Don't you hate it when you can't find a book to read?

I know what you're thinking: How can Montgomery not have any books to read? The guy has more books than Carter's got little pills.

And it's true, I've got a lot of books. Thousands of 'em, with more coming in every day. But nothing looks particularly appealing.

I've already read everything for my next column, which isn't even due for a couple of weeks, so I'm free to read anything I want. But every time I pick something up, I end up looking at it, flipping through a couple of pages, then putting it back.

I don't know if it's me or just the books that are out right now. Maybe it's both.

None of my favorite authors, the people I'd automatically read, has a new book, and the other things I've been getting just seem so generic or otherwise unspectacular.

Anyway, maybe you can help. What should I read?

Comments

[Nancy]

I'm dying to read John Katzenbach's latest - The Wrong Man.

[David Montgomery]

I don't think I got that one. Is it supposed to be good?

[Maxine]

Yes, I get like this too, despite my groaning shelves and cupboards.

[Nancy]

" One of the scariest novels I've ever read"-Patrick Anderson. I really enjoyed The Analyst a few years ago, so this sounded worth a try. I have liked almost all of the Katzenbachs I've read.Have you read him?

[Jeff]

If you haven't read it, you might enjoy the debut thriller Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I'm about 2/3 through it, and it's definitely got my attention.

[David Montgomery]

I don't think I've read anything by Katzenbach. Nothing I remember, anyway.

[David Montgomery]

I wasn't aware of the Gillian Flynn book. I enjoy reading books by critics -- gotta root for the home team! I didn't get a copy of it, though. Crazy publishers.

[Judge]

Just finished the new Dick Francis (a pleasant surprise after so many years), and am reading The Delilah Complex by MJ Rose and Mercy Falls by Kent Krueger (both enjoyable) and before that finished Strange Affair by Peter Robinson and Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn. Not sure what your taste runs to, but that covers a few areas. The new Steve Hamilton looked pretty good when I fllipped through it at the bookstore the other day. A great Katzenbach is The Shadow Man, not scary but a good thriller.

[Cameron]

Have you read MAD DOGS by James Grady yet? It's awesome. Hilarious, thrilling, and often very depressing because the cast are filled with very fucked up lunatics who all had very bad things happen to them while working as spies for the government that made them snap.

[David Montgomery]

A nice line-up, Judge. I didn't care for the new Dick Francis (I don't think he wrote it). I liked MJ Rose's The Delilah Complex. (And The Venus Fix is even better. And her book that's coming out next fall is even better than that!)

I couldn't get into Mercy Falls, although I love Kent Krueger's work. The new Steve Hamilton is good, but a little disappointing for me.

I've got the new Vince Flynn around here somewhere. Aren't his books a little awful, though?

[Cameron Hughes]

Vince Flynn is pretty damn awful. 24 plots but taken seriously.

[Barry Eisler]

I loved Colin Harrison's The Havana Room. Gorgeous, haunting mystery, without a suitcase nuke in site.

For top five of all time (not just mysteries, but fiction generally), I would go with Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Gutterson. Among many other things, it's a murder mystery, but the real mysteries it examines (and stands in awe of) are those of the human heart.

[colman]

THE BROKEN SHORE by PETER TEMPLE......Australian based writer.dont know if its out in US...probably is though.......INDRIDASON (is that right ?) Scandinavian writer.......perhaps you need a change of setting or genre to stimulate your interest..........not a crime writer or a crime book,but ever read A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving ?Well worth a look if you want to step out of the crime/mystery box

[Elaine Flinn]

Try THE AFGHAN by Forsyth! SCARED TO LIVE by Steve Booth is another terrific!
Have I ever led you astray, Dave?

[phillip]

Ken Bruen's American Skin has just come out, half way through it and loving every word

[Judge]

That's an interesting thought on Francis having not written the book. It seemed thinner, less bite than how I recall his others. I considered that it might be due to time away, a different editor or lack of input from his wife but not that someone else had done the work. What brings you to that conclusion? A good little mystery for the weekend. : )

[Lana Lang]

I liked Colin Harrison's THE HAVANA ROOM also. The plot was negligible and the twists predictable, but the quality of the writing was superb.

I'm currently reading his first novel, BREAK AND ENTER.

[rob roberge]

David-

Have you read ONE OF A KIND (the Stuey Ungar story)? Genius poker player/drug addict and probably the most compelling bio I've read in ages...

Peace

Rob

[spyscribbler]

You know, my TBR pile is SO tall, and the books I want to buy so overwhelming, that I was surprised yesterday to suddenly feel like I didn't want to read any of it. All of a sudden it was a chore.

Yesterday, I went into Borders, and just wandered through different sections until a book appealed to me. Out of my normal genre, and not something I'd normally pick up. Just an appealing surprise.

I forgot that a book store can feel like a candy store!

[David Thayer]

David, Have you read the new William Brodrick, THE GARDENS OF THE DEAD? Or Kate Atkinson's ONE GOOD TURN?

[David Montgomery]

Haven't read either of those. They good?

I'm currently reading Bob Morris' new book, Bermuda Schwartz. I haven't had much time this weekend, though.

[Rae]

If you haven't yet read City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin, read it RIGHT NOW. It's my book of the year, so far. I've just read The Wrong Man by Katzenbach, and thought it was just fine, if not life-changing. Also just read A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church. It rocks - it's set in North Korea, and is the story of a detective who stumbles into something that's way too big for him to handle. But he has to handle it anyway. Also just read a debut novel called Malicious Intent by Kathryn Fox, about an Australian forensic physician who has someone very nasty out to get her. And I thought The Devil's Pitchfork, a debut by Mark Terry that's about bioterrorism, was pretty darned good.

Good luck ;-)

[Steve]

check out the www.librarything.com

You add your books, rate them, then it will provide you a list of other people who also think that "California Fire and Life" is a great book, for instance. You can then go to that person's library/catalog and browse his/her books. It's a really interesting site. It's a great way of getting recommendations and cataloging your books.