October 2017 Newsletter
Hi all,
Welcome to October, and the October newsletter. Last month was pretty cool as I listed book series on OrderOfBooks.com that get extremely little traffic. I heard from a lot of you who tried out authors and series based on that list so that was pretty cool. Hope some of you discovered a new series that way!
Hope everyone had a good September when it came to reading. I did something new this month that I’d never did before – read a book side by side with my wife!
We sat down and read the short story I’m Not Sam by Jack Ketchum. That was a lot of fun – it’s a very disturbing book and one that leaves you really thinking. Just completely messed up. Always loved Ketchum and I really need to read more of him.
It was also pretty great doing that with my wife – was so fun being able to talk about it throughout. There was one part where she said “Oh my God” and then literally 30 seconds later I read what she read and said the same thing. We’re going to try and make that a weekly thing – pick some short stories to read and just sit down for a couple of hours and do that.
I also read The Long Walk by Richard Bachman(aka Stephen King). I bought this book about 5 or 6 years ago after first reading The Hunger Games and searching for similar books. It’s been sitting on my Kindle forever and I’ve been craving some King lately so decided to give it a go.
For those who have never heard of it – there’s an annual competition featuring 100 teenagers. They walk. And walk. And walk. Until one remains and that person is the winner. The other 99? If they slow down too much(or stop altogether) they’re killed.
It was actually the first novel King ever wrote(although it wasn’t published until a bit later on in his career). It went like every King novel I’ve read so far – the first two thirds of the book was fantastic, and it starts to peter out after that end slumps into a poor ending.
I have limited experience with King(this is only the 4th non short story book of his I’ve read) however every single one so far I’ve enjoyed right up until the last portion of it. It just seems to me that King can never write satisfactory endings.
I was reading reviews of the book afterwards and people were trying to theorize what the ending was about. While some books have ambiguous endings to get you talking – this one really just felt like a cop out for me.
To end the month, I started the new Harlan Coben standalone, Don’t Let Go. I aimed to start it last night in bed and read for about 20 minutes and next thing you know it was an hour later! Pretty sure I’ll be done with that one in a day or two.
Thanks to everyone for their mailbag comments last month. There were some amazing comments and I always appreciate you taking the time to write to me and express your thoughts and share your experiences. I truly do appreciate it.
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 Sue from Merrimack, NH and Teresa from Washington, DC. Both of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.
On that note if you’re Denice from Merced, CA and your e-mail address starts with wd, please e-mail me. You won the Kindle Paperwhite Giveaway from August and I’ve e-mailed you a couple of times but haven’t heard back. We’ll have to pick another winner soon!
Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com
Book Recommendations:
In this section I give 4-5 random book recommendations. They can be old books, they can be new. But either way – I recommend you read them if the type of genre they are in appeals to you. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to site@orderofbooks.com as many of the suggestions each month are from our readers. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: It’s October and if you’re into Halloween, this is one book you should read. The carnival rolls into town bringing Halloween to Green Town, Illinois one week early. The carnival has one goal which is to destroy every single life which is touched by the strange and sinister mystery. This is Bradbury at his best, and if you’ve never read this one yet then be sure to. It’ll end up becoming a Halloween Tradition for you as well!
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne: Andrew Mayne is an incredibly talented and versatile author, and he demonstrates that with The Naturalist. It features the socially awkward professor Theo Cray. Theo is able to see patterns in a situation where others see chaos. Mutilated bodies are found in the woods. The cops are looking for standard clues however Theo is able to spot something they missed – something unnatural. This is an incredible book and HIGHLY recommended.
The Foreigner by Stephen Leather: Originally known as “The Chinaman” but as they were making a movie about it, they decided that wasn’t too PC these days so renamed it. The movie comes out this month starring Jackie Chan. Stephen Leather is personally one of my top 5 authors – be it the Spider Shepherd series or standalones like this one. It’s about a man who had killed for the Americans and for Viet Cong but finally left it all behind them. Then his family are murdered in an IRA bomb. The police aren’t helping out in regard to who is responsible – so he’s coming out of “retirement” to seek his own form of revenge. It may sound like a cliched plot but trust me – no-one delivers a story like this better than Stephen Leather.
Alone by Lisa Gardner: I find Lisa Gardner hit or miss, but her book series “Detective D.D. Warren” always delivers hits. Alone is the first book in that series and I read Find Her in August, the latest one, and wanted to recommend you give this series a try. It’s an interesting one because Warren isn’t even the main character – it’s Bobby Dodge, a police sniper during a hostage situation who takes a shot that will change his life forever. It can be a bit slow in spots but it’s a solid start to what turns out to be a great series. It’s clear Gardner really enjoyed the Warren character and it’s been great watching Warren grow from this series onwards.
10 Popular “Standalone” Authors on OrderOfBooks.com
When I look at the traffic on OrderOfBooks.com, the most popular author pages are authors with long standing book series such as James Patterson, Louise Penny or Lee Child.
This month I thought I’d look at authors who write primarily standalone novels – or whom get traffic due to their name instead of their book series(Harlan Coben is one example).
I’m also going to put in parenthesis which book I’d recommend reading first from that particular author.
Danielle Steele: My mum says “The Gift”.
John Le Carre: A Most Wanted Man.
Harlan Coben: Sooo many. Six Years, Missing You or Stay Close.
Elin Hilderbrand: The Island.
John Grisham: The Runaway Jury is my personal favourite.
Maeve Binchy: Tara Road.
Agatha Christie: Then There Were None.
Lisa Unger: Ink and Bone.
Linwood Barclay: No Time for Goodbye.
Sandra Brown: Rainwater.
Book Of The Month
Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly.
Harry Bosch is back! The new Bosch novel, Two Kinds of Truth, comes out on October 31st, 2017.
The perfect book to read while sitting at home waiting for those trick or treaters to come to the door. Bosch is working cold cases as a volunteer and gets called out to a drug store where a pharmacist has been murdered – leading into the dangerous world of pill mills and prescription drug abuse.
However an old case also comes back to haunt Bosch – someone who has been in prison for years is claiming Bosch framed him, and has the evidence to prove it.
Bosch is one of the most popular book series on OrderOfBooks.com – pre-order this one or get started on the series today with “The Black Echo”.
Your Thoughts:
Last month I asked you what you were reading, had read, and what you’re going to read next. The feedback is later in the newsletter.
This month I am asking a nice and simple one – where do you buy or get books?
Do you wait for the books to become available in your local library? Order online? Head to your local bookstore?
Back when I read physical books, I used to have a ritual for any new books. I’d head to my bookstore on release day as soon as it opened at 9am, pick up the book then head for an eggs benedict breakfast at a local cafe while I started the book. Even if it cost a few bucks more in store as opposed to online – I always enjoyed that tradition.
If it was an older book I’d head to the local library, or to a thrift store. Was always fun just going there and browsing for books and picking one at random.
Now it’s not the case for me. I read on my Kindle and I order 100% off Amazon. It’s just so much more convenient and cheaper – although i do miss that tradition. Heck even if I’m at a thrift store looking at the books – if I see one I like I pop on my phone and purchase it off Amazon! But that’s digital books for ya.
Where do you get books from?
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
I always start by checking our library, that includes handheld books, Overdrive, Hoopla, etc. print or audio. I always have a few audio books on my phone or ipad to listen to for driving. If I can’t find it there I go to Amazon, usually paperbacks or audio. The only time I buy new books (only paperbacks) is at Indie bookstores. I love visiting little independent book stores wherever I am. I do prefer reading handheld books rather than on a reader, but I commonly do both.
Thanks very much for the feedback. 🙂
Waiting is not my strong suit …😳 I follow numerous online sources (Audible.com, BookBub, OrderofBooks.com, etc) as well as the library’s Book Page circular to keep my “wish” list totally up to date. As soon as I know a new book is coming out, I get on the wait list for it at my library. I read both Glass Houses (Louise Penny) and Enemy of the State (Mitch Rapp) the same week they came out! When necessary, I supplement with audible.com. I have to watch my money, and I read a LOT of books, so if at all possible, the library is my first choice. Incidentally, my local library just introduced a new digital service – Hoopla – that has over 600,000 titles, many of which are unabridged audibles. Oh my, I am in heaven 😇. No waiting, 21-day checkout, no late fees, don’t have to leave my house to pick them up. Oh, did I mention FREE???
So my really long answer to this month’s question is: wherever I can get it the cheapest and fastest.
Thanks for the feedback 🙂 That’s nice you’re able to get on the wait lists and get those books right away. Yeah Hoopla is an excellent service. Love that libraries are adapting to this century.
I’m still into holding the books I read. Every time I read on kindle app I just can’t get into it. Which is sad because I have some books on there that I think I’d enjoy.
Thanks for the feedback 🙂 You said you tried the kindle app – have you tried an ACTUAL kindle? I find there’s a world of difference. If not maybe try and borrow one.
Yes, I had one of the first kindles. And the one thing I did like was that I could touch a word and look up definition quickly. And I have read books on kindle, I just get more enjoyment out of the physical book. I know weird right? I think if audio were not so expensive with most kindle books I might listen while I am working around the house. I love your website, use it often. And your newsletter is great, thanks for all the work you put into it!