July 2022 Mid-Month Newsletter
Hi everyone and welcome to halfway through July!
My wife had a good laugh this month. I was suffering from some really severe stomach pains. To the point that I was contemplating going to the emergency ward.
I was laying in bed, a heating pad over my stomach, in quite a bit of discomfort. Then suddenly I jumped up and started heading out of the bedroom at top speed.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she was yelling as I made a beeline downstairs.
“If I’m going to end up in the hospital, I need to make sure my Kindle is charged!”
Ah, priorities.
Not sure what the issues are yet. Went for an ultrasound yesterday. Hopefully nothing too serious; I have too many books on my list to read to leave this world just yet!
I read Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. This is a thriller about a woman who goes in a trip to Lisbon with her new husband. She wakes up in the morning, only to discover that he is missing and has been kidnapped.
I’ve never read anything by Chris before although I’ve had The Expats on my Kindle for many years to read. After reading this one – I’ve bumped him to the top of my reading list and will be going through his remaining 4 fiction books post-haste.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I saw a few reader reviews that it was too long, or that there was a lot of unnecessary writing in there. It certainly came off a bit “wordy” at times but I didn’t mind it at all. I feel those types of books tend to stay with you more than the thrillers that just go at a breakneck pace.
I also read The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark, a psychological thriller. She wrote The Last Flight, which I loved. I’ll be honest – this one started very slow. Slow to the point that if I hadn’t read a book by her previously and enjoyed it, I might have given up.
Knowing her talents though, I stuck with it and it packed up fast. It was another excellent read by Julie, who is now solidly on my “blindly buy” list. Highly recommended.
I’ve now started Upgrade by Blake Crouch.
My friend and his family are currently away on vacation for two weeks. He had asked me to go over and walk his dog each day and look after it. He had told me not to worry about big long walks – just a “quick 5-minute walk for it to do its business is fine”.
He has a ring doorbell so can see me coming and going, and messaged me after a few days saying “By my counts, you’re walking the dog 40-60 minutes each time. I really appreciate that but you don’t have to – I know how busy you are.”
As much as I love dogs, those walks were not for the dog but for myself. Dog walking was prime listening time for Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens!
I finished that audiobook and absolutely loved it. One of those where I know for a fact that if I had read it, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it anywhere near as much. The story was average at best, but the narration is sublime, and really brings the characters to life. Cassandra Campbell did an exceptional job, and I’ll certainly look out for more narration by her.
Looking forward to watching the movie sometime over the next couple of weeks. Not sure what I’ll listen to next although I see my library app has some Chris Pavone books. I remember reading the narrator for them wasn’t great but hey for free – happy to give them the chance!
I’m still watching Bosch. Finished the first season which was good. Then I finished the second season in about 3 days. A fantastic season, with some moments that really got to me emotionally. I won’t say too much but Season 2, Episode 6? Wow. That one hit me hard.
Onto Season 3 of the binge!
One of our readers, Mark, sent in an awesome pair of socks he received for his birthday. I want these socks badly! There’s an asterisked-out curse word on it so I’ll link it instead of putting it in here. Here they are. Love those!
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 I go to hit “Publish” I take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.
Our winners this month are:
Anna from Sundbyberg, Sweden
Linda M. from Saginaw, MI
Mike Lin. from the UK
Elizabeth N. from Bellevue, IA
Bruce H. from York, PA
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
“Literature enlarges our being by admitting us to experiences not our own. They may be beautiful, terrible, awe-inspiring, exhilarating, pathetic, comic, or merely piquant. Literature gives the entree to them all. Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom realize the enormous extension of our being that we owe to authors. We realize it best when wee talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. My own eyes are not enough for me. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or bee.”
“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in a Greek poem, I see with a thousand eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself: and am never more myself than when I do.”
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 Recommendation
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!
Cray & Blackwood Series by Andrew Mayne
This is a series featuring Theo Cray and Jessica Blackwood. One novel has already been released, with the second being released in September.
As a note – both of these characters are from two other series that Andrew wrote. The Jessica Blackwood series and The Naturalist series. So it’s advised you read them separately, and then you get the full effect of the characters working together!
Toni recommended it, writing: “I’m reading a book now that really gets your brain to dive into thinking mode This book by Andrew Mayne is part of a series called Theo Cray and Jessica Blackwell. The first book is called Mastermind. She is an FBI agent he is a doctor with a brilliant mind. Both have the ability to think outside of the box as they work together to solve a strange phenomenon. I have noticed that she has her own series as well which I haven’t read yet so I have lots to read when I finish this one. The thought patterns they go through are very intriguing.”
FBI & CDC Medical Thriller Series by Jenifer Ruff
This was a recommendation from May 2020. There are currently only the two books in this series, but Jenifer is a great author to read.
It was recommended by Linda who wrote:
“Just read Jenifer Ruff’s book “Only Wrong Once” about a man-made virus attack. As my momma used to say “Scared the bejeebers out of me”.lol. It hit too close to what we are going through right now.”
For more details see our Jenifer Ruff page.
Long Beach Homicide Series by Tyler Dilts
Dwayne wrote in with this recommendation for anyone looking for a short book series to binge. It’s a four-book series at this time.
A King of Infinite Space by Tyler Dilts is the first book in the Long Beach Homicide series. Detective Danny Beckett is awake at night, haunted by the losses of his wife, family, and his hope. His next case is to investigate the brutal slaying of a popular high school English teacher named Elizabeth Williams, but soon he comes to realize that finding this killer is not just about solving a case but gaining his own personal redemption.
Facebook Question of the Month
Each month I ask readers on our Facebook page a question, then list the responses here.
This month I asked readers what books they were looking forward to most that were being released this month:
- Upgrade by Blake Crouch
- Weddings and Witnesses by Diana Xarissa Dunn
- The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
- The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
- Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley
- The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay
- The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Hatchet Island by Paul Dioron
- Hidden One by Linda Castillo
- The Finalists by David Bell
- The It Girl by Ruth Ware
- Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs
- Armored by Mark Greaney
July 2022 Book Of The Month (15th-31st)
Daniel Silva: Portrait of an Unknown Woman.
Do we still have any Gabriel Allon fans here?
A couple of years ago, I couldn’t go a week without someone e-mailing about Daniel Silva, and how much they love the Allon character.
It feels like forever since I’ve heard anything about him from readers though!
Regardless, Gabriel is back in Portrait of an Unknown Woman. It’s the 22nd book in this very popular series, and it is released on July 19th.
Visit our Gabriel Allon page to order.
10 More Notable Books Releasing July 15-31
- Shattered by James O Born and James Patterson
- Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood
- The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz
- These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan
- Aura of the Night by Heather Graham
- The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle
- Three Miles Down by Harry Turtledove
- Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs
- The Wedding plot by Paula Munier
- The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
Random Book Series of the Month:
Something different I am going to start doing as opposed to the “Random Top 10”, is click the “Feeling Lucky?” button for a series on the website, then list a few random book series that we have listed with a quick description. I’ll do a few different genres each month.
Operation Midnight by Linda Castillo: This is a short 5 book series of novels, written by Linda between 2005 and 2007. They are romantic suspense and are generally considered an easy read.
Assassin’s Creed Series by Oliver Bowden: This book series is inspired by the video game series of the same name. It’s a historical fantasy series. Even if you’re not a fan of video games etc – it’s still well worth reading this series which has a lot of popular reviews based on the story.
Renaissance is the first Assassin’s Creed novel by Oliver Bowden, based on the popular video game. After being betrayed by the most powerful families of Italy, Ezio Auditore seeks vengeance. In order to rid Italy of corruption and restore honour to his family name, he must learn how to be an Assassin.
Jack West Jr Series by Matthew Reilly: Matthew writes some real action packed novels, so you may enjoy this series which is described as Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code.
An action thriller series. Jack West Jr. is half-American and half-Australian. Jack’s father (Jack Sr.) is a colonel in the US Army and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Instead, Jack Jr. joined the Australian Army and attained the rank of Captain, becoming a superior soldier to his father. The Jack West series is jam-packed with action, resembling a video game more than a series of novels.
Your Thoughts
This month’s reader mailbag question is:
If you could sit down with one of your favourite authors for a coffee, what would you ask them?
(Or a tea. Or a beer. Or even just a glass of room temperature tap water).
I do have a slight ulterior motive for this one. I’d like to start doing author interviews, so it would be neat to get some ideas of what information people would talk about or ask them.
I know I’d love to pick the brain of Kyle Mills. He took over the Mitch Rapp series from Vince Flynn after his untimely passing, and I’d love to get the scoop on how that came about, and how he prepared for not just continuing the series, but staying true to both the writing of Vince, and the characters and storylines that Flynn had created over the years.
Kyle also made a few bold decisions in regard to existing characters as opposed to retaining the status quo which I thought was fun.
I’ve sat down with quite a few authors over the years, and I always enjoy hearing their process for how they write books. Many of them are so passionate about it. I’ll always remember talking to John Jantunen and his process. When he starts a new book, he writes about 25,000 words just to find his opening line – then scraps what he wrote and starts over with that.
If I was getting complete honesty – I’d love to be able to talk to authors such as David Baldacci. He rarely writes standalone novels anymore, and most of his novels are tied to series. I would love to know if he actually prefers that, or if he focuses on book series more as they generally sell better and get repeat customers.
What would you like to ask your favourite authors? And just generic “interview” questions are okay too!
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.
