December 2013 Reads

97	Monument Road	Charlie Quimby
98	Dead Eye	Mark Greaney
99	After I'm Gone	Laura Lippman
100	Rules for Becoming a Legend	Timothy S. Lane
101	On Target	Mark Greaney
102	Ballistic	Mark Greaney
103	Third Strike	Zoë Sharp

December was a slow reading month for me.  I'm actually reading less, since I stopped working at Barnes and Noble, go figure, but I'm sewing more quilts.  Sewing is one activity that I can't double dip with a book!

This year I tuned into The Gray Man in a series by Mark Greaney.  This month I read three of his books, and they're all very good.  Court Gentry is the main character, he's an ex-CIA assassin, and being hunted by his former employers.  He's been called the Bourne for the new century, and I concur.  All the installments in this series are heart-stopping good.  I've read them in order but it's probably not necessary.

Another good series is the Charley Fox books by Zoë Sharp.  Fox is ex British military, she left the service under a cloud, after she was brutally attacked by four of her fellow soldiers.  She was blamed, rather than the perpetrators.  I'm three books into this series and lovin' it.

Most likely Monument Road by Charlie Quimby is my favorite book on this list.  Even though I'm a West Coast gal, I'm a Westerner, too.  This debut novel is part modern western and part mystery.  The characters are true and the writing is heart-breaking.  Can you tell, I loved it.  Quimby has been compared to Kent Haruf, one of my favorite authors, and I agree.

Laura Lippman, is a best-selling author, but this is the first time I've read her.  After I'm Gone was a great read, and a great mystery.  The plot had a lot of twist and turns and kept me interested for the entire 350+ pages.  I'll read Lippman again.

The first book I finished this month was Monument Road by Charley Quimby.  Right after I finished it a fellow ex-bookseller contacted me for a book rec, she wanted good solid fiction, no mystery and no sci-fi.  This book was on the short list I gave her and I told her it was my favorite on the list.  Monument Road is a fantastic debut novel, it's full of rich characters and exquisite language.  I loved the entire book and held it to my chest and hugged it when it ended.  It was perfect.

What are you reading?