September 9, 2021

I'm still reading!



I haven't been posting at all.  If you're still curious about my life and what I'm reading, you can follow along via IG, @janprytz.

What are you reading?

May 3, 2021

March and April, 2021 Month Reads





Some of these authors are on my FAVORITES list.  You can never go wrong with Jussi Adler-Olsen, Mark Greaney, Mick Herron, Olen Steinhauer, or George Pelecanos; in my humble opinion!

If you like noir, you'll love An Honorable Man.  I normally don't recommend Chick-Lit, but Finlay Donovan is Killing It was great.  

I highly recommend Wonder Vally, Waiting for the Night Song, and The Night Always Comes.  

Mary Jane has been added to my list of favorite books! It's a great coming-of-age story set in the Rock and Roll '70s, and there's a heap of humor thrown in, too.


What are you reading?

March 13, 2021

January and February 2021 Reads



I'm really good about reading, just got great about blogging about it!  All of these 16 books were great, with one exception, "How to Pronounce Knife", which just wasn't my cup of tea.

I'm slowly reading the Dept. Q books by Adler-Olsen, they are so wonderful.  I love a series that the characters become familiar, but the stories are each different and engaging.

You can't go wrong with any of the rest of these.

 

What are you reading?

January 1, 2021

November and December 2020 Reads


Nov

89

Hunted

Arne Dahl

90

The Last Scoop

R. G. Belsky

91

From the Ashes

Jesse Thistle

92

The Kingdom

Jo Nesbo

93

The Law of Innocence

Michael Connelly

94

Winter Counts

David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Dec

95

Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart

96

The Purity of Vengeance

Jussi Adler-Olsen

97

The Marco Effect

Jussi Adler-Olsen

98

Burnt Sugar

Avni Doshi

99

Big Sky

Kate Atkinson

100

The Heat Wave

Kate Riordan

101

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

Laura Imai Messina

102

Dogs of Winter

Kem Nunn

This miserable year ended great, reading-wise.  I found a "new to me" author, Jussi Adler-Olsen.  He writes a Danish detective series.  The two books I read were outstanding and I've ordered the rest of the series.  Expect to hear me rave about the series in 2021.  

Two of these books are must-reads, Shuggie Bain and The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World.  Be sure to put them on your reading list.  Suggie Bain won the Booker Prize.  Frequently I'm not impressed with the winners, but this time I whole-heartedly agree.

I also really enjoyed Winter Counts and Dogs of Winter.  Winter Counts is about modern Native American life and Dogs of Winter is about the California surf culture.  Both good reads.


What are you reading?

September and October 2020 Reads



More great books for these two months.  The best reads were by Nesbo, Le Carre, Enger, Penny, Backman, Donoghue, Butcher, and Dahl   They are great authors and never disappoint.

What are you reading?

July and August 2020 Reads



I've really fallen behind keeping up with this blog.  I've decided to do 2-month reports, in order to catch up.  June and July were great months for reading.  There's not one bad book on this list.  I started reading Ake Edwarson's Swedish police procedurals, and they're the best.  Also, you can never go wrong with Connelly, Winslow, Butcher, or Nesbo.

What are you reading?

July 3, 2020

June 2020 Reads


June 42 Olive The Lionhearted Brad Ricca
43 Frozen Tracks Ake Edwardson
44 Bear Necessity James Gould-Bourn
45 Wanderers Chuck Wendig
46 Death Angels Ake Edwardson
47 Pretty Things Janell Brown
48 Even the Dogs Jon McGregor
49 Bikeman Thomas F. Flynn
 
There are two books on this list that I don't recommend, Pretty Things and Even the Dogs.  The rest were great. 

Olive the Lionhearted is a great biography.   It reads like a novel, which makes it an easy read.

Two more Inspector Winter novels by Edwardson.  I've been sparsing them out because I don't want the series to end.  I think there's two or three more.

Bear Necessity is a delightful debut will be published in August, keep your eyes open for it. It's filled with delightful characters and it's heartwarming and uplifting - what we all need.

Wanderers is a humdinger of a book! Not my usual read, it's sci-fi, and at almost 800 pages, it was very long, plus there was a pandemic! The writing was sharp and the storytelling was tight. It was hard to put down

Bikeman ~ I read this epic poem in 2008, when it was first published. Then, I thought it was the best thing written about 9/11, and I still agree.  I intend to re-read it more often, even if my heart breaks every time. 
What are you reading?

June 12, 2020

May 2020 Reads



Another great month for reading.

May 34 Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan
35 The Summer Book Tove Jansson
36 An American Spy Olen Steinhauer
37 Paris Never Leaves You Ellen Feldman
38 The Last Tourist Olen Steinhauer
39 Odd Partners Anne Perry, editor
40 Sun and Shadow Ake Edwardson
41 Never End Ake Edwardson

Alright!  This month is different, I'm not going to do mini-reviews, I'm just going to tell you all these books were wonderful, except Crazy Rich Asians.  Read them all, with that one exception!
What are you reading?

May 31, 2020

April 2020 Reads



April 25 The Dreamers Karen Thompson Walker
26 Stateway's Garden Jasmon Drain
27 The Yellow Bird Sings Jennifer Rosner
28 The Tourist Olen Steinhauer
29 Poems To See By Julian Peters
30 Frying Plantain Zalika Reid-Denta
31 Nearest Exit Olen Steinhauer
32 Sing to It Amy Hemple
33 Savage Son Jack Carr

The quarantine and "stay-at-home" orders didn't really affect me.  My reading didn't increase because I read at night and sew/quilt during the day.

Stateway's Garden by Jasmon Drain is brilliant.  It reads like a memoir; it's a series of stories telling about life for children in the projects in Chicago.  They deal with crushing poverty, violence, and crime.  This is their world and Drain is a great writer.

The Yellow Bird Sings is a fabulous debut novel about the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter.  They are hiding from the Nazis during WWII.  Read it!

This month I started a spy series.  The Tourist is the first of the Milo Weaver novels.  It was great and I'm going to read them all.  Olen Steinhauer has some stand-alone novels, and that's how I became hooked on his writing.  All the Old Knives was a favorite, and The Tourist is just as good.

Poetry isn't high on my list, but I did enjoy Poems To See By. Peters has illustrated classic poems, manga-style.  It's like reading a poem in the Sunday Funnies!

It's no secret that I really enjoy a good spy/thriller, and Savage Son fits the bill.  It's the 3rd in the Terminal List series.

What are you reading?

April 20, 2020

March 2020 Reads


16 When Will There Be Good News? Kate Atkinson
17 One Minute Out Mark Greaney
18 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Holly Jackson
19 The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Ken Philippe
20 The Night Swimmers Peter Rock
21 Bones Never Lie Kathy Reichs
22 The Dime Kathleen Kent
23 That Left Turn At Albuquerque Scott Phillips
24 Europa Blues Arne Dahl

Another good month for reading.  When I read anything by Kate Atkinson, Mark Greaney Kathy Reichs or Arne Dahl, and I'm a happy camper.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a murder mystery full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect.  I really enjoyed it.

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, is a wonderful YA novel.

The Dime is a gritty crime novel.  It's also a debut novel.  I liked enough to order the 2nd in this series.
What are you reading?

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