Smoke & Mirrors: Top Ten Tuesday for July 5!!

As many of you already know, The Broke and the Bookish

host a weekly meme entitled Top Ten Tuesday!

There is a different theme each week.
(I thought I had posted this on Tuesday, July 5th, but hadn't!
I have just finished and posted on July 10!) :(

This week it is

The Top Ten Books I Enjoyed

That Have Under 2000 Ratings on Goodreads

I was very curious to see what listing would result from sorting my "Read" bookshelf by the number of ratings on Goodreads. It was quite revealing.

I was not the least bit surprised to learn that independently/self-published books were the majority, as well as local/regional authors.

So I am thrilled to have an opportunity to "hawk" these books to you-all,

'cause there are some 'masterpieces' amongst this group,

in my humble opinion!

So, as I pulled titles from this grouping, I ended up with

a listing of 10 different series and 30+ books!

(Yeah...I know...)
I will work with the 10 series today and save the other listing
of stand-alones for a "Freebie week" in the future!
Sounds like a plan!

First a disclaimer:
Not every single book in each of these series was in the
less-than-2000-Goodreads-rating group.
Even if only one book in the series was in this group,
then that series is listed here.

This first series is written by a man who lives and works in my general region of the U.S. I have met John Riggs and he has personally inscribed several of the books I own in this Garth Ryland series. Thus far, I have read halfway through this series. All of these have been good solid reads for me. The only reason they don't qualify as absolute favorites is the fact that the characterization (at least to me) is not very detailed. There is more action than anything, and I do realize that for most readers, that works very very well. It works for me, but is not my favorite, as I typically prefer strong well-drawn characters. (If that makes sense!) However, there are a few recurring characters, and they do develop during the series, so that is a plus. Beyond that, each book is a quick read and always has a solid mystery that I typically cannot solve, though I have suspected virtually every character of being the perpetrator by the end of the book! (I enjoy that!) Interestingly, TV rights were purchased in the past, though nothing was ever developed, and I can easily see that this series might make for a good TV series. (Anyone? Anyone? lol) This is one large body of work and I don't believe John gets nearly the recognition or readership Garth deserves!

The Last Laugh

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

The Glory Hound

Hunting Ground

Haunt of Nightingale

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

One Man's Poison

Dead Letter

A Dragon Lives Forever

Cold Hearts and Gentle People

Killing Frost

Snow on the Roses

He Who Waits

The Lost Scout

Nothin' Short of Dyin'

After the Petals Go

Home Grown

Cold Rain

Oh, my gosh! I get so excited just thinking of this series! It is so very unique! Anthony Eglin is very knowledgeable of botany and uses that knowledge in these mysteries. I can't adequately describe them, except to say if you appreciate botanical information, this series is for you. Each mystery somehow involves exotic flowers or something along that line. this series is known as the English Garden mysteries or the Lawrence Kingston mysteries. (I still need to read the last two installments.) I own each of these books except for the most recent installment and intend to own them all! Keep writing, Mr. Eglin! Please! :)

The Blue Rose

The Lost Gardens

The Water Lily Cross

The Trail of the Wild Rose

Garden of Secrets Past

The Alcatraz Rose: A Lawrence Kingston Mystery

That brings me to one of the silliest (in some ways) and yet most adorable mystery series I have ever read, Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie mystery series. I need to read several of these to catch up! (Spencer Quinn is a pseudonym for Peter Abrahams who also writes stand-alone mysteries.)

Dog on It

Thereby Hangs a Tail

To Fetch a Thief

The Dog Who Knew Too Much

A Fistful of Collars

The Sound and the Furry

Paw and Order

Scents and Sensibility

EShort Stories:

A Cat Was Involved (Chet and Bernie Mystery 0.1)

The Iggy Chronicles (Chet and Bernie Mystery 0.2)

Tail of Vengeance (Chet and Bernie Mystery 0.3)

Santa 365

In addition, he has

a juvenile mystery series

just started last year,

Bowser & Birdie:

Woof

Arf

Now to an author both my husband an I enjoy immensely, Alafair Burke. (I LOVE that name, Alafair!) She is the daughter of James Lee Burke, one of my husband's very favorite authors. She is currently writing two different series:

Series #1: Samantha Kincaid

Judgement Calls
Missing Justice
Close Case

Series #2: Ellie Hatcher

Dead Connection
Angel's Tip
212
Never Tell
All Day and a Night

Ayelet Waldman's Mommy Track Mysteries. Probably a good one for parents of young ones, especially if you also enjoy mysteries! One of my other favorite authors said it best...

Juliet Applebaum is smart, fearless, and completely candid about life

as a full-time mom with a penchant for part-time detective work.

Kinsey Millhone would approve.

-Sue Grafton, author of The New York Times-bestselling Kinsey Millhone series

Juliet Applebaum is a full-time public defender turned stay-at-home mom who seems to get herself involved with the local mysterious happenings. These would be good short entertaining reads that do make you think a bit. Perfect for parents of young ones!

Nursery Crimes
The Big Nap
A Playdate with Death Death Gets a Time-Out
Murder Plays House
The Cradle Robbers
Bye-Bye, Black Sheep

I loved Waldman's Red Hook Road

and really should read and review

more of hers!

Jacqueline Sheehan's

Rocky Pelligrino series and Now & Then

Having read and loved Lost & Found

and Picture This, I wondered what I

would think of Now & Then,

but I loved it just as much,

if not more than the other two!

And there is a dog in each one!

(I know...totally unexpected, huh?)

Marie Bostwick's Cobbled Quilt series
The Borders Book Club I facilitate read the first book in this series, A Single Thread, and everyone loved it, though a few of us felt it was a bit "preachy," insisting that you must be a 'Christian' and attend church every Sunday to be truly happy in life... Fortunately, I persevered by reading the second book in the series and ended up reading all of them and loving them!