The Wickeds are sharing what we’re reading this holiday season, whether holiday themed or an author or work we’ve been yearning to read. It’s not too late to grab one of these to give as a gift!
Edith: I just finished Catriona McPherson’s The Day She Died, and it’s still resonating. Nothing to do with holidays, but I’m looking at my own work in progress and trying to figur
e out how I can can deepen my characters and storytelling like she does. Then comes along Lucy Burdette’s new Death with All the Trimmings, which is actually holiday themed. And then I hope to catch up with the rest of the pile, which includes Donnell Bell’s The Past Came Hunting; the last chapter of Michael Pollan’s Cooked, which I never finished last year; and Sheila Connolly’s Under the Hill. And more!
Julie: I am really looking forward to Cleo Coyle’s latest book, Once Upon A Grind. Reading her latest has become a holiday tradition for me. I also have a stack of cozy mysteries on my Kindle, waiting for quiet time over the holidays. Binge reading is one of my favorite holiday traditions.
Sherry: I just finished reading Supreme Justice by Max Allan Collins and loved it! I’m almost done with the SinC Chesapeake Chapters Homicidal Holidays too. So I’ll be in that lovely ‘what to read next” place soon.
Jessie: I just finished reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Wow! That was a great read! It was atmospheric, creepy and heart-tugging too. Next on my list is Murder at Mullings by Dorothy Cannell. I’ve been telling myself I can’t read it until I finish my shopping and wrapping. What a great incentive! And as soon as the holiday season is over I will treat myself to my annual reading of the Lucia books by E.F. Benson.
Barb: I just finished Deborah Halber’s The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases, a non-fiction book about the dedicated volunteers who spend hours combing the internet to match John and Jane Doe remains with missing persons reports. They have had a remarkable degree of success, though it’s a sisyphean task given the millions of anonymous remains in coroner’s and medical examiner’s offices all over the country. As soon as a finished that, I started Julia Glass’ And the Dark and Sacred Night, a novel about a middle-aged man’s quest to discover who his father is. So far I am loving it.
Liz: Chiming in late, but I’m looking forward to finally reading The Drop by Dennis Lehane over these holidays. I’m a huge fan of anything he writes, and anticipate this one to be fabulous as well!
Readers: What are you reading in between wrapping and sipping eggnog?
My to-be-read pile scares me, and it’s a mix of fiction and non-fiction (I really am going to finish John Adams, which I started reading in 2002). But my comfort reading is most often cozies, and I have both Edith’s and Barb’s latest books somewhere near the top of the pile by my bed. As soon as I finish Hank Phillippi Ryan’s. And Louise Penny’s. And Tana French’s…
I know the feeling, Sheila!
I don’t have a TBR pile. I have a TBR Mountain Range. And I love it!
I’ve been reading Christmas books so far this month. They’ve included:
Death with All the Trimmings by Lucy Burdette
Silent Knife by Shelley Freydont
Mount Rainier (aka Murder on the Mount) by Sandy Dengler
The Nightingale Before Christmas by Donna Andrews
I’m actually currently reading a middle grade fantasy novel (need to take a break from the cozies every so often). Everblaze by Shannon Messenger is the third in a series, and I’m really enjoying it.
After that, I’ve got two ARCs for January releases to read. And then? Time to dive in to that TBR pile. Not quite sure what will lead into my hands first, but I’ve got several I’m looking forward to reading.
I like the TBR mountain range! While I was at Crime Bake my husband decided to park the vacuum cleaner in the guest room. Apparently he hadn’t been in there for awhile and ran into piles and piles of books!
Reading Tagged for Death for the second time.
Awww!
Just finished The Blind Assassin by the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. Very powerful writing. She can lay down some phrases that make you go back and reread to figure how she did it.
Yes, must add that to my pile, I mean, range!
And you have to bring out Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas in December…love that old lime-green dude.
Excellent choice!
This season I’m making my way through The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, An English Murder, Christmas is Murder, and of course will be reading A Christmas Carol next week.