After reading Mombo's post in the General Forum... The Lighthouse, P,D.James
I think we should start a new forum just for posting books we have read that we could recommend for others to read. I too love a good mystery book and especially like certain authors. Should we just post them here or John, do you think we could have our own title like... BOOKS TO RECOMMEND What say you all???

My mom's in the book business, so we have no lack of (free!) books going around our house. Right now, I'm just getting into the new Sue Grafton, "S" is for Silence. It's coming out in December. Very good...this one might make my favourites list (I've read all the alphabet books).

Great idea for a thread....I can have a field day with this one!

Just finished reading "Columbus's Last Voyage". I enjoyed it very much. Columbus overcame so many problems on that trip and lived to tell the tale. I find the best History is more interesting than the best fiction. Of course a lot of fiction is based on history.

I just purchase a book called Lighthouse Encyclopedia writen by Ray Jones. It has good info about lighthouses starting with history and lexicon (guide to the people places events and ingenious equipment that make lighthouses special)
Also good picures of US and 18 different countries lighthouses. It lists for $27.95 but I got it for $7.99 at a outlet mall in Selma NC.
Hal

Oh boy... I can't choose... there are soooo many
"Lighthouses of Australia" by John Ibbotson or "Beacons on the Rock" by Peter Williams or "Lighthouses of Trinity House" ...
are some of my favourite lighthouse books.

When it comes to fiction, I too enjoy Inspector Dalgliesh (did you know he is the hero of a TV series?) But I think my current favourite read - just for fun - is Dick Francis. Then I enjoyed Dan Brown's books too, loved the Harry Potter books and generally am not fixed to one author or one kind of book.

Greg, I've read them all, too, and can't wait for "S". I hope that Sue Grafton will come up with some other way to continue her series of books. Margret, many of the mystery shows done by the BBC are carried here, such as on PBS's "Mystery!" series. I love Dalgliesh, Morse, and so many others. (I love everything British, actually. Spent a fabulous Christmas and New Year in London a few years back and would love to do a walking tour of England.) Anyway, the book idea is great!

Well here's what I do. First I select an author who has written a series of books based on the same charactor. (There are several websites to find this.) Then I check my library's on-line catalogue to be sure the library system has the books. Then I read them all, in order. I usually have 3 to 4 series going at once, selecting a new one as I near the finish of one of the others. Of course if an author is still writing you have to check for new books from time to time also.

Sometimes I get tipped off on an author from friends or our Sunday newspaper supplement that covers such things.

So the only cost to me of reading is the cost of my time to do the research and the time and expense of trips to the library, which is quite close.

Margret mentioned Dick Francis? Yup, read them all, plus his autobiography. Heck I've even read all the "Cat Who" books, even though they're kind of dumb. The first ones were much better than the late bunch but I read them anyway.

I have a bunch of lighthouse books, which I peruse now and then, I think of them as refrence books.

Another good book I've read recently is "River Horse" by William Least-Heat Moon. It's the non-fiction account of the author's journey across the US by boat, from the east coast to the west.

Has anyone read Alexander Kent? I think I must have read all of them... about the sea captain Richard Bolitho set in the late 18th / early 19th century.
I learnt a lot about the Cornish history from those books! And they are a riveting read!

I'm with you Greg, I too have read all the Sue Grafton books. Another fun books to read are by Janet Evanovich ...they have made me laugh out loud. They start with One For the Money and are now up past Eleven. The main character is Stephanie Plum an off beat character that is a sort of, wanna be and kinda bounty hunter that lives in New Jersey. None of them are to be taken serious and all are witty with crazy plots.

On the light side, I read Beach House in one day a the beach in Montauk. Since it's about Montauk I found it quite interesting!