JEFF'S FAVORITE NOVEL LIST FOR 2023

Episode 1830 by Adele Kindt

Raise your hands if you've been anticipating my annual fiction (and non-fiction) book lists! 

This year, I haven't read as many novels as I have recent years. Thus, it's easier to make this a top ten list, in comparison to the top twenty songs I shared yesterday. 

Part with less novels read - I only read more than one book from the same author this year, that being Donna Fletcher Crow. I used to do that deliberately when I read less novels. This time it was not planned. Thus, I had several novelists move up one slot each on my all time reading list, but it didn't have a lot of effect. Jessica Patch moved into a tie with Steven King for 10th place with 8 each. John Otte and Janet Sketchley moved into a tie with Jill Williamson for 12th place at 7 each. Donna Fletcher Crow gained a little breathing room for second place (21), and putting her only two from the seemingly unpassable Dame Agatha Christy. 

As usual, I will give them in alphabetic order. Will this tradition change? Well, if you read yesterday's blog, you'll notice a slight variation: I did identify my favorite song for the year. Let me know if you like that change. But I'll go back to the typical approach of making it straight alphabetic order by author for this year. So here's my top ten:

1. Deadly Burden (Green Dory Inn Mystery Book 4) by Janet Sketchley. Each story gets better! This one has a Christmas theme. Book Review Link
2. Explosive Revenge (Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit, Book 7) by Maggie K. Black. For those unfamiliar, Love Inspired Suspense (Harlequin) has an annual 8 part K-9 series, each novel written by a different author. Book Review Link
3. George Bronson Private Eye by Hal Ames. A fun mystery story by a good friend. The review will be posted January 11.
4. Lost Bits by Kerry Nietz. An excellent dystopian sci fi story by one of my favorite authors. Book Review Link
5. The Refiner Of The Realm: Of Queens and Clerics (The Celtic Cross Book 3) by Donna Fletcher Crow. Book Review Link(includes a bonus review of Crow's An All Consuming Fire - The Monastery Murders Book 5)
6. Shielding the Baby (Pacific Northwest K-9 Unit Book 1) by Laura Scott. This is the fourth K-9 Series first book I've read, and it definitely is the best. There are 7 more books in the series, so while you find some loose ends resolved, there are others that aren't. But this was an exciting book with plenty of turns. The review will be posted January 18.
7. Theme Park Abduction by Patsy Conway. This is a Love Inspired Suspense novel, though not part of a K-9 series. Book Review Link
8. A Tincture Of Murder (Lord Danvers Investigates, Book 4) by Donna Fletcher Crow. This series, based in the 19th century, tells a mystery while including a real crime from that era. Book Review Link
9. 12 Days... by Heidi Glick. This is a Christmas time suspense novella. Book Review Link
10. Undercover Assignment (Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit Book 4) by Dana Mentink. Even though it's set in New Mexico and my old stomping grounds is Arizona, this story makes me homesick. Book Review Link

 

LOOKING BACK AT '22 - FAVORITE NOVELS (PART 3 OF 6)

Thanks to Nancy Mehl for sharing this.

 

I always wonder which is the attraction that the drums are rolling for me to announce: my fiction list, or my non-fiction list? If you want to tell me your favorite, please let me know! But in ignorance, I'll assume you're more excited about which non-fiction books influenced me this year, and start with fiction.

Last September, I did a blog giving the list of fiction authors I've read the most by. If there's any movement that might be of interest, I'll update it. And there has this year!

RANK    AUTHOR           #OF BOOKS    PREV. RANK

    1         Agatha Christie               23                    1

    2        Donna Fletcher Crow    19                    2 (Tie)

    3        Nancy Mehl                     17                    2 (Tie)

    4        Allistair MacLean            15                    2 (Tie) 

    5        Randy Singer                     14                    5

    6        James Blish                         13                    6

    7        Kerry Nietz                        11                     8

    8        Ian Fleming                        10                    7

    9        Jodie Bailey                          9                    16 (Tie)

   10        Stephen King                       8                     9

The top 6 didn't really change excepting the tie for second no longer being a tie. But Kerry Nietz has moved ahead of Ian Fleming. Also, Jodie Bailey has joined the list, jumping from a tie for 16th to 9th place. Impressive, but not quite as much as it sounds - when I made my list last year, I had read five books by her, and I read a 6th one last year and 3 this year. The reason she jumped as high was because of a 5 way tie for 11th at 6 books each.

I consider having read 5 novels by an author a milestone. Sharon Dunn made that mark, and Jessica Patch flew past it, moving from me having read three up to seven, putting her in a tie for 11th with Jill Williamson (10th place last year, with 7 read).

Other stats - I read 26 novels by 17 authors: 15 were women, and 6 were by authors I had not previously read.

One other point. I've read three stories that are top notch stories. I gave the authors five star reviews. Yet I did not enjoy them for various reasons - One was too melancholy, one was too creepy, and one was a little too weird. Yet I'm continuing in the series of one, am seriously considering the same in the second, and while giving up on the third series, I'm still reading a lot by the author.

Going to this list - I'll be listing my 12 favorites, and as usual, it's in alphabetic order by title. If I have read more than one in a series during a year, I might combine all from that series or count them as separate, depending on several factors, such as if I like one noticeably more or less than the others, or if it's a series with different authors. 

1. Bitter Truth (A Green Dory Mystery Book 3) by Janet Sketchley. I had been looking forward to this book, and it was worth the wait. This mystery kept you guessing, leading to the surprising (and bitter) truth.
   
2. Captured at Chrstmas Jodie Bailey. Perfect story for me to have read at Christmas time (never mind it was released in '21 and it's the last full novel I read in '22). Did I ever tell you Jodie Bailey is one of my favorite authors? If you read this book, you won't blame me.
   
3. Cold Case Takedown (Cold Case Investigators Part 1) by Jessica Patch. Great blend of mystery and suspense in uncovering this cold case involving high school football and how football can almost become a religion. Jessica does a great job of having characters stand out, and heroine Georgia Maxwell is one of my favorite Love Inspired Suspense leads.
   
4.  Dead Fall (Quantico Files Book 2) by Nancy Mehl. As usual, this was a top-notch thriller, but it definitely is my favorite of her series. Partly due to Kaley Quinn of Mehl's previous series being part of the cast, partly due to one of the best villians I've read. Note - if you haven't read this, I'd advise reading the three books of Kaley Quinn Profiler and the first book of this series first.
5. Deadly Cargo (Alaska K-9 Unit, Vol. 5) by Jodie Bailey. This was the 7th book I've read by Jodie Bailey, and the first that was part of a K-9 series. I definitely enjoyed the romance between bush pilot Jessica Jefferson and State Trooper Will Stryker. This book also had a good mystery going as to who is causing all the trouble.
6. Exposing a Killer by Laurie Alice Eakes. When I read the plot for this story, I had an image of what to expect, dealing with rival detectives. This novel did not meet the image, but it was just as enjoyable. This is a Love Inspired Suspense, by the way.
   
7. Rhats! and Rhats Too! (The Muto Chronicles vol. 1 and 2) by Kerry Nietz. Are you familiar with the Takomo Universe stories? I'm not really familiar with it, and the first book I read in this universe (by a different author) failed to grab me. But these stories (involving mutos, which resemble human sized rats) are very enjoyable. I especially enjoy the development of the friendship between the narrator, a muto named Frohlic, and Abs, a fellow muto he meets on a space scavenging trip.
   
8. To Dust You Shall Return (Lord Danvers Investigates, Book 3) by Donna Fletcher Crow. This series looks at true crimes from the Victorian era, with some comic relief by the Dowager Duchess. The crime story definitely was a top-notch mystery. I'm looking forward to catching up with this series next year.
   
9. Under Surveilance by Jodie Bailey. This book has characters from previous stories by Bailey, but there is no need to read them in order. Bailey has earned a place among my favorite authors (did you notice this is the third Bailey book on this list?). Great plot, great characters, and a very strong faith story, which is the norm for Bailey.
   
10. Wilderness Defender (Alaska K-9 Unit, Vol. 2) by Maggie K. Black. I've mentioned favorite heroes and heroines, but who is my favorite dog of the year? Hands down, Stormie the Irish wolf hound, who can take on a threatening thug or cuddle up with a calico kitten. Add to that a story about poachers trying to capture blue bear cubs, and definitely an exciting story.
11. Wolf Soldier (Lightraider Academy Vol. 1) by James R. Hannibal. This book is based on a role playing game designed to be a discipleship tool. Definitely an exciting fantasy story.
    
12. Yuletide Cold Case Cover-up (Cold Case Investigators, part 3) by Jessica Patch. This is an exciting conclusion to the series, and one that also includes one of my favorite heroines, Poppy Holliday. Excellent mystery as she tries to discover, with her partner Rhett Wallace's help, who killed her sister.

Well, tomorrow, I'll be looking at non-fiction!

 

FAVORITE FICTION OF 2021

 

Courtesy of Enclave Publishing

In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that this was a strange year, and it is reflected in my novel reading. I'll be listing my ten favorites in alphabetic order (as usual). What's not usual is that I'm limiting it to ten, and not moving it up to twelve or fifteen. Sometimes, I keep it down by reading two or more in a series and counting them together. Not this year.

I usually keep track of three things in my novel reading - comparing male authors to female (the latter usually dominating), the number of new-to-me authors compared to ones I've previously read, and the division of genres. The first division is 20 female authors (24 books) to 3 male authors (3 books) - a few less men than normal. For the first time, previously read novelists overwhelmed the new ones - 19 to 4 (normally they have a narrow lead). 

Genres? Normally, it is balanced between mystery, suspense, and speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror). This year, out of 28 books, one was speculative, four were mysteries, and three were none-of-the-above. With the other 20 falling in the realm of suspense, 18 of those were Harlequin's Love-Inspired Suspense.

So here's my list, in alphabetic order:

1. Arctic Christmas Ambush by Sherri Shackleford. A young lady in the Witness Protection program has just witnessed another murder - related? Or not? That's in the mind of her and her Alaska State Trooper ex-boyfriend as they're stranded in a lodge by storm and avalanche with the killer (and a batch of sled dogs with an adorable runt of a puppy).
2. The Dog That Whispered by Jim Kraus. What do you do when you feel you need to adopt a Labrador Retriever but you're in a nursing home that won't let her keep him? Why, of course, you call up your middle aged bachelor son and have him take care of the dog. By the way, the dog told the lady he agreed with that set up. And naturally the son knows it's impossible for the dog to communicate with humans, even though the dog seems to be whispering things to him.
3. Explosive Situation by Terri Reed. Henry Roarke is being investigated for excessive youth of force by Internal Affairs officer Olivia Vance, when he is notified about a bomb threat, right where his teenage (and orphaned) sister is. On the plus side, he has an adorable bomb-sniffing Beagle partner. But how does he catch the bomber while being investigated and taking care of his sister who thinks he's overbearing? This part four of the eight part series "True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn; it's a collection of novels which have their own story but also have a trio of threads overarching the series; each book is written by a different author.
   
4. Fatal Identity by Jodie Bailey. This is the sixth book I've read by Bailey (though I'll be honest and admit that one is a combination of two novellas, with Valerie Hansen writing the other). In this story, Alex "Rich" Richardson prevents the abduction of friend Dana Santiago. But why does her boss question if she's working with an infamous drug cartel? And why are her would-be kidnappers calling her "Danna", a name that she's called only in her nightmares? NOTE: This is the third of a series. I read the first a couple of years ago (Mistaken Twin, which was in my 2019 favorites list) and missed part 2 (Hidden Twin), but you can enjoy this without reading the other two.
   
5. Fugitive Trail by Elizabeth Goddard. How can you not love Samson the mastiff in this exciting story? Deputy Sierra Young and Samson go up to see if there's survivors in a helicopter crash. It turns out that the occupants were escaped killers, who have a vendetta against Sierra. One dies in the crash, but the other is at large. Technically, this is the third of the three part series "K-9 Mountain Guardians." This "trilogy," written by different authors, have different settings (except they're all in mountains) and no characters in common. 
   
6. The Keeper of the Stone: Of Saints and Chieftains by Donna Fletcher Crow. Most of what I read by Crow (who is currently #2 on my most read novelist behind only Agatha Christie, though that won't last long) are mysteries. This book is definitely historical. It starts looking at a trio of contemporary 20 somethings and an older storyteller, but the bulk of the book is on St. Columba in the 500's, establishing a monastery in Scotland. First in her ten volume Celtic Cross series, with part 1 (volumes 1-4) taking place in Scotland and part 2 in Ireland.
   
7. Mountain Survival by Christy Barritt. Derek Peterson is seeking help on the mountain for his injured brother when he meets ranger Autumn Mercer and her Australian Shpeherd partner Sherlock. But when they return to the site, they found blood, no brother, and someone shooting at them. If that's not enough, they have storms, floods, and wildcats to deal with. This is part of another series-in-name-only.
   
8. Night Fall by Nancy Mehl. Part one of the Quantico files. Behavioral Analyst (aka profiler) Alex Donavan is called in to a series of murders by a serial killer calling himself "The Train" man, and spraying quotes from a cult group her aunt belonged to. Can Alex and the rest of her team stop "The Train Man" from unleashing a virus that would make COVID seem like the common cold? NOTES - first novel I've read to mention COVID. Also, the book I mentioned that I'm reading is part 2 of this series, which will put Nancy Mehl in a tie for second with Donna Crow.
9. Scene of the Crime by Sharon Dunn. Forensic specialist Darcy Fields is scheduled to testify in a murder case. So of course someone's trying to discredit her and kill her, and the stalker is ready to take out her protector Jackson Davison and his trust K-9 partner Smokey. Very exciting story. Like Explosive Situation, above, this is part of the eight part series "True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn; it's a collection of novels which have their own story but also have a trio of threads overarching the series; each book is written by a different author. Scene of the Crime is part six.
   
10. Through Chaos by Joshua A. Johnston. The thrilling conclusion to the epic trilogy "The Sarco Chronicles". Yes, the term "epic" is often overused, but have you ever heard me use it before? This series fits the description, looking at a federation of five planets ...well, until recently. The threat is Dar, who has faced some defeats but holds that while their bodies are free for the moment, their souls belong to him.  NOTE: Another item on my list, like this was the end of a trilogy. While you don't need to read that other one (Fatal Identity) in order, you. Need. To. Read. This. Trilogy. In. Order.

I had thought of asking if you could figure out which of these are Love Inspired Suspense stories (which six of the ten are), but I have a hunch it's fairly easy. 

Do you have any favorite novels you've read this year? Any of you read any on my list? What do you think of them?

WHICH NOVELISTS HAVE I READ THE MOST NOVELS BY? AND IS THAT LIST CHANGING?

Courtesy of ereaderlove.com via Sharon Kirk Clifton

I have been comparing how my list of authors I've read the most have changed over the years. 

NOTE - I did not say my favorite authors. I may have read more novels by an author I really like than one I absolutely love, for various reasons - primarily, because the one I like has written more novels than the one I love.

Let me start with 1978, when I left Cottonwood and started Bible College. At that point, the novelists I read the most looked like this:

1. James Blish - 11 books. 
2. Ian Fleming - 10.
3. Agatha Christie - 5.
4. Ellery Queen - 5.
5. John R. Cooper - 4. 

What did that list tell about me? Well, for one, I got in binges. My interest in Baseball got me hooked on John R. Cooper's Mel Martin YA series. After seeing James Bond movies, I read Ian Fleming. Following the '74 version of "Murder On The Orient Express," I started reading Agatha Christie (and Ellery Queen benefitted from that interest in mysteries). Most of the books I've read by Blish were his novelizations of the episodes of Star Trek The Original Series; the only Blish novel I read was titled "Spock Must Die" (the first ST novel).

Now, let me fast forward twenty plus years to '00. This period of time had two phases - a lot of novels read between '81 and '86, and not much reading done afterwards. Here's what my list looked like at that point:

1. James Blish - 13.
   
2. Agatha Christie - 12
3. Ian Fleming - 10
4. Stephen King - 8
5. Allistair MacLean - 7

I debated on leaving it with the top 5, or including those who I've read more than five novels by, and I decided at this phase to do the former. I did read a 6th Ellery Queen novel, which left him in 6th place.  You'll notice Agatha Christie jumped up on the list, as well as the entrance of Stephen King and Allistair MacLean. 

I previously mentioned comparing the lists of '86 and '00 (which is the one I'm using). There are only two differences. First, in '86 MacLean would have been tied for fifth with Queen at six novels apiece. A co-worker brought in an audio version of a MacLean novel, and I'm counting that on my list. The other was that in '00, my two favorite authors would be MacLean and Frank Peretti, who was lower on the list because I didn't read as many of his novels.

Three items of note took place by '10: I started reading more books (fiction and non-fiction), I started writing my novel, and I discovered Amazon and learned of new authors that way. As a result, here's how the list changed:

1. James Blish -13
2. Agatha Christie - 12
3. Allistair MacLean - 11
4. Ian Fleming - 10
5. Stephen King - 8
6. Randy Singer - 8

You may notice that the top five names were the same, with MacLean jumping up two spots from 5th to 3rd. Likewise, you'll see that MacLean was the only one of the five to increase, giving you a hint that some writers I used to read a lot of I wasn't reading as much. (One of them would have a resurgance - you can guess which one if you wish.)

But then in sixth place (technically, tied for fifth) is a new name. Randy Singer took over Peretti's place as my favorite author (MacLean remained in second). I also started reading more books by women. Amy Wallace had a trilogy I absolutely loved.

I mentioned I had wrote my novel. You may know that I attempted to self-publish and the company went belly-up in spectacular fashion (it's collapse was on the front page of the Indianapolis Star and reported on the TV broadcasts). This led me to get involved with the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), which not only helped in my writing but also got me hooked on more authors. 

In 2013, I took part of a challenge from author Janalyn Voigt, set a goal to read 20 books (both fiction and non-fiction) and succeeded. The next year, I went on a rampage and read 29 novels (not counting non-fiction books). I haven't matched that since, though I do read about 25 novels a year. 

Previously, I've done looks at every ten years - this time, I'll only move ahead five years to 2015. And presto:

1. Agatha Christie 17
2. James Blish 13
3. Allistair MacLean 13
4. Randy Singer 13
5. Ian Fleming 10

Not very over-whelming, is it? True, Agatha Christie and Randy Singer added five books each to their total. 

However, I've been adding other authors to the list. At that time, I considered five novels to be the Hall of Fame pre-requisite. At 2015, besides Stephen King and Ellery Queen were Frank Peretti and Amy Wallace. But other authors were knocking at the door, with Donna Fletcher Crow, Julianna Deering (aka DeAnna Dodson), and Nancy Mehl joining in the list. 

So let me expand past the top five on the list at this moment in 2021:

1. Agatha Christie - 23
2. Donna Fletcher Crow - 15
3. Allistair MacLean - 15
4. Nancy Mehl - 15
5. Randy Singer - 14
6. James Blish - 13
7. Ian Fleming - 10
8. Kerry Nietz - 9
9. Stephen King - 8
10. Jill Williamson - 7

Tied for 11th place at 6 each: Jackie Castle, Julianna Deering, Sandra Orchard, John Otte, and Ellery Queen.

Tied for 16th place at 5 each: Jodie Bailey, Frank Peretti, and Amy Wallace.  

Again, does this mean that Agatha Christie is my favorite author? No. I could pick on several authors on this list (and some not on the list, such as J.P. Leck), but I'll choose John Otte. I like John Otte better than Agatha Christie. But John Otte's bibliography is half of the Miss Marple series, which is a third of the Hercule Poirot collection. (And yes, Christie has a lot of stories that are neither Marple or Poirot.) Otte needs to go on a tear for me to read as many of his books to catch up with Dame Agatha.

Which authors have you read the most by? Are the authors you read the most by the same as your favorite authors?

The Fun Of Making Lists

 It is the time of year that I make my lists of my favorite fiction and non-fiction books. These are forth-coming. But I'd like to share my thoughts on making these lists. 

1. Selecting the entries on the list.

This idea hit me when I was asked by my friend Tod Moses to show photos of my ten favorite athletes. I started by writing down the names of my favorite athletes, with a list of what I believe was 72. I then compared them to whittle it down to the top ten. The interesting thing? The top nine were no problem.  The hardest decision was which athlete was my 10th favorite and which was my 11th.

Since then, I've worked on a couple of lists, with set numbers in mind. The same thing happened. The biggest decision was between the last one to make the list and the first one that will be omitted. To me, this is an indicator I did a good job of thinking through that list.

When I listened to ESPN-radio, the hosts often share someone's top 10 lists, and then ask the audience who should be on the list, with one condition - they have to also name who to take off the list to make room for the addition. After all, there may be 25 people worthy to be considered for the top 10 list, but if there's even eleven on the list, it's no longer top 10.

2. The purpose of the list.

This brings me to my fiction lists. My goal usually is to have a top ten list of my favorite novels read that year. It rarely ends up being a top ten, for two related reasons.

First, the authors of the books often see the list. I'm sure that the author of the book I enjoyed the most would love to know their book was on the top of my list. But do they need to know they wrote my tenth favorite and that they almost didn't make my list? I doubt it. One author often writes my second favorite book of the year but never the top one. Does that person need to know they're always the bridesmaid and never the bride? I don't think so. 

Second is that most years, I've read more than ten novels that I really enjoyed and want people to be aware of. So I never leave it at ten. I'll have lists of twelve (this year will be one of those) or lists of fifteen. (And in another point, I'll be pointing out that those numbers are not as literal as you'd expect.)

These items relate to the purpose of my favorite books list, which actually is two. One is to point my reading friends to good books. The other is to encourage the authors. It lets them know their books are read and enjoyed.

3. Avoiding over-working myself in deciding what's on the list. 

Two years ago, I read the first five installments of a six part series which is currently my favorite series. While there was a definite ending point at each of the parts (as opposed to cliff-hangers), it still was one over-arching story. How do I decide in most cases which part I liked best? And should I have 1/3 of my list if I went to 15 be five different books in the same series?

Previously, I'd wrestle over where different books in a series fit. Two years earlier, I had read the first four of another six part series, and in the latter three it was clear the story wasn't over. I wrestled on how to fit them on the list.

This year I've read books in five different series. One of them is the 37 book Hercule Poirot collection by Agatha Christie. (For those who think, "I know who wrote Hercule Poirot," a modern author has been authorized to write new Poirot novels.) Those are easy - even though you have the same main character and often other regulars showing up, they basically are stand-alone stories. Another series was eight stories long (I read six of them last year). There is an over arching story, but basically these novels, written by different authors are practically stand-alone stories as well. So those novels I'll count separately.

But then there are the other three series. I read the final two books in two of the series, and in each case it was a cliff hanger. I'm counting that series as one entry rather than decide which part I enjoyed better. The third series was more stand alone, but the novels were pretty similar to each other. So again I'm counting the series as a single entry.

What kinds of lists have you compiled? Do you approach them as I do? Are you disappointed I don't number my favorite fiction list, or does it matter?