reading enough of these. Her first one is Death at La Fenice.

You could also read Laurie R. King, a national name, but based right here in Santa Cruz county. She has a historical series that centers around a female assistant to the retired Sherlock Holmes, and a contemporary series that centers around a modern day police woman.

Oh, yeah, what about Dennis Lehane. His early series with a male/female detective duo starts I think with A Drink Before the War.

Hope that helps. If you're wanting something that isn't a crime novel, well, that's a different discussion.

Glenna said...

Seana,

Yep, which makes you a prime target for my question. Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them out when we get back from the Dr. Pepper Museum. I'm thinking that historical series would be pretty interesting since historical fiction is getting to be right up there with crime fiction...which is 95% of what I read. I'm looking forward to checking out authors from other countries too. If McKinty is indicative of what authors around the country are like it should be interesting.

seana graham said...

Glenna, I can't remember if I've seen you cooment over at Peter Rozovsky's blog Detectives Beyond Borders, but there's a wealth of information there if you're looking for international crime fiction. As a matter of fact, his most recent post is about Declan Hughes, who I'm on a bit of a jag about myself. I think you'd want to start with the first book, The Wrong Kind of Blood though, rather than the one he's reviewing.

Glenna said...

Seana,

Nope, I've popped over once or twice following a link, but I've never really read or commented. I'll check it out sometime and see what he has to say.

I'll check out Declan Hughes too.