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! 

A Single Thread

A Thread of Truth

A Thread So Thin

Threading the Needle

Ties That Bind

Apart at the Seams

Between Heaven and Texas (prequel)

 From Here to Home

This book follows the characters from 

Between Heaven and Texas, 

into the future!

My good friend read and loved it!

The Borders Book Club loved her writing 

so much we also read one 

of her stand-alone novels, 

The Second Sister 

and also really enjoyed it!

Bostwick definitely provides a reader with 

much 'food for thought'! 

And she doesn't shy away from issues...

Terri Dulong's Cedar Key series

Spinning Forward

Casting About

Sunrise on Cedar Key

Postcards from Cedar Key

Secrets on Cedar Key

Farewell to Cedar Key 

I am woefully behind in reading this series,

and she has started a new series!

I own all these, so need to read them!

I love the characters and writing!

And last, but by no means least...

Carolyn Brown's Cadillac, Texas series

The Borders Book Club decided to read the first book in this series, 

The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee, and we all loved it! 

It was so enjoyable and provided much fodder for discussion!

I admit I was rather hesitant initially, since I typically do not read romance, 

and Ms. Brown is a romance-writing queen! :)

However, I needn't have feared, for this series was not typical romance, 

and I read all three books and loved them all!

The other two books in this series:

The Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off

The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop

And here is the interview with Carolyn Brown!

 I sure do wish I had realized earlier that I hadn't actually posted 

this last Tuesday, July 5! 

But at least I got it out there now! 

Do you have a favorite book that hasn't had many (< 2000) Goodreads ratings?

Not just a bend in the road...

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman

I had no real expectations when I started reading this book. I have read one other book written by Waldman (the first in her Mommy Track Mystery series), and after meeting her in April 2014 and listening to her speak about her newest release, Love and Treasure, I was aware that she is an "eclectic" writer. This book was quite a dramatic rendition of family tragedy and its aftermath, much different from the Mommy Mystery series! (Though I have all the other installments of this series on my TBR list! I really liked the first one...)

Although this was quite a poignant story overall, it left me with a feeling of hope that all would work out in the end. A nod to the perseverance of the human spirit to not only survive, but thrive, despite life's challenges. I love how the book ends, and without that, I believe my overall feelings about and reactions to this book would have been much more subdued. The author deftly tied the story together through the  Prelude and the Coda, the latter leaving the reader with a rendition of the catastrophic incident at Jacob's Cove to ponder...

I could not begin to imagine the grief one would experience as either John or Becca's parent. And being an only child, I have no earthly idea of the intense grief of losing a brother or sister; Ruthie and Matt definitely had their share of catastrophe regarding their respective siblings' sudden and too-early deaths. The manifestations of this grief were, in some ways, predictable. They both seemed to have lost their moorings as they each abandoned their educational plans required to achieve their career goals. However, they appeared to go further and actually take on the roles of John and Becca, each seemingly recreating or continuing the life of their brother or sister, respectively. Interestingly, and perhaps to be expected, neither Ruthie nor Matt appeared to be truly happy or satisfied with these "pretend" roles. 

Waldman creates such pictures with words:

             At the next table Iris sat, her face gray and crumpled, like a used 
        tissue. Her mouth hung open, sagging at the corners, a thin string of 
        saliva wavering between her lower lip and the bodice of her silk gown. 
        Jane felt an unkind relief at seeing Iris's face made ugly by grief. 
        Usually the woman looked perfect, even when she wore her garden-
        ing clothes--a beat-up old straw hat, khaki shorts, and an old white 
        shirt of her husband's, tails hanging down her thighs. Jane would 
        rush in, sweaty and dirty from a day driving the girls from one 
        house to another, picking up a bottle of Windex if they were low,     
        swapping vacuums when one blew out, getting down on her hands 
        and knees to help scrub a floor if they were running behind, and 
        there Iris would be, cool and elegant, sipping a cup of tea on her 
        screen porch, a pile of papers on her lap, a pencil holding her mess 
        of curly black hair in a knot on top of her head. She always offered 
        Jane a cup and Jane always refused it. No need to sit through ten 
        minutes of awkward chitchat with someone with whom you had 
        nothing in common.

           Now, though, with her makeup smeared, blurring her features, 
        for once the woman looked worse than Jane.  (page 40)

I could relate to both Iris and Jane as people, but perhaps more so to Jane, since I have never lived at the same social stratum Iris enjoyed, but rather am much closer to Jane's level. I resonated so closely with Jane's refusal to join Iris for a "cuppa." What struck me was the fact that although Iris was a career woman, in reality, Jane's time was, much more "valuable" to her as the source of her livelihood. Jane earned much less, so had to work longer/more hours to support herself and her children (as a single parent) than did Iris who also had the benefit of a spouse's additional income. 

This is much as I had pictured The Rebecca.

One of the main characters of this novel is actually inanimate...the Rebecca, a wooden sailboat John works on for years, and then Matt takes over, actually completing the restoration. Not only did this work require dedication and manual labor, but also much money: John, Matt, and Ruthie contributed virtually all the money they earned; Becca (much to her mother's horror) donated proceeds from the sale of her "professional" violin; and Daniel kicked in $6,000. Upon completion, however, it could not be insured for under $13,000, and was therefore, unusable! Ironically, this Rebecca met its demise much as Becca had. Just as Becca and John, the sailboat was also not long-lived, actually never being "officially" sailed before the raging wind of a microburst storm literally smashes it into bits and pieces against the rocks. This "death" mirroring that of the two young adults on the cusp of truly "launching" their own lives together, thus releasing Ruthie and Matt to their own new beginnings yet once again...

Waldman's vivid characterization of family members in the wake of unthinkable tragedy makes this book not only unforgettable, but thought-provoking in the aftermath of having read it. This makes me even more anxious to read her newest release, Love and Treasure, which is historical fiction. Have you read anything written by this author? Did you like it? I would highly recommend her books. She is now on my list of favorite authors.