For years, whenever I mentioned going on vacation the first question wasn’t “Where are you going?” but “What books are you taking?” Of course, it may be that since we usually go to the same place every year (South Lake Tahoe), the one who asked probably felt like it was a redundant question. So since I’ve already told you where we are going (not that you asked), here are the books I plan on reading while lazing in the campsite or on the (we hope) sunny beach.

I mentioned Glass Ocean in my Sandy Covers blog and this trip will be perfect timing to read it. In the same post, I also mentioned Linwood Barclay’s A Noise Downstairs, along with Karin Slaughter’s Pieces of Her (and no, that title doesn’t refer to a dismembered body although it wouldn’t surprise me with Slaughter).

The Dreamers is by a Portland, Oregon, author and I’m anxious to read as I loved her first book, Age of Miracles.

An Anonymous Girl by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks is due to be published in early 2019, and since I loved The Wife Between Us, I’m looking forward to this new psychological thriller.

Another thriller by an author I like is I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan. Her earlier book, What She Knew, was terrific.

And I figure since we’ll be camping in the wilderness, it’s good to have Bear Grylls around, and no, he won’t be camping with us, but at least we’ll have his new book, How To Stay Alive–OK, so we will be only 3 miles from a grocery store and 1 mile from the nearest ice cream shop, but one never knows; there could be a forest fire or landslide that keeps us away from the brownie sundaes!

E-Reading

But wait, there’s more! I also have a “priority” collection on my Kindle and the following are also in the queue.

When we make our yearly trek to South Lake Tahoe, one of my “go-to” authors is Todd Borg who writes a terrific series set in the same area featuring Owen McKenna, a retired San Francisco detective, and his faithful companion, Spot, a Harlequin great dane. This year I am on the ninth book, Tahoe Hijack. If you want to try these, start with the first title, Tahoe Deathfall.

I also love G.M. Ford and I was excited to see a digital galley of his next book, Soul Survivor, available for download from NetGalley. This is the 11th in the Leo Waterman series set in Seattle but start with the first, Who In Hell is Wanda Fuca?

Both of these series fall into the “manly men doing manly things yet also sensitive who treat their women as equals” trope and are good bets for fans of J. A. Jance and even Sue Grafton.

Others on my list include Woman 99 by Greer Macallister. Her first book, The Magician’s Lie, is one of my favorite twisty literary mysteries, and I also enjoyed Girl in Disguise, the fictionalized story of Pinkerton’s first woman detective.

Last year I read Nora Roberts’ first entry in her new paranormal fantasy series, Year One, and while I’m not a big fan of dystopian novels with weird stuff going on, it kept my interest. The next book is available for me to pre-read, Of Blood and Bone, so I may give it a try.

Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, was a terrific twisty mind-bender of a book, which wasn’t for everyone but I thought it was very cleverly constructed. I hear his next book, Foe, may be even better.

And I just received the stunningly compiled book, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich, and it appears to be a “must” for occasional perusing. Be sure to purchase a copy when it comes out in October.

So will I get them all read? Somehow I doubt it as my usual total for a two-week trip is six books, but who knows. Stay tuned…