What kind of books do I like?

So with all this talk of waiting for my books from Chapters that was delayed by Canada Post, that brings up the question of what kind of books do I like to read? I’m a big fan of Stephen King. I own all his novels. I still buy them, but some of them have sat for years unread on my bookshelves. I’ll never be able to part with my collection. Carrie was the first novel I read shortly after it was published. And or course that movie is in my collection. Partly because John Travolta was in it! I like Christine, The Shining, and Pet Semetary. Gee, it looks like most of my favorites were what King wrote in the late 70’s through the mid-80’s. I also have his book On Writing which is pretty much his autobiography. The book gives glimpses into what is going on in Stephen King’s mind - do we really want to know how he comes up with this creepy stuff?!

So I haven’t read much of Stephen King in recent years, but I’m still reading. My tastes run from murder mysteries, chick lit, comedy, romance, literary travel, and autobiographies. I also have most of James Michener’s collection. Now those novels are part history lesson part fiction. My favourite Michener novel is The Drifters. The characters, who for the most part were young Americans, traveled to places that I am familiar with and spent some time in Spain, particularly Torremolinos, where I also hung out when I was trekking around Europe in my early twenties.

But lately my tastes have been running to a combination of chick lit murder mysteries with a little romance and comedy tossed in. Huh? Is such a combo possible?

I really enjoy books by Cynthia Baxter who writes the reigning cats and dogs series and the murder packs a suitcase series. In the first series veterinarian Jessica Popper stumbles upon corpses inbetween her animal care duties. Most of the series takes place around Long Island, New York but one novel took place at a veterinary conference in Maui. In the murder packs a suitcase series, a new travel writer Mallory Marlowe goes to Orlando, Florida to write an article about whether or not the old Florida family style attractions from the sixties still exist. She becomes a suspect when a fellow travel writer is murdered. In the second book in the series she travels to Aspen, Colorado to write an article about what non-skiiers can do for fun in this town and to visit an old high school friend who operates a successful spa. Her friend is found murdered in a mud spa and suspicion is the name of the game while Jessica tries to find out who killed her friend.

I’m also into novels by Elaine Viets who also writes about ordinary women who become amateur sleuths and solve murders. One series is called dead end jobs and follows Helen Hawthorne who moves from one minimum wage job in Florida to another and one murder to another. Her other series is Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper. And as the title suggests, Josie works as a mystery shopper and solves murders on the side.

I’ve also started reading another series of book based in Florida by Blaize Clement who writes the Dixie Hemingway mysteries. Dixie is a former cop who now runs a pet sitting business. But she can’t dodge her old stomping grounds or a former co-worker when she comes across dead bodies in her new occupation.

I’ve also been enjoying a series written by Kathy Brandt diving mystery novels featuring Hannah Simpson. Kerry also enjoys the novels about this scuba diving cop. Alas the last novel she wrote in this series was 3 years ago and left us on a cliffhanger. Just who was coming in the door in the last sentence of her last book??? The author has a website but no contact information. I have tried emailing her publisher and her agents to find out if there is going to be another novel, but all I get is sales pitch responses and no answer to my question.

Those are the series and authors who have currently captured my attention. Nothing like putting a paperback novel into my purse and pulling it out to read in waiting rooms or at the barn while I’m waiting for my horses to finish eating their dinner.