My Favorite Authors/Books

I love to read.  I’m always reading a book.  I can’t imagine going to bed without reading before I turn out the lights, at to which my wife and kids can attest.  Some people find the thought of reading a 400 or 500 page book daunting.  But if you find the right book, it can grab you and pull you in just like a good movie or TV show.

Reading is a great way to unwind, relax and free your imagination. 

In an effort to help spread the joy of reading, here is a list (in no particular order) of my favorite authors/books:

Authors:

 John Sandford – Sanford writes thrillers and he has two different series of novels, as well as a few standalone novels.  The Prey series revolves around Lucas Davenport, a cop in the Twin Cities.  There are currently 26 novels in the series.  You absolutely don’t have to read them in order (I haven’t), but if you do, you can see how Lucas’s character develops over the course of the novels.  Sandford’s other series revolves around Virgil Flowers, a cop in rural Minnesota.  There are currently 8 novels in the Flowers series, with a 9^th due out this fall.  I’ve read all of them and while I liked some better than others, there isn’t a bad book in the bunch.

Michael Connelly – Like Sandford, Connelly writes thrillers and he has two different series of novels, as well as a few standalone novels.  The main series revolves around LAPD detective Harry Bosch.  The 19^th book in that series comes out this fall.  His other series revolves around The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller.  Some of you may have seen the film based on that first novel, starring Matthew McConaughey.  There are currently 5 novels in that series, though Mickey shows up as a minor character in the Bosch books, while the opposite is also true.

Jo Nesbo – Another thriller writer (do you see a trend here?)  The majority of his novels revolve around Harry Hole, a police detective based in Oslo, Norway.  Hole is an alcoholic, so the novels often delve into some of his personal demons while he at the same time tries to deal with solving murders and catching bad guys.  It’s Nordic crime fiction, similar to Steig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy – only better.

Dennis Lehane – He writes mysteries.  He writes thrillers.  He writes historical fiction.  He’s the author of the books upon which several movies were made – Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island.  Most of his novels are set in and around Boston, though there are some exceptions.  Six of them feature two Boston-based private eyes (Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, as featured in Gone Baby Gone), while others are standalone novels.  His opus is probably The Given Day, a sprawling, 700+ page historical fiction novel set amidst the 1919 Boston Police Strike and a flu epidemic.  He’s yet to write a bad book.  If you’re reading the Kenzie-Gennaro novels, I recommend reading them in order because the relationship between the two main characters evolves over the course of the novels.

Lee Child – He’s the author of the Jack Reacher novels.  Reacher is a retired MP/current drifter who seemingly always gets involved in “one guy against the world” situations and comes out on top due to his superior intellect and brute force.  Some of these novels are a smidge far-fetched, but they are always an entertaining read.

Scott Smith – He’s only written two novels (13 years apart) but they were both excellent.  The first was A Simple Plan, which was made into a 1998 movie starring Bill Paxton and Bill Bob Thornton, though (as always) the book was better.  Three men find a crashed plane in a rural area that has millions of dollars in it.  They decide to keep the money, which leads to a number of moral dilemmas, lies and murders.  The Ruins, which was also made into a film, is a story of some young couples who stumble across something terrifying while visiting ancient ruins on a trip to Mexico.  Stephen King called it “the best horror novel of the new century” when it was published in 2006.

Michael Sears – He has written four novels that revolve around a convicted white collar felon and his autistic son.  There are thriller elements in each of the novels, but each also has a personal story between father and son as they learn to navigate a difficult relationship.  Black Fridays was the first in the series and you need to start there to get the background of the two main characters before reading the subsequent novels.

Books By Other Authors:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – A story about books, friendship, and a makeshift family in Nazi Germany during World War II.  This one of those books that I probably would have never read if it hadn’t been recommended to me.  The plot description on the book jacket seemed boring, but it’s an excellent read.  You get attached to the characters and, I’m not ashamed to admit, this is the first book that ever made me cry.  You may have seen the movie and, while it was a solid adaptation, the book is better.

City of Thieves by David Benioff – While Benioff is most known for his screenplays, City of Thieves is a historical fiction/coming of age story/black comedy set in Leningrad during the German siege of the city in World War II.  The two main characters are sent on a wild goose chase for a carton of eggs and a number of adventures occur from there.  This is another book that I probably wouldn’t have read without a specific recommendation, but it was a great read.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – A sprawling book set over a couple of decades and primarily occurring in Afghanistan, it’s the story of friendship, guilt, betrayal and redemption.  Hosseini has written some other good novels since, but this one is still my favorite of his.

That’s probably enough for now.  Hopefully, those of you who aren’t readers or who haven’t read these authors or novels will check these out.  If you do, you won’t be disappointed.  I’d also love to hear about your favorite authors and books – maybe you can help me discover some new things to read.

As always, thanks for reading.