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<p>I liked it too. I’ve seen it listed under “humor” and I did think it funny and entertaining. Still, I teared up on occasion, which I seldom do in books. Thumbs up to the author for laughter and tears.</p>
<p>ignatius - I think I read “The Twelve” in 2 days and then was sad for another 2 weeks because it was finished. Maybe it’s time to go back and read the two books back-to-back? I hear the third installment (“The City of Mirrors”?) will be out next year.</p>
<p>Kate Atkinson is another good mystery writer - her book, “Case Histories,” was SO good. I think her other Jackson Brodie mysteries have been more erratic, although I did like “Started Early, Took my Dog.”</p>
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Happy to say they’re still in print (or most of them are, anyway). I gave some as gifts this past Christmas and got them through Amazon. Several - including my favorite, “Excellent Women” - are available in e-reader formats as well.</p>
<p>My all-time favorite light/escapist reading is the “In Death” series by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts) - futurist NYC homocide police detective frequently assisted on cases by civilian consultant/self-made billionaire husband with slightly illegal hacking skills…and just a bit of romance thrown in (but not too much)</p>
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These are also very good as audio books.</p>
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<p>Me too! (The J.D Robb series needs to be read in order.) </p>
<p>I’m also partial to Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series, but it’s fantasy and shyparentalunit mentioned she isn’t a fantasy fan.</p>
<p>The Texas Library Association compiles a list of adult fiction each year that sounds like what the OP wants: The main criteria for selecting books for the Lariat List is that they are “a pleasure to read.” The list gets released in April - books published the previous year, so 2012’s list consists of books published 2011.</p>
<p>[Lariat</a> Reading List | Texas Library Association](<a href=“http://www.txla.org/lariat]Lariat”>Current List - Texas Library Association)</p>
<p>This is a great thread. I’m compiling a list, have put myself on the waiting list at the library for the “Bernadette” book. I don’t have time to read books, but I download audiobooks from the library and listen to them on my cell phone. I “read” a couple of books a week while doing tedious housework, cooking, exercising.</p>
<p>I second the suggestions for Sara Paretsky and Elizabeth George, except that some of the more recent George books are not great. And I want to say more about the Emma Lathen books. I never hear of anyone else who has read them. The series was written by two women economists - both born in the 1920’s so this was certainly unusual. The main character is a highly placed executive in a NY bank, an older man who is a widower. There are some really great secondary characters, including his secretary. The mysteries revolve around businesses that deal with the bank. The books are light and readable and very, very witty. One of the women authors died a few years ago, and there haven’t been any new books for years. But there are at least a dozen of them and they are wonderful.</p>
<p>ignatius, thank you for linking to that list!</p>
<p>Here’s something that’s not for everyone, but that people who love historical fiction ought to know about, and will probably love.</p>
<p>Arturo Perez-Reverte is a Spanish popular novelist with a pretty good world-wide reputation. About 20 years ago, in his novel Club Dumas, one of the characters opined that Spain had suffered terribly for never having had an Alexandre Dumas. Dumas wrote really popular, action-packed historical fiction – like The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Queen Margot – that practically all French teenagers read and that gives them a basic understanding of the nation’s history and national identity. (And, by the way, if you haven’t read Dumas, or haven’t read him since you were a teenager, his books are fabulous. He had great dramatic sense, and probably would have been a very successful show runner for TV series.)</p>
<p>Anyway, after that, Perez-Reverte set out to fill the gap by writing a series of novels that would be the precise Spanish equivalent of The Three Musketeers. (Precise because the time period is the same, many of the issues – such as loyalty to the nation, vs. loyalty to a particular king or minister – are the same, the Duke of Buckingham figures prominently in the first novel, and the as-yet-unwritten final novel of the series promises a meeting between the central characters and Dumas’ musketeers.) They are called the Captain Alatriste novels, and the first one is, duh, Captain Alatriste. The central characters are Diego Alatriste y Tenorio, an aging swordsman, sometimes in the military, sometimes as a freelancer, who is basically a cross between Athos and any one of Clint Eastwood’s laconic anti-heroes, and his young protege, Inigo Balboa, who is a page of 12 or so in the first book but ages into manhood and independent agency over the course of the series. The time covered is basically the 1620s-30s, a time when Spanish power and culture was basically at its height, but Spain was poised to collapse, rotting from within.</p>
<p>There is lots of swashbuckling, and lots of romance. (A really important character is Angelica de Alquezar, the Milady Winter equivalent, who first appears as a tween femme fatale, and generally has Inigo wrapped around her finger, even as she tries, repeatedly, to have him killed.) Famous historical and literary figures wander back and forth through the stories.</p>
<p>All of the books (or maybe at this point all but one) are available in English. They are</p>
<p>Captain Alatriste
Purity Of Blood
The Sun Over Breda
The King’s Gold
The Cavalier In The Yellow Doublet
Pirates Of The Levant
The Bridge of Assassins</p>
<p>Perez-Reverte has promised at least two more: Alquezar’s Revenge, and Mission To Paris.</p>
<p>^^^ Okay, you hooked me. ;)</p>
<p>I planned to read The Fencing Master by Perez-Reverte but did not know about this series. Just checked and my local library has the books. I first have to finish Possession for the CC Book Club but definitely want to grab some of Perez-Reverte’s books. Thanks for posting.</p>
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<p>Is the main character a Wall Street guy? I think I read one of the books in the series a long time ago. You’ve got me interested–I’ll have to get one of the books.</p>
<p>Another off-the-beaten track mystery series is the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters.
Cadfael is a Benedictine monk living in England in the 12th century. Lots of English history along with a murder mystery. Cadfael entered the monastery later in life and is an herbalist and one who isn’t always in tune with the Church. People come to the monastery seeking help in solving mysteries.</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, the main character in the Lathen mysteries is a NY banker.</p>
<p>Just remembered … PG Wodehouse. These are wonderful as audio books.</p>
<p>I forgot Camille Lackberg…love her books!</p>
<p>I have what I call my treadmill books, and the mystery and detective books work well to keep me entertained. Other books, with more plot, character development, and pulling me into a different world, I save for lazy recliner or I want to be entertained reading. </p>
<p>Nanci Kincaid and Haven Kimmel both have at least one or two books I have loved.</p>
<p>I also really liked Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey and Maturin novels. Maritime adventures, similar to the Hornblower books (also really good) but more complex.</p>
<p>JHS, I’ve been curious about those Captain Alatriste books–I’m glad to hear they’re good.</p>
<p>A couple of oldies but goodies, The Egg and I and Onions in the Stew by Betty MacDonald, she of the Mrs. Pigglewiggle books but the two above are for grown-ups. Hilarious and evocative.</p>
<p>A contemporary American author who is big in England but not so much here is Douglas Kennedy. The Pursuit of Happiness is especially good, set in the New York literary world during the McCarthy era.</p>
<p>I"ve been reading the James Rollins Sigma Force series. I am really enjoying the books. The story lines are very captivating. I think there are 8 books in the series with the 9th due in March. If you like David Baldacci, these are similar. Vince Flynn is also along this line, 10-11 or so books in his series as well.</p>
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Have you ever noticed that Mrs. Pigglewiggle is essentially a dope dealer?</p>
<p>There are some books for young people that adults can like too (i.e., Harry Potter). I particularly liked some books by Garth Nix–beginning with “Sabriel.”</p>
<p>I’m totally addicted to the C. S. Harris Regency mysteries. Such fun!</p>
<p>I love O’Brien’s seafaring novels (and the hero’s aren’t nearly as irritating as Hornblower was), but they are so dense, I don’t really consider them light reading. Unfortunately they just stop without coming to any sort of satisfying conclusion.</p>
<p>John Hart - a fairly new author. Great reads: the Last Child, Iron House, The King of Lies, Down River. I’m anxiously awaiting his next one.</p>
<p>Thanks for all these suggestions–I now have a long wish list!</p>