Hi everyone and welcome to halfway through January!

I planned to work on this and send it out yesterday, but unfortunately, I woke up to discover our pipes had all frozen overnight. Welcome to living in Canada. That ended up keeping me busy most of the day!

My reading has dropped slightly this month. I do a lot of reading in the hot tub at night and with it being -30 here in Canada most nights, I’ve been unable to do that.

It’s actually so cold in Canada that the few times I have made it out, my Kindle has popped up a message within 10 minutes stating that due to extreme temperature conditions, it is shutting down. I’ve read that some people’s Kindles have broken due to that – so I’m not going to risk it out there for the next month or so!

Listening to audiobooks has also fallen to the wayside as well. I normally listen when on the elliptical but I’ve started watching TV shows while on there and I much prefer it – time goes a lot faster! I usually do an hour-long walk each day as well which gives me a chance to listen to audiobooks. However, one of my friends made it his New Year’s Resolution to go with me on those walks.

I do enjoy his company – but man, I’d prefer the company of Ray Porter or Scott Brick just a little more!

It’s just funny – without realizing it – how reading is such a big part of my routine, and if the routine changes it means reading falls by the wayside somewhat.

As mentioned last month, I was re-reading the original Bob Lee Swagger trilogy, as well as Dirty White Boys, by Stephen Hunter. I’ve finished them now and really enjoyed them. I’ve read these multiple times but still enjoy them just as much, and they still hold up today.

I also watched the movie Shooter, based on the first book in the series, Point of Impact. It stars Mark Wahlberg and I’ve seen it a couple of times before. It was a decent adaptation.

That reminds me that there was a Shooter TV show starring Ryan Phillippe which lasted three seasons. I’ll have to give that a try sometime.

I’m taking a little break from Hunter but I’m going to back and read the Earl Swagger trilogy next, and I may just give The 47th Samurai another try. It was one of the biggest disappointments in reading I’ve ever experienced but at least this time, I won’t be going in with high expectations.

My reading has matured since I last read it 15 years ago obviously; so I’m hoping I gain a new appreciation for it.

Currently, I am reading The Handyman by Bentley Little.

I did start the audiobook Survive the Night by Riley Sagar. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this novel. I’m only a couple of hours in but will hopefully find some time to listen.

And that’s about it from me – let’s get on with the newsletter.

Each month we give away 5 prizes to 5 random subscribers of $25 each in the form of Amazon gift certificates. To win all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we go to hit “Publish” we take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.

Our winners this month are:

Patricia D. from McKinney, TX
Barbara W. from Framingham, MA
Debbie N. from Weatherford, TX
Karen from USA (e-mail begins with ksha)
Denise S. from Walingford, CT

All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.

Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com

Quote of the Mid-Month

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

– From The Twits by Roald Dahl.

Thanks to Jamie for that quote. Feel free to submit your own quotes to site@orderofbooks.com or just hit reply. It can be just general quotes about books, author quotes within a novel or even character quotes.

Book / Series Recommendations

In this section I give book or series recommendations. They can be old books, they can be new. But either way – I recommend you read them if the type of genre they are in appeals to you. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to site@orderofbooks.com as many of the suggestions each month are from our readers. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!

Moth To A Flame by Ashley Antoinette

I haven’t personally read this one – but I am always getting e-mails and comments from people who loved it, and are asking if there is a sequel. There isn’t at this time, but with the popularity of it, I thought it would be a good one to recommend. I believe her Ethic and Butterfly series are a spin-off of this as well.

This is the story of Raven, a young woman who is growing up too fast. She starts hanging out with a man called Mizan and she goes off the rails even more. She’s distancing herself from her father and family, but as the relationship with Mizan progresses, she realizes he is a very dangerous person. Unfortunately, she can’t help be drawn to him like a moth….to a flame.

Inspector Ikmen series by Barbara Nadel
Diane wrote in to recommend this long-running series. Barbara started it back in 1999 and there are 23 books in it currently.

Here’s what Diane wrote:

“I would like to recommend the Inspector Ikmen series by Barbara Nadel. I enjoy series by non-U.S. authors as it gives me an opportunity to learn something about customs in other countries. This series accomplishes just that through this very likable character. Taking place in modern Turkey, the reader is exposed to both the tourist highlights of the country and the hidden layer of crime underneath.

Surrounded by a wide range of characters, when I sit down to read an Inspector Ikmen mystery, nothing else interferes until it is finished.”

I know many of you love books set in different locations, so be sure to check this series out.

Chronicles of the Kings series by Lynn Austin
Lacey wrote in to recommend this series. Lynn is a Christian fiction author who has won multiple Christy awards. She has a lot of works and this is one of her most popular series.

The first novel is Gods and Kings. The book tells the story of King Hezekiah, heir to the throne of King David. King Ahaz has put together an evil plot to sacrifice his son which sees his mother frantically searching to find a way to save his life. The only two men who can help her don’t seem very trustworthy and options are limited. The mother and son find themselves in need of discovering the one true Source of strength if they hope to save themselves.

January Charities

While I appreciate all offers of donations to show your appreciation for the site and newsletter, I’d much rather you do that by supporting some great causes. Each month I pick a few select charities broken down by our most popular countries that you can support instead. Thanks! And please note you’re not restricted to the country you reside in of course – pick any you wish to support!

USA: The Institute for Justice
UK: The Good Law Project
Canada: World Vision Canada
Australia: The School of St. Jude

I rotate this list each month. Feel free to suggest a favourite charity – hit reply.

What Are You Looking Forward To?

I asked readers on our Facebook page what books they are looking forward to in 2022.  Below is the list:

January 2021 Book Of The Month (16th-31st)

The Runaway by Nick Petrie

I’ve said it before in here – but out of all the recommendations I have given, this is the one that receives the most positive feedback.

It’s the #1 answer I give to anyone who e-mails asking for a recommendation and stating that they like Jack Reacher.

This will now be the 7th novel in this great and popular book series featuring Peter Ash.

Peter offers a young pregnant woman a lift, after discovering her on a road with her car dead. This, unfortunately, leads to a chase over isolated highways, as the woman’s ex-cop husband is after her due to seeing something she wasn’t meant to.

“>Pre-Order / More Details.

10 More Notable Books Releasing Jan 15-31

  1. Lightning in a Mirror by Jayne Ann Krentz
  2. One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
  3. Quicksilver by Dean Koontz
  4. Savage Road by Christine Feehan
  5. Targeted by Stephen Hunter
  6. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
  7. Bye Bye Baby (A Spenser novel) by Ace Atkins
  8. The One Impossible Labyrinth by Matthew Reilly
  9. The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz
  10. The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler

Random Top 10 of the Month

10 Series Featuring a Female Protagonist

  1. Meg Langslow by Donna Andrews (Amateur Sleuth)
  2. Nikki Heat by Richard Castle (Police Procedural) 
  3. Pepper Martin by Casey Daniels (Paranormal Romance)
  4. Kat Colorado by Karen Kjewski (Hard-boiled Mystery)
  5. Jane Hawk by Dean Koontz (Action Adventure)
  6. Dandy Gilver by Catriona McPherson (Historical Mystery)
  7. Riley Paige by Blake Pierce (FBI Agent)
  8. Sukey Reynolds by Betty Rowlands (British Mystery)
  9. Genevieve Lenard by Estelle Ryan (International Mystery)
  10. Triple Threat by Lis Wiehl (Suspense Thriller)

Reader Mailbag:

This months question:

What book series do you like to go back and re-read?

I thought about this after mentioning that I was going to re-read the Bob Lee Swagger series by Stephen Hunter.

There are quite a few book series I have gone back and re-read over the years. I’ve read the Jack Reacher series and Mitch Rapp series 3 times. I’ve also randomly picked Reacher books to read over the years to re-read. I’ve probably read Persuader at least 10 times now.

I re-read the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben a couple of years back. I’ve also re-read all of my favourite series by Enid Blyton over the last few years.

I try and focus primarily on new books but there’s just something comforting about a book series that you love. Knowing the enjoyment you are going to get out of it and reliving great scenes over and over again. I always feel it speaks to the quality of the books.

While not a series, there are plenty of early John Grisham books I enjoy going back to re-read as well.

How about you? Any book series you like to go back and read?

E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next months newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

Book Notification
Order of Books » Newsletter » OrderOfBooks.com January 2022 Mid-Month Newsletter

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