{"id":3608,"date":"2020-04-09T07:34:27","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T14:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=3608"},"modified":"2020-04-10T13:52:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T20:52:45","slug":"a-little-comfort-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/a-little-comfort-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Comfort Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we\u2019re all stuck at home, a little (or a lot) of comfort reading is in order.\u00a0 Not a re-reader?\u00a0 I\u2019ve included some newer books, and hopefully there are some authors here that are new to you as a reader.\u00a0 A great resource, should you want to read whole series in order (and why not?), is Fantastic Fiction<\/a>.\u00a0 There you can find authors with their series listed in chronological order.\u00a0 If you want to delve deeper, check out Stop, You\u2019re Killing Me<\/a>, and drill down to finding a series by occupation, location, time period or character name.\u00a0 See what awards your favorite writers have won.\u00a0 These two sites are essential to any reader.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m leaving out golden age books \u2013 because yes, I\u2019ve re-read some books by Christie, Marsh Sayers, Allingham, Tey and Wentworth countless times and they have given me so many happy reading hours through the years, but they are, hopefully, obvious. (The things Agatha Christie has pulled me through are many.\u00a0 Middle school for a start).<\/p>\n

But there are newer writers in the mystery universe\u2026you can probably find these on your kindle if not from your local bookstore at the moment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ellen Hart<\/a>\u2019s Jane Lawless series\u2026thoughtful AND funny.\u00a0 These books follow gay restaurant owner Jane Lawless and her sidekick, the flamboyant actress Cordelia Thorne, as they investigate crimes in their orbit and set things to rights.\u00a0 Great Minneapolis\/St. Paul setting, terrific characters, tight plotting\u2026<\/p>\n

Minneapolis\/St. Paul is full of wonderful writers and one of them is David Housewright<\/a>.\u00a0 I love his series featuring wealthy P.I. Rushmore McKenzie, who can do the right thing just because.\u00a0 This is one of the most enjoyable private eye series since Robert Parker\u2019s eponymous Spenser.\u00a0 Well worth reading in order.\u00a0 The first couple books are knockouts of precise narrative and great storytelling.<\/p>\n

For clever, witty, intelligent reading, look no further than Anthony Horowitz<\/strong> (Magpie Murders), <\/em>Christopher Fowler<\/strong> (Bryant & May series), and Alan Bradley<\/strong>\u2019s Flavia deLuce series.<\/p>\n

A newer writer I am smitten with, and who has a new book out this coming week, is Mariah Fredericks.\u00a0<\/a> Her now 3 book series featuring immigrant maid Jane Prescott is vivid, lively, impossible to put down, thoughtful, and a true example of take no prisoners storytelling.\u00a0 Start with A Death of No Importance.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>Also her blog is great fun – you can access it through her website.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cozies are also a great escape, and there are SO many.\u00a0 I am a huge fan of Denise Swanson<\/strong>\u2019s Scumble River series, following the ups and downs of school psychologist Skye Dennison; Elaine Viets’<\/strong> slightly subversive Shop Til You Drop series; the fun of Vivien Chien\u2019<\/strong>s Cleveland set Noodle Shop mysteries, with her cool main character, Lana Lee; Vicki Delany<\/strong>\u2019s Year Round Christmas mysteries as well as her Sherlock Holmes bookshop series; and the fun of garage sales with Sherry Harris<\/strong>\u2019s ex military spouse Sarah Winston.\u00a0 That\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg.\u00a0 If you like cozies, check out Fantastic Fiction and follow the authors mentioned, scroll to the bottom, and find others in the same vein.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also enjoyed books about WWII recently \u2013 finding a great variety of tone and difference in approach.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge topic, so it makes sense there a huge number of ways to approach it.\u00a0 Just coming out is Cara Black<\/strong>\u2019s Three Hours in Paris, <\/em>a ticking clock thriller about a resistance fighter after a failed attempt at assassinating Hitler; Susan Elia MacNeal<\/strong>\u2019s wildly enjoyable Maggie Hope series, featuring an American who becomes a spy for Britain after working as Churchill\u2019s secretary; James Benn<\/strong>\u2019s more serious, beautifully plotted and gripping series featuring American ex-cop Billy Boyle, who happens to be Eisenhower\u2019s nephew, and who ends up as a spy for the Allies; and Maureen Jennings’ <\/strong>nascent series about a female P.I. in wartime Toronto.\u00a0 \u00a0There are also a couple stand alones I recently inhaled \u2013 Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams<\/strong> and Karen White<\/strong>\u2019s Al the Ways We Said Goodbye<\/em>, threading war stories from different eras through the Paris Ritz; and Ariel Lawhon<\/strong>\u2019s recently released Code Name Helene, <\/em>based on real life resistance fighter Nancy Wake<\/a>.\u00a0 Lawhon\u2019s book certainly proves fact is stranger than fiction.<\/p>\n

Different time periods, but always delectable, are Tasha Alexander<\/strong>\u2019s Victorian set Lady Emily series and Rhys Bowen\u2019<\/strong>s Lady Georgie and Molly Murphy books. \u00a0I have some favorites in each series for sure but definitely read them in order.\u00a0 Lady Emily is swoon worthy, as is Rhys Bowen\u2019s hilarious, brave, and intrepid Lady Georgie.\u00a0 A newer historical series (book two comes out this summer) is Allison Montclair<\/strong>‘s Sparks & Bainbridge series, set in post WWII London (think\u00a0Call the Midwife<\/em>, but funny).\u00a0 The first book,\u00a0The Right Sort of Man,\u00a0<\/em>was one of my 2019 favorites.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the always inhalable Harlan Coben<\/strong>, one of whose better books, The Boy from the Woods<\/em>, is a newish release.\u00a0 He is a plot machine without parallel.\u00a0 I also often turn to Steve<\/strong>\u00a0Hamilton, William Kent Krueger<\/strong> and Robert Crais<\/strong>, who have given readers the gift of long, re-readable series with great central characters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And as a final amuse bouche, I recently discovered Serena Kent<\/a>, whose now two-book series is set in Provence.\u00a0 These could not be more delicious and brought to mind Michael Bond<\/strong>\u2019s delightful and much missed Msr. Pamplemousse series.<\/p>\n

And if none of those suggestions can get your comfort reading on\u2026.the ultimate comfort read (in my humble opinion) is Dorothy Gilman<\/a>\u2019s inimitable, unlikely spy, Mrs. Pollifax.\u00a0 Some of the details are dated as the world has changed but Mrs. Pollifax never disappoints.<\/p>\n

Get reading, people!<\/p>\n

Comfort reads \u2013 low stress: Ellery Adams\u00a0 \u00a0Donna Andrews\u00a0 \u00a0Lorna Barrett\u00a0 \u00a0Sarah Caudwell\u00a0 \u00a0Joanne Dobson\u00a0 \u00a0Amanda Flower\u00a0 \u00a0Dianne Freeman\u00a0 \u00a0G.M. Malliet\u00a0 Margaret Maron\u00a0 \u00a0Charlotte MacLeod\u00a0 \u00a0Sharyn McCrumb\u00a0 \u00a0Jen McKinlay<\/p>\n

Comfort reads \u2013 slight edge: Colin Cotterill \u00a0\u00a0Deborah Crombie\u00a0 \u00a0 Elly Griffiths\u00a0 Jane Haddam\u00a0 \u00a0 Naomi Hirahara\u00a0 \u00a0 Laura Lippman\u00a0 \u00a0Michael Palmer \u00a0Louise Penny\u00a0 Julia Spencer-Fleming<\/p>\n

Comfort reads \u2013 more edge: James Lee Burke\u00a0\u00a0 Lee Child\u00a0 \u00a0Ann Cleeves\u00a0 \u00a0Michael Connelly \u00a0\u00a0Dennis Lehane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we\u2019re all stuck at home, a little (or a lot) of comfort reading is in order.\u00a0 Not a re-reader?\u00a0 I\u2019ve included some newer books, and hopefully there are some authors here that are new to you as a reader.\u00a0 A great resource, should you want to read whole series in order (and why not?), … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[343,344,345,346],"class_list":["post-3608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","tag-comfort-reads","tag-cozies","tag-fantastic-fiction","tag-stop-youre-killing-me"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3608"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3617,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions\/3617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}