It’s that time of year again when every magazine, newspaper and newsletter offer suggestions on summer reading. So why should this blog be any different?
Summer is the perfect time to spend some time vacationing or just relaxing. Sit in the sun, lie on a chaise poolside, rest by the ocean or a lake, or under the shade of a tree, sip a cool drink, and read a book—hard cover, soft cover, audio or digital.
Mysteries remain one of the most popular genres for summer reading. Why? Because they entertain us. They also engage our intellect in a satisfying manner. Romances provide us with a happy ever after ending, good escape reading. If you like reading for enjoyment, it’s the way to go.
Lots
of good summer reading on the bestseller list.
However, there are excellent authors who write for small independent presses and provide us with quality fiction but don’t get as much publicity because they are not with the big publishers.
For
adult readers, I suggest my mystery novel
Death Promise, a romantic mystery thriller published by Encircle and available on Amazon and other booksellers in both print and ebook editions. Also from Encircle is my latest mystery, Blood Family, my 5th Kim Reynolds mystery.
For
readers of young adult fiction I suggest WITCH
WISH from Black Opal Press, also available from most booksellers.
Intrigue Publishing is offering my adult romantic mystery THE INHERITANCE as a free read on Audible.
If
you enjoy historical romance, I suggest SINFUL SEDUCTION from Luminosity, set
during the American Revolution, or HIGHLAND HEART, historical romance set in England and the
Scottish Highlands in 1745 at the time of the second Jacobite Rebellion.
Helene Wecker’s THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI, a very original historical fantasy set in New York in 1899. A sequel has just been published and I look forward to reading that as well.
For mystery, I can recommend several novels.
BAIT AND WITCH by Angela M. Sanders features a librarian who comes into her magic abilities. I especially enjoyed the clever humor. A sequel will be published soon.
THE GHOST AND MRS. McCLURE by Alice Kimberly was the first in a series of haunted bookstore mysteries—also clever and entertaining.
A mystery thriller I
just read and consider well-written is
THE QUIET GIRL by S.
F. Kosa, a first novel.
For those who enjoy
short story collections, I recommend SMALL CRIMES IN THE BIG CITY by Steve
Slavin. If you liked Seinfeld, you’ll love this clever book.
For non-fiction, I recommend MARCEL’S LETTERS: A FONT AND THE SEARCH FOR ONE MAN’S FATE. This is a powerful and touching real-life book.
Each of the books I’ve recommended are ones I have read and reviewed in Goodreads.
There are many fine writers who should be added to this list. As a reader and/or writer are there any authors and/or books you would like to recommend for summer reading?
You are most welcome to recommend your
own books as well so others will become aware of them!
Hi Jacqueline, I love summer reading and have been hard at it this summer already. I highly recommend these cozy mysteries: Cheryl Hollon's Draw and Order, Debra H Goldstein's Four Cuts Too Many, Anna Gerard's Peaches and Schemes, and Terry Ambrose's Treasure Most Deadly. Nancy J Cohen recently released 2 box sets (3 books each) of her Bad Hair Day Mysteries books 1-3 and also books 4-6. I've reviewed all those books (Except Nancy's set 4-6 which I'm currently reading and enjoying) on BookBub, Goodreads, and Amazon and highly recommend them. My latest release is a culinary cozy so there's lots of cooking and sleuthing going on. Shrimply Dead is book 3 in my Seafood Caper Mysteries. Happy Summer Reading everyone!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all this of this current information! Maggie, congrats on your latest release.
DeleteThanks for sharing your reading list, Jacqueline. I just finished another Spencer Quinn Chet and Bernie mystery. It's great a great lighthearted mystery, full of laugh-out-loud humor. I'm also reading Sherlock Holmes of BAKING Street, a collection of Holmes pastiches, essays, withe a few recipes thrown in. It also included my first Holmes short story. Thanks also for the reminder that summer is the time to relax and enjoy the outdoors!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention the title of Quinn's book: Tender is the Bite.
ReplyDeleteLove the title!
DeleteGreat blog, Jacqueline! I'd like to suggest my novel THE TICKET for your readers. It's a mystery/thriller about a lottery winner whose wife and winning ticket disappear without warning. Many of my readers say it's a great "beach read." There's lots of info on my website: www.fredshackelford.com
ReplyDeleteFred,
DeleteCongrats on the new novel!
Your topic is close to my heart, Jacqueline. I've enjoyed summer reading all of my life, and I associate summer with many great books, like Gone With the Wind, Desiree, Dinner at Antoine's, all of Agatha Christie's books. I've just read The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian.
ReplyDeleteSaralyn,
DeleteThanks for stopping by and making suggestions.
Like most of us writers, I never stop reading, regardless of the season. I just finished OCEAN PREY, John Sandford's latest in his Prey series. Terrific as usual. And I recommend STEEPLEJACK, by A.J. Hartley, which isn't new. The copyright is 2016. But the writing is exceptional, in my opinion. I'll definitely look for more from this author.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you'd like a thriller, try THE WOODSTOCK MURDERS, my latest novel, available from Amazon and Black Opal. I've had quite a few requests for a sequel so I must have done something right. Thanks, Jaqueline, for the opportunity to plug one of mine.
James, thanks for telling us about your thriller. And I also enjoy reading John Sandford's novels.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and God's blessings
PamT
Thank you, Pamela!
DeleteHello Jacqueline - thanks for the suggestions. I just finished Jane Jordan's WISHT HALL, a multi-genre novel with great atmospherics, characters and plot. Your readers might also enjoy my international thriller, RAINBOW VINTNER, (the story of an American exchange student who gets involved in figuring out whether a series of bombings n France that kills key government officials was the work of right wing extremists or jihadist terrorists) or THE FENCERS, (my memoir of helping a Romanian fencer defect to Canada at he 1976 Montreal Olympics where I represented Canada in epée fencing). Both are easy, fun reads and I am told hard to put down. Thanks, and my very best wishes, Geza
ReplyDeleteGeza,
DeleteYour books sound very interesting. Thanks for telling us about them.
Thanks, Jacqueline. Meaty information here.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you, Sharon.
DeleteHi, Jacqueline, I always enjoy your interesting blogs; this one no exception. I'd like to suggest my favorite historical cozy mysteries for summer, or anytime, reading; the Juliette Abbott Regency Mystery Series by yours truly, Marilyn Clay. I'm currently at work on book 9 of the series. This one takes place in the small English village of Martindale in the early 1820s. All of the Juliette Abbott Regency Mysteries are set in English villages with Miss Abbott as the clever sleuth. Murder On Marsh Lane, Murder At Montford Hall, and Murder In Middlewych are a few of the previous titles. All are available as ebooks and in print from most every major online bookseller. Loyal fans tell me they cannot wait for the release of my next Juliette Abbott mystery! As an author, I love hearing that! 😊 Enjoy!!!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn,
DeleteI love Regency romance. I know yours are very well-written. Thanks for letting us know about the latest books you've written.
Hi Jacqueline,
ReplyDeleteFor those of your readers who might want to 'cool off' in the sweltering summer temps we've been experiencing I'd like to suggest the my The Bartered Body, an historical mystery set in 1890s Pennsylvania. Sheriff Syl Tilghman is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a body from a funeral parlor in the midst of a record blizzard. As always in this series, there's plenty of eating, church-going and romancing. Available from Amazon, B&N and other major booksellers. Oh, and thanks for the opportunity to mention the book.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI love historical mysteries. They combine the best of history and mystery. Congrats on your latest novel!
Hi Jacqueline,
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest my new romantic mystery, BUZZ KILL? With a bossy mother, a deteriorating Los Angeles apartment, and a love life going nowhere, magazine writer Toni Carey's childhood memories of caring for her uncle's beehives lead her to the bucolic citrus town of Loma Vista. But a bludgeoning, a murder, and a hot Sheriff's detective have more than the bees buzzing.
Relax in the shady town of Loma Vista - this is the first in series.
Kate,
DeleteSounds like a perfect summer read.
Hi Jacqueline, I love the Inspector Brunnetti mysteries by Donna Leon, but I also offer up a mystery of my own. Through Dark Water involves a school teacher with PTSD and her niece taking a kayaking trip off the Pacific coast of Canada only to be confronted by a dead whale and a dead body...
ReplyDeleteKaren,
DeleteYour novel sounds very exciting!
I liked your summer reading suggestions, Jacquie. Thank you. I recently enjoyed reading The Inferno Collection again. It is my favorite Kim Reynolds novel. I recommend it very highly.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am gratified that you enjoyed The Inferno Collection enough to reread it. I wish the Kim Reynolds series was available in ebook formats so more readers could discover the series. As it is now, only the last book is available in that format, BLOOD FAMILY. But I think it's even better than The Inferno Collection.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome to recommend your own books as well so others will become aware of them!
ReplyDeleteHi! I am Oma, and my amazon page is
https://author.amazon.com/books
I think the great recognition of a writer's work is to see his/her books in a movie!
While I'm growing old I like more and more historical and spiritual movies. I keep reviewing Yunus Emre, a lot of japonese and indian hystorical movies. Thank you for letting us to introduce our works on your blog.