Best of 2006

Overall, I read 106 books in 2006, 102 of which were mysteries. I always say I'm going to read more "regular" fiction and read some non-fiction, but I rarely seem to get around to it. However, I am reading a non-fiction item right now: Michael Korda's Making the List, which is subtitled "a cultural history of the bestseller." He goes through decade by decade and looks at what the best books of each year were according to Publishers Weekly. It's good for odd factoids if nothing else....for instance, in 1949, three of the top ten non-fiction books were about canasta. Hmmmmm.

I also am waiting for a copy of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals to become available at the library. We're starting up one of those "what if all the freshmen read the same book" programs and this was on a list of possibles and looked quite interesting.

Looking ahead at mysteries in 2007 - there is a series I recently ran across by David Hewson, set in present day Rome. I thought I had the first one checked out, but realized it was the second one. Am a bit compulsive about reading series in order, so it was put aside.

Looking back on the year just ending...

The best "new to me" mystery series that I read in 2006:

Carol O'Connell - Mallory series

Nancy Pickard - the Jenny Cain series and the Marie Lightfoot series

Barbara Cleverly - Joe Sandilands series


The ten best mysteries read in 2006, in no particular order:

Louise Penny, Still Life

T Jefferson Parker, The Fallen

Greg Iles, Blood Memory

Jan Burke, Kidnapped

Lee Child, The Hard Way

Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh

P J Tracy, Snowblind

Karin Slaughter, Triptych

Stephen White, Kill Me

Michael Connelly, Echo Park

Best non-mystery fiction read:

Anita Shreve, A Wedding in December

Hope McIntyre, How to Seduce a Ghost (British chick lit with a light mystery element)

Jennifer Weiner, The Guy Not Taken