Perfect Fall Reading: 12 Mystery Series I Want To Start

We got lucky to see some beautiful fall colors on our trip to Colorado last week.
(More pictures here and on Instagram!)

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a freebie! I think some bloggers love the freebie weeks but not me; I'm really horrible at coming up with my own topics for these things (props to the clever ladies at The Broke and the Bookish who supply them week after week!). Since I'm in a bit of a fall mood -- it was only in the 60s here in Ohio on Monday and I put out some autumn decorations and plan on slurping down at least one pumpkin spice latte this week -- I decided to talk about mystery series that I hope to start.

There's just something about the briskness of fall -- snuggling under a blanket with a warm cup of coffee while the leaves blow off the trees outside, the days getting shorter, the pumpkins, the digging out of jackets and sweaters, Halloween -- that makes the idea of curling up with something a little bit scary seem really appealing. I already read a few mystery series but there are soooo many more I'd like to start. Below are the 12 at the top of my to-read list.

I included six cozy mysteries and six thrillers. Which do you prefer? The older I get (or the more I read?), the more I prefer the serious, edge-of-my-seat, read-with-all-the-lights-on mysteries over the mellow genre ones. There are a few cozy series I'm devoted to (the Lady Emily mysteries by Tasha Alexander, for example, and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books, which, by god, I will keep suffering through 'til the end!) but I so often find them cheesy. The cozies on my list are more historical than topic-specific (i.e. amateur sleuths who work at yarn stores, tea shops, bookstores, libraries, cupcakeries, etc., etc.) so I'm hoping they'll satisfy my craving for light but not overly twee reading.

Have you read any the series on my TBR list? What's your favorite mystery series? 

The Cozies:

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache // Maisie Dobbs

Hercule Poirot // Lady Julia Grey

 Her Royal Spyness // Amelia Peabody

The Thrillers:

Dublin Murder Squad // Charlie Parker

 Inspector Lynley // The Murder Squad

Harry Bosch // Inspector Ian Rutledge

Monday Musings (Back in Ohio... Sniff, Sniff)

Highlights of the week: Well, just about the entire week was spent in my home state of Colorado, hanging out with my family and adventuring in the mountains, so it was ALL a highlight! We hiked to Lost Lake, a beautiful secluded mountain lake, with my parents last Sunday (pictures here), and Jarrod and I drove up to the summit of Pikes Peak and spent two fabulous days in Rocky Mountain National Park. We even got to see some fall colors -- as well as two black bears and tons of elk!

(Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park)

(One of four huge elk bucks we saw.)

(Dream Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park)

(Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park)

Reading: I finished up "Rubbernecker" by U.K. author Belinda Bauer and totally loved it. It's about an anatomy student with Asperger's who stumbles upon a possible murder. I enjoyed this mystery so much that I'm planning to read the other two books by Bauer available in the U.S. Now I'm reading "The War of the Encyclopaedists" by Christopher Robinson and Army vet Gavin Kovite. I haven't gotten too far, but I'm intrigued. It's about two friends who keep in touch via a Wikipedia page when one of them deploys to Iraq.

Knitting: I didn't take my knitting on our trip to Colorado and I haven't had time to knit since we got home Saturday. My fingers are itching for some yarn! Before we left I started working on the first sleeve of my BlueSand Cardigan. I hope to do a lot of knitting this week -- and catch up on DVR recordings at the same time!

Watching: Jarrod, my mom and I went to see "A Walk in the Woods" at the theater. It's based on the awesome travel memoir by Bill Bryson about his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. (Here's my review.). The book was better, of course, but we all enjoyed the movie.

Eating: We enjoyed some of the famous donuts at the summit house on Pikes Peak, along with a warm cup of cocoa. If you ever go up Pikes Peak (via the road or the cog railway), you must get a donut. It's obligatory.

Wearing: My new Pura Vida bracelets, handmade in Costa Rica! I'm hoping to post photos soon. (P.S. If you happen to look at the site and decide you have to have some of these awesome bracelets, you can get 50% off your order and I get a $10 credit if you follow this link!)

Looking forward to: Putting out some fall decorations! It'll warm up later this week, but yesterday was only in the 60s here in Ohio and it put me in the autumn spirit (so did enjoying my first Starbucks pumpkin spice latte of the season!). For the moment, burning a fall-scented candle will have to suffice.

I Judge Books By Their Covers: "The Little Paris Bookshop"

 Hello, my name is Lindsay, and I judge books by their covers.

Confession: I always judge books by their covers. A book's appearance -- from the artwork to the font to the colors to the texture to the weight and cut of the pages (I like the ragged-edged ones) -- is very important to me. And there are certain kinds of covers I like and certain ones I'd never pick up unless I was already planning to read the book. It's fascinating to see how covers change between editions -- hardcover and paperback, or U.S. and international -- and it's so fun to see who prefers what!

 U.S. // U.K.

German ("The Lavender Room" -- the original title) // Czech ("Lavender Room")

My review of "The Little Paris Bookshop" (3 out of 5 stars)

This is a tough one. If I had to choose one of these books based purely on cover art alone, I'd pick the U.S. edition. I pretty much like everything about it: the pretty font, the lovely colors, the postcard with the cute book stamp, the Eiffel Tower in the background. Everything about that cover screams "This is a book for Lindsay!" The U.K. cover is just about as great as the U.S. one -- it's also really eye-catching and I like the font, the curlicues and the awesome book border.

The German and Czech covers are definitely not as attention-getting as the U.S. and U.K. ones. The German one could use a little more going on, and the Czech cover has a really ugly font and is also just a little dull.

But! I think the U.S. cover is misleading and that actually factored into my overall disappointment with the book. The U.S. cover -- and the U.K. one to a degree -- are lighthearted, whimsical, cheerful and fun. In reality, the book isn't exactly that. And the plot isn't even really about a bookshop -- a somewhat more important part of the story is a "lavender room," as in the original German title (and some of the other international editions).

If I could create a better cover for this book -- one that's beautiful and accurate to the story -- I'd start with the German cover, which features lavender flowers and a white table, both important to the novel. Then I'd slip a letter into the picture and change the font to be more like the U.S. version (still in shades of purple, though).

Do tell, which cover speaks to you? Have you read "The Little Paris Bookshop"? Which cover do you think best reflects the novel?

Winner on looks alone: U.S. cover
Winner when factoring in accuracy to the story: German cover

10 Book Series I Need To Catch Up On

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is actually 10 finished series I need to complete, but there are only two series I'm in the process of reading that are finished, so here we have 10 series I need to catch up on! There really aren't that many of these either -- it turns out most of the series on my radar are ones that I'm hoping to start soon. (There are a gazillion of those!)

Do tell: what book series are you behind on?

Finished series:

 Eragon // Sookie Stackhouse
I read the first book in the Eragon series a few years ago and loved it! Somehow I just never got around to the rest. And I've read the first five books in the Sookie Stackhouse series (and, though it seems to be completely unrelated, I've seen the whole "True Blood" TV show).

Ongoing series:

 Chet and Bernie // The Lunar Chronicles
I've read the first books in both of these series and plan to read the rest. I own several Chet and Bernie mysteries that I've picked up secondhand, and I'd like to get caught up on The Lunar Chronicles before the finale comes out in a few months (but, let's be honest, it ain't happenin'!).

 

The 5th Wave // Harry Dresden
Another two series where I've just read the first book. I recently listened to the first Harry Dresden book, "Storm Front," on audio and enjoyed it, so I'll try to get the audiobook for "Fool Moon" as well. 

 

 Outlander // Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
I read and loved the first Outlander book several years ago (and I adore the TV show), and I'm up to book four of Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series.

 

Miss Peregrine // The Passage
"The Passage" -- a vampire/zombie post-apocalyptic thriller -- was one of my favorite books of 2013, but I still haven't read book two of the trilogy! That's ok, because the release of the final book keeps getting pushed back.

Monday Musings (from Colorado)

 

Highlight of the week: We're in Colorado visiting my parents for the week and it's been so nice to see them and enjoy the absolutely stunning scenery of my home state. On Sunday we hiked to Lost Lake, a beautiful turquoise lake tucked high up in the mountains. We definitely noticed the altitude change -- it was a fairly short and easy hike, but we were huffing and puffing! (More pics on my Instagram!)

Reading: Last week I read "The Book of Speculation," which was a pretty cool book that earned four stars (review to come one of these days). On the flight I started a book I've been waiting for the library to get forever -- "Rubbernecker" by U.K. author Belinda Bauer. It's about a super-smart medical student with Asperger's who notices something fishy going on with the cadavers. So far, so good!

Knitting: I didn't have much time to knit this week, but I did get started on the sleeve of my BlueSand Cardigan. I've had such a good time working on an actual garment that I already bought a pattern for my next cardigan!

 Watching: We got caught up on the first two episodes of "Fear the Walking Dead" and I'm totally into it! It's totally different from the regular "Walking Dead" as it deals with the beginning of the zombie infestation and it's actually way more terrifying. We were a little skeptical before we started watching, but Jarrod and I both like it so far.

Eating: If you ever have a chance to eat at Rudy's BBQ, do it!!!! We first discovered Rudy's when we were stationed in middle-of-nowhere Del Rio, Texas, and it was pretty much the only good thing about living there. Now there's one in Colorado Springs -- yay!



Looking forward to: The rest of the week here in Colorado! Jarrod and I are going to drive up Pikes Peak and head up north to Rocky Mountain National Park. And we're going to see "A Walk in the Woods" at the theater with my mom. And of course I'm going to enjoy spending as much time with my family as possible -- I usually only get to see them once or twice a year so it's a treat! :)

Book Review: "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George

"The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George
First published in the U.S. in 2015
370 pages plus recipes and extras
My rating: 3 out of 5
Image from Goodreads

Quotable Quote:
"Whenever Monsieur Perdu looked at a book, he did not see it purely in terms of a story, minimum retail price and an essential balm for the soul; he saw freedom on wings of paper."

The Short Of It:
Le sigh. I had such high hopes for this book, but I actually struggled quite a bit to get through it. It redeemed itself toward the end, but sadly, it wasn't my favorite.

The Long Of It:
Reading certain books feels like slipping into a comfortable, welcoming, cozy hideaway. I feel invested in the characters, I'm dying to know how their story turns out, and I keep coming back for more -- even if it means staying up way past my bedtime. Other books are a fight and a struggle to get through, and I'm very disappointed to say that the majority of "The Little Paris Bookshop" was that way for me.

Monsieur Jean Perdu owns the Literary Apothecary, a unique bookstore housed in a boat that floats on the Seine, and he has a talent for knowing exactly what book a person needs to fix what ails him. He lives alone in his sparse Paris apartment, owns three identical sets of the same outfit, has no real friends other than a pair of cats who frequent his bookshop, and puts together the same 50,000 piece jigsaw puzzle over and over. He used to be vibrant, happy and alive. But 21 years ago, something happened to poor Jean Perdu that caused him to stop living and become a shell of a human. Books have become his comfort, his companions, his escape and his life.

That book-centric plot certainly sounds intriguing and I fully expected this book to be one of my favorite reads of the year, but I just could not get into the story. I had to force myself over and over to pick it up and read. The last 50 pages were the best of the book -- not only because it was ending, but because our characters finally stopped being moronic idiots! One of the problems I had with the book was the characters doing things that didn't make sense on top of being not very likeable. I despised Manon (the most selfish character on the planet, for most of the book), Jean's lover from two decades ago whom we get to know through her journal entries. And there were just so many annoyingly unrealistic scenarios. Who rides horses naked?! (That sounds highly uncomfortable!) I'm pretty sure that telephones existed in 1992. Looking at you, Manon! The romances were sickly-sweet and pretty far-fetched (if there's a man as puppy-dog devoted and gentlemanly as Jean Perdu, I'd like to meet him!). There are more spoiler-y things that I won't mention so as not to spoil things, but suffice it to say I think I had a hard time becoming involved in the story because the characters' actions were not always realistic -- and perhaps Jean and Manon were too flawed to relate to.

I think things were bad from the start because of the misleading cover -- and, by the way, I love this cover. But the curly-cue handwriting, the colorful book stamp, the pink clouds and the antique streetlamp led me to believe the book would be far more charming and quirky than it was. I expected it to be the Paris version of "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry." Wrong! While it did have its cute and cheery moments, I found it to be far more often depressing, irritating, infuriating and sad. The title is misleading as well. The original German title is "The Lavender Room," which ties in much better to the story. Only the first part of the book is set in Paris, and while there is indeed a bookshop, it is definitely not the star of the story (that would be our pitiful Jean Perdu and his quest to regain his sense of self).

Another issue I had was the writing. Nina George is clearly a talented author and her novel is filled with wonderful quotes (many about reading), but the book was translated from German and it didn't always flow well, especially at the beginning, which is part of the reason it took me so long to read this book. And some of the word choices were odd -- like saying "tummy" when "stomach" would've been more appropriate.

Though I have plenty of gripes, this was hardly the worst book I've read this year. And the premise of a literary "pharmacist" and a bookstore on a boat were both interesting and original. And I did really like one of our secondary characters, eclectic and intelligent young author Max. And all of our characters, annoying though they may have been, managed to redeem themselves at the end. It was enough to earn an ok-read 3-star rating.

I've avoided looking at other reviews for "The Little Paris Bookshop," but judging from all the hype it got I'm probably in the minority on not loving it. I don't want to dissuade you from reading it -- but please know that the cover and title are not really accurate descriptions of what lies in these pages! Maybe if you're not expecting something as lighthearted and delightful as I was, you won't be thrown off by the more serious topics that the book delves into.

10 Book Characters I Just Didn't Click With

Today for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, we get to talk about characters we didn't get along with. What a lovely opportunity to vent some of my dislike! When I was looking through some past reviews to compile this post, I noticed two things: I have a hard time clicking with characters in YA books, and I really overuse the word "likeable"!

Do tell, are there any characters you had a hard time connecting with?

From my review: "I found Allyson to be kind of annoying, needy and weak-willed throughout pretty much the entire book... not to mention clingy and obsessive and extremely naive. I had to keep reminding myself that the point of the book was Allyson's revolution -- she had to recognize and shed those traits to become a new person in the end. But really, I spent most of the book just wanting to take her by the shoulders, give her a good shake and tell her to let Willem go!"

From my review: "So why on earth should we feel sorry for Allison? I could not relate to Allison's decisions, and because she was so gratingly whiny and full of excuses and convinced that she was the only one competent enough to manage everything, I wasn't able to muster any empathy or compassion for the hole she dug herself into."

Ugh. I hated everyone in this book! As a military spouse, I was completely disgusted by the reactions the main character's family had to her deployment to Iraq. "Not clicking" is an understatement!

From my review, on the 12-year-old daughter: "At the beginning of the book she passionately pleads with Jolene not to humiliate her by going to her school's career day. Throughout the book, Betsy persists with this kind of maddening behavior. I call BS."

From my review, on the (total ass of a) husband: "Jolene's husband has never supported her military service, feels emasculated by her strength and independence, is not proud of her for serving her country, is angry at her for deploying and leaving him to care for their two daughters, and is complete jerk about the whole thing. Apparently, her continued service has caused him to fall out of love with her, and he tells her so right before she heads off to spend the most dangerous year of her life in Iraq. " 

Apparently I hated everyone in this book too!

From my review: "I didn't really like Cadence, with all her whining and naivete. I didn't really like the snobbish, over-dramatic and petty nature of the old-money Sinclair family. I didn't really like the annoying made-up names like Mirren and Taft. I didn't even like Gat, the only down-to-earth character."

From my review: "Despite the fairly interesting story, the fascinating Civil War atmosphere and the stellar writing, I had a really hard time connecting with Constance. Even though she was admirable in many ways, Constance wasn't very likeable. And I never really cared what happened to her; the most I could muster was mild curiosity over whether she'd make it home alive or not."

We get to know Manon, the main character's former lover, through her journal entries. I despised this selfish, have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too character. We can't all be wild and free and follow our heart's every whim regardless of who we hurt. What makes her so special?

From my review: "Even Laura herself comes off as whiny, mean and obstinate, especially in her younger years, and it was hard to muster sympathy for our main character, despite her pitiful lot in life. Doctor Howe was the worst, written as a misogynistic, egotistical jerk whose real interest in Laura was as a religious experiment in his fight against Calvinism."

From my review: "'At times I had trouble identifying with Alice -- she was just so incredibly naive! And Alice's extremely rapid descent into addiction seemed a bit unrealistic to me -- as did certain plot elements, like Alice peddling LSD to a 9-year-old."

I don't remember exactly why I had a hard time relating to June, but I do know I never really warmed up to her.

From my review: "Something about Jio's writing style bothered me, and I also didn't love June, our protagonist. It reminded me a little bit of 'You've Got Mail,' but not as good."

From my review: "While I really liked and admired Hazel and her boyfriend Augustus, I don't think we would have been friends as teenagers. They're just a bit too... existential and philosophical and self-possessed, which is quite possibly an inevitable side effect of having cancer at 16. But I think that's part of the reason the novel didn't resonate with me as much as it did for others."