Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

Little People, Big Dreams is a wonderful series that has encouraged young girls to dream of bright futures.  The series has bravely taken Anne Frank as one of its subjects.  This is a tough one because, of course, Anne does not live to be an adult who can achieve her dreams.  Emphasis is placed on her diary and her wish to be a published author, something that did happen.

This entry is more somber; the illustrations are in black and white with the exception of the diary, which appears in color.  The basics of Anne’s story are told in an honest way.  The story of Anne is a tough one for children to learn but such an important one.  This book is a good way to begin the difficult conversation.

#AnneFrank #NetGalley

This book caught my eye when I was browsing in my local Barnes and Noble yesterday.  The story of a couple, who fall in love and are lighthouse keepers with limited contact on the mainland, is an emotional read.  How each copes with their inability to have a child, their relationship and the consequences of their choices makes for a good women’s fiction read.  Some blurbs below:

“[Stedman sets] the stage beautifully to allow for a heart-wrenching moral dilemma to play out… Most impressive is the subtle yet profound maturation of Isabel and Tom as characters.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The miraculous arrival of a child in the life of a barren couple delivers profound love but also the seeds of destruction. Moral dilemmas don’t come more exquisite than the one around which Australian novelist Stedman constructs her debut.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“This heartbreaking debut from M L Stedman is a gem of a book that you’ll have trouble putting down”—Good Housekeeping

The book was made into a film starring Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbinder.  I would recommend reading the book first although I enjoyed the movie.

The second book that caught my eye was this.  I enjoyed this novel when I read it.  Set during wartime, it traces the lives of a group of female characters who are left on the homefront.  Their lives and relationships intersect with all of the pettiness and depth that make living in a village the experience that it is. The author was influenced by her own family stories in writing this novel.   Blurbs below:

“The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir sinks you deep inside the rich, intricate atmosphere of an English village in the middle of war, when quiet lives are upended and secrets unravel. With her unforgettable characters and vivid narrative, Jennifer Ryan creates the kind of wartime novel that plays out over the intimate territory of the human heart—full of soul, full of hope. You’ll be thinking about this book long after the last page turns.”
— Beatriz Williams, New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers and The Secret Life of Violet Grant

“World War II in an English village seen through the eyes of the most delicious cast of characters you’ll ever meet—The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir is a masterpiece of secrets, misdirection, village gossip, and gleeful disregard for anything but the main chance, as the Home Front learns to carry on. Seldom do you find a writer with such a deft touch—Jennifer Ryan sweeps the reader along to the very last page in a remarkable debut. “
— Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series

Happy reading!

This excellent collection of mystery short fiction is published by Poisoned Pen Press and No Exit Press. It honors the tenth anniversary of CrimeFest, a festival that I would love to attend. Profits from the book benefit the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

There are many reasons to purchase this book. One of the best reasons is the quality of the authors who contributed to the anthology. To name a few of my favorites, there are contributions by Simon Brett, Kate Ellis, Sophie Hannah, Ian Rankin and Lee Child.

Two of my favorite stories were Moses and the Locked Tent Mystery by Ann Cleeves and Crime Scene by Kate Ellis. I have long adored both series written by Ann Cleeves, one set in England and the other in Scotland. What fun to read a story by her that was set in an African safari camp. For her part, Kate Ellis writes mysteries that feature Wesley Peterson as the detective. His good friend, an archaeologist, is also involved and the novels take place in both the past and present. Again, her story was not like her books. It features a mystery writer at a conference and what befalls him…uh-oh.

I am generally not a big short story fan, preferring full length novels. However, these stories are helping to change my mind. Highly recommended!

If it has a *, I have read it.  What about you? There are just so many on the list that I have yet to read.

*Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Hannibal by Thomas Harris

Psycho by Robert Bloch

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

*Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Soulmates by Jessica Grose

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

Shelter by Jung Yun

Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen

The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

Coma by Robin Cook

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Wild at Heart by Barry Gifford

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry

The Girls by Emma Cline

At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón

The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood

The Conformist by Alberto Moravia

High Rise by J.G. Ballard

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Are there books that you wish were here? 

A * indicates that I read the book.  Which ones have you read?

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

*An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama

First to Die by James Patterson

*Report for Murder by Val McDermid

Assumption by Percival Everett

American Tabloid by James Ellroy

Last Days by Brian Evenson

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Pop.1280 by Jim Thompson

The Caveman’s Valentine by George Dawes Green

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

Nineteen Seventy-four by David Peace

Drive by James Sallis

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

The Martian by Andy Weir

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

Pattern of Recognition by William Gibson

The Eight by Katherine Neville

The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

It by Stephen King

This is the perfect gift book for riders and those who love horses. Some of you out there may well want to make this book a gift to yourself.   Many disciplines including dressage, show jumping, polo, carriage driving, eventing, and others are described in this lush book.  The importance of the bond between horse and rider is emphasized with the author describing horses as animals who are eager to please.  The reader can dip in and out of the book, reading about the horse encounters they most love or they can learn about new disciplines and sports.  The photographs throughout are stunning.  Highly recommended for horse folk! Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto for this one.

The Lord Peter Wimsey series is one of the glories of the golden age of mystery writing.  While this is not my favorite of the series, it is still worth a read.  This one follows Harriet Vane, an important character in the series.

I think that I may have already blogged on this one.  It is good women’s fiction, light and entertaining.

*Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre

*The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes

*And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes

Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson

*The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick

Orient Express by Graham Greene

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton

The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani

He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond

Killing Floor by Lee Child

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

Out by Natsuo Kirino

Tell No One By Harlan Coban

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafan

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John LeCarre

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

Okay, so this is the first 50 or so.  If people out there are interested, I will type out the rest so let me know.

Here are the books that were chosen by Signature: I am starring the ones that I have read.  Which have you read?  Which do you recommend?

Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

*The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammet

*Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Talented Mr. Ripley/Ripley Under Ground/Ripley’s Game by Patricia Highsmith

*In the Woods by Tana French

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

The Shining by Stephen King

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

The Annotated Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Enduring Love by Scott Spencer

The Widow by Fiona Barton

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Strangers by Dean Koontz

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

*Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

Dead Letters by Cait Dolan-Leach

Payment in Blood was the second in the Inspector Lynley series, following A Great Deliverance.   I read this the year it came out, which I think was in the late 80s.  This is a  traditional mystery and one that I enjoyed very much.  The reader gets to know Lynley and his Sergeant Barbara Havers, along with Helen, all of whom are characters with recurring roles in the series.  I highly recommend this one.  I have thought about re-reading it for years.

From Library Journal