June 2018 Newsletter
Welcome to the June newsletter! Hope everyone had a good May. The weather in Canada here is starting to get better with some lovely days although there’s still been a few bad ones.
For example every year I participate in Ottawa race weekend and 2 years ago, the race was almost canceled due to a heat wave and it was crazy hot. This year? The race was potentially going to be canceled due to thunderstorms and rain!
However for the most part the weather has been beautiful and I’ve spent many a day just sitting on my front porch, basking in the glow of the sun and reading away on my Kindle.
One thing I’ve came to appreciate over the past month is the talent in writers such as Lee Child, Alex Berenson and Mark Greaney. These are authors who are generally able to release quality novels in a book series year after year. A couple of Childs have been disappointing but not poor and really it takes a great talent to write these books and fine tune the character while keeping the reader interested.
I was thinking about that as I have struggled lately with authors in that genre. A few characters that I’ve been turned off by recently:
Jericho Quinn: First book was great then the plots started to get ludicrous.
Orphan X: .First book I’d give 10/10 and highest recommendation. Could barely finish the 2nd one and I’ve owned the 3rd one for months yet haven’t been able to bring myself to read it.
Will Robie: I started off really loving this series however “The Target” was awful. It felt like it switched target markets to young adults and it went at way too fast a pace with too much packed in there. Honestly I felt insulted reading it.
Gabriel Allon: Please don’t send me hate mail for this one! I know he’s one of the most loved characters but I read three books and while I did enjoy them, The Confessor and vatican storyline I just felt was dull and put me off. I’ll give them a try again sometime I promise!
But that’s okay – every cloud has a silver lining and it just made me think and truly appreciate those authors who continue to bring out quality books year after year. One character in that genre I find people are never familiar with is Spider Shepherd – this series is written by Stephen Leather and is one of my favourite book series ever.
Quick personal note here – I got chatting to an author whose books we recently listed on our sister site BookSeriesInOrder.com. His name is Bill Wenham and his story is fantastic. He’s in his 80s and just recently started writing. It’s basically a life long dream for him that he’s put into reality. He’s written mostly “Inspector” novels and I believe all of them are available on Kindle Unlimited.
I’d love it if you could take the time to try one of his books out. I love hearing stories like this from authors as I know how hard it is for people to put themselves out there like that and have their work open to criticism.
I just finished “In the ‘Nick’ of Time!”, the first book in the Inspector Bruce Mysteries by Bill and have to say I enjoyed it. It’s one of those books where you could really feel the writers passion. So here’s his complete listing of books – please take the time just to give one a try!
Each month we give away 2 prizes to 2 random subscribers of $25 each in the form of Amazon gift certificates. To win all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we go to hit “Publish” we take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.
Our winners this month are Lisa McK from Butler, PA and Barbara from Abingdon, MD. Both of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.
Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com
Book Recommendations:
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: I was a big fan of the Pines trilogy by Crouch and I can’t believe I put off reading this one for so long. I’m not a huge sci-fan but I loved this book and have recommended it to many people. Jason heads to the pub, leaving his wife and son at home. He gets abducted by someone and is asked if he is happy with his life, before being knocked unconscious. Jason wakes up only only to realize his life has now completely changed. His wife isn’t his wife, and his son was never born. This is a great book and if you’re in a book club it’s also perfect for that, as it’s one that will really get you talking about it.
The Stranger Within by Kathryn Croft: Long time readers will know that I’ve been hooked on all these “thrillers with a twist” books that have been coming out due to the popularity of Gone Girl and Girl on a Train. I read this one last month and it was one of the best ones – I’m now going through ALL her books. This one has two timelines. The present, where Callie is being interviewed by police after murdering someone. And the past – which is the build up to it where Callie has just married James, a widower who has two son and they hate her for trying to replace her mother.
The Dave Robicheaux Series by James Lee Burke: A tremendous mystery series by James Lee Burke that began in 1987 and is still going strong with a new book released earlier this year. The first book is Neon Rain featuring New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux who tackles the seedy criminal underworld of New Orleans. If you’re looking for a new series to get into this Summer, there are currently 21 books in this great series.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: This is an award winning novel and for good reason – it’s one of those books everyone should read. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel and is about a father and a son and their journey throughout a burned down America as they fight to survive. There was a movie made from it too. One of those books that everyone should read. McCarthy is an extremely talented writer.
June 2018 Book of the Month:
The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson:
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has grown tired of books by “James Patterson” over the years. It’s became quite apparent that he has less influence over the books over the years and that really shows in the writing.
However Patterson is still one of this generations most talented writers and you have to think he’ll bring his A game for this book he’s written with Bill Clinton.
The talent of Patterson and the knowledge of Bill Clinton should hopefully make for a great book. I know I’ll be reading it. It takes place in real time over the course of three days and is a thriller about a traitor in the cabinet – with the president being one of the suspects. Then he goes missing. This one has been on my pre-order list for awhile and I have high hopes for it.
10 Other Notable Books Being Released in June:
The Lost Continent (Wings of Fire series) by Tui T. Sutherland
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
Turbulence (Stone Barrington) by Stuart Woods
The Pharaoh Key (Gideon Crew) by Preston & Child
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris (Standalone Thriller master!)
The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware (Author of The Woman in Cabin 10)
The Woman In The Woods (Charlie Parker) by John Connolly
A Taste for Vengeance (Bruno, Chief of Police) by Martin Walker
Brief Cases (Dresden Files Collections) by Jim Butcher
The Cabin at the end of the World by Bram Stoker award winning author Paul Tremblay
Your Thoughts:
Last month I asked you what the most memorable novels from your youth were. The feedback is later in the newsletter. Nancy Drew was the clear winner with so many mentions! I actually got inspired by that and have started reading them to my daughter.
This month I am asking: what books would you recommend for a book club? Or what books are good purely for a discussion? What’s the criteria to use when deciding what is a good discussion book?
I’ve never been part of a book club myself, however for discussing books I like books that stick with you for awhile and really make you think.
My wife isn’t as big a reader as me, but at least 2-3 times per year there’ll be a book I read where I immediately get her to read it just so we can discuss it. I mentioned Dark Matter by Blake Crouch above. Another one that I mentioned a few times is I’m Not Sam by Jack Ketchum. That was a seriously MESSED UP book and it was nice to have someone else experience it with me.
I’d looked into joining a few book clubs around here but they just weren’t for me. The book lists looked like they were taken from some “100 classics you must read in your lifetime” article. Hey nothing wrong with the classics but for discussing books I prefer something meatier.
I’d also like to see book clubs incorporate more books that were made into movies. It’s fun reading a book like that, discussing it with my wife or with friends and then going to see the movie, then discussing that and how the adaptation went afterwards.
E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next months newsletter.