Author Topic: My latest read is...  (Read 186581 times)

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #270 on: December 11, 2020, 06:42:22 am »
I'm currently reading an advance copy of the new C.J. Box book DARK SKY. It's due out in March.

Hannah Adams

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #271 on: December 12, 2020, 03:06:34 am »
I'm currently reading an advance copy of the new C.J. Box book DARK SKY. It's due out in March.

You are lucky to get advance copies. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to be a book reviewer?

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #272 on: December 12, 2020, 08:55:30 pm »
I'm currently reading an advance copy of the new C.J. Box book DARK SKY. It's due out in March.

You are lucky to get advance copies. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to be a book reviewer?

A few years back I was writing for a website called Poptopia. It's long gone now but it was co-owned by a friend of mine and I wrote a variety of articles for the site dealing with music and TV.

One year, I wrote an article on my ten favorite mysteries and thrillers. When the article was posted, a PR guy for Atria Books saw the article and got in touch with me. He asked if I would be interested in reviewing a book he had available. It was the book I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes. Outside of book reports in school, I'd never done a "real" book review. But I said yes and got the book in the mail. I read it, loved it and after 2 1/2 weeks trying to craft a review that I was comfortable posting, the article went up. The PR guy couldn't believe it was the first time I'd done a review. He would send me a new book every once in a while.

Then the site was sold off/shut down and I had a review that didn't get the chance to go up before it did. But when I sent him the file of the review of Thomas Mullen's DARKTOWN, he got back to me and said it was so good that I should consider sending it to Mystery Scene. I hemmed and hawed a bit but sent it to the magazine. (I believe I sent it to Kate Stine). A couple weeks or so went by and then I had an email that said they liked the review but already had a review for the book. I was offered a tryout book to review and if it was accepted, I'd get added to the review crew for future books.

The first book that I reviewed for the magazine was Rob McCarthy's THE HOLLOW MEN. You can read that review HERE!

And I've been reviewing ever since. I love it and hope to continue for many years to come.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2020, 08:24:33 am by JRob »

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #273 on: December 13, 2020, 12:12:59 am »
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us! Sounds like it was a combination of your writing talent plus a bit of serendipity that set you on this path. Must be fun to have a career that "requires" lots of reading. :-)

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #274 on: December 13, 2020, 12:16:22 am »
I'm reading the second book in Tracy Clark's Chicago Mystery series, BORROWED TIME. I like the characters and it's fun to travel familiar streets. Makes me a little homesick for Hyde Park!

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #275 on: December 13, 2020, 08:28:50 am »
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us! Sounds like it was a combination of your writing talent plus a bit of serendipity that set you on this path. Must be fun to have a career that "requires" lots of reading. :-)

While I might have some small talent with stringing words together, let's not forget I have an editor (Teri Duerr) who makes sure the words are concise and in the right order. She Rocks!

And there's a whole heaping helping of luck involved with how I got to be part of the Review Crew.

But getting the ability to say that I'm a paid professional writer, even tongue-in-cheek, is a nice thing.

The one regret I have is that my mom died before that first review was printed so she never got to see the magazine with my review printed in it. She would've loved it. She was my editor on all the Christmas letters that I would write for my niece when she was a kid.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #276 on: December 13, 2020, 09:29:02 pm »
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us! Sounds like it was a combination of your writing talent plus a bit of serendipity that set you on this path. Must be fun to have a career that "requires" lots of reading. :-)

While I might have some small talent with stringing words together, let's not forget I have an editor (Teri Duerr) who makes sure the words are concise and in the right order. She Rocks!

And there's a whole heaping helping of luck involved with how I got to be part of the Review Crew.

But getting the ability to say that I'm a paid professional writer, even tongue-in-cheek, is a nice thing.

The one regret I have is that my mom died before that first review was printed so she never got to see the magazine with my review printed in it. She would've loved it. She was my editor on all the Christmas letters that I would write for my niece when she was a kid.

Aw, I'm sad your mom didn't get to see your reviews published. I'm sure she would have been very proud of you!

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #277 on: December 15, 2020, 04:19:05 pm »
Forgot to mention that I finished Sharon Fiffer's HOLLYWOOD STUFF - A Jane Wheel Mystery. She has written at least four other books in this series. I'll check them out.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #278 on: December 15, 2020, 04:37:20 pm »
I finished reading A TINE TO LIVE, A TINE TO DIE. It's the first book in Edith Maxwell's Local Foods Mystery series. You can check out what I thought of it over on Goodreads.com.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #279 on: December 15, 2020, 05:56:20 pm »
I read that and liked it. I think I've all of hers except the Quaker midwife series now.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #280 on: December 16, 2020, 04:00:03 am »
I read that and liked it. I think I've all of hers except the Quaker midwife series now.

Have you got her two Lauren Rousseau books? They were originally published under the name Tace Baker but this past summer they were republished (with new editing and cover art under Edith's own name. I have both versions.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #281 on: December 17, 2020, 12:36:56 am »
I read that and liked it. I think I've all of hers except the Quaker midwife series now.

Have you got her two Lauren Rousseau books? They were originally published under the name Tace Baker but this past summer they were republished (with new editing and cover art under Edith's own name. I have both versions.

I knew I was forgetting something. No, I haven't read these, and I want to. So the new releases are available now? I'll tell my husband to add them to my "wish list."

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #282 on: December 17, 2020, 04:29:27 am »

I knew I was forgetting something. No, I haven't read these, and I want to. So the new releases are available now? I'll tell my husband to add them to my "wish list."

Yes they are available under the Edith Maxwell name. The Tace Baker versions are out of print, I found my copies of those on eBay.

Edith told me to read the new versions instead of the older ones, they've been newly edited and I believe updated a bit. They came out in July and August.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #283 on: December 20, 2020, 07:55:34 am »
I finished reading an advance copy of the new C.J. Box book that's due out in March. It is called Dark Sky and it is from his Joe Pickett series. I haven't submitted my review of it yet though so I can't say much other than I liked it.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #284 on: December 21, 2020, 10:27:28 pm »
I've been on a reading binge. Having trouble finding the Christmas spirit right now - I didn't put up a tree, but I did finally put up some Christmas decorations. In the meantime, I'm working on my waiting-to-be-read pile. I just finish book 8 in Nancy Warren's Vampire Knitting Club mysteries - unusual to find a vampire series that is cozyish. I like this one a lot.

I also just read Tess Gerritsen's THE SHAPE OF NIGHT. It's a ghost story and a mystery with a touch of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. I've read Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles books, and none of them prepared me for this. It's dark and parts of it are scary. I love the descriptions of the heroine's hefty Maine Coon cat (29 pounds). When she moves in to the summer rental, she describes opening his cat carrier as "releasing the kraken." The erotic scenes weren't especially graphic, just unexpected.

I've read a couple books this year that featured ghosts. I've never come across any kind of apparition but I'd say I'm open to the possibility of ghosts. Certainly I've visited places that gave me the creeps. In particular, this one: https://hockinghills.com/members/The_Ridges.html

Have any of you had close encounters of the ghostly kind?