Seven novels with ominous beach settings

Sarah Strohmeyer is a bestselling and award-winning novelist whose books include The Secrets of Lily Graves, How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True, Smart Girls Get What They Want, The Cinderella Pact (which became the Lifetime Original Movie Lying to Be Perfect), The Sleeping Beauty Proposal, The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives, Sweet Love, and the Bubbles mystery series.

Her latest book is Do I Know You?.

[The Page 69 Test: This Is My Brain on Boys; My Book, The Movie: This Is My Brain on Boys; Writers Read: Sarah Strohmeyer (May 2016).]

At CrimeReads Strohmeyer tagged seven novels set in ominous salt-water locales, including:

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Seaside coasts need not be ringed with jagged rocks to be ominous, as Elly Griffiths’s often humorous, always human, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway knows all too well in The Crossing Places, the first in her excellent Galloway series. Set on the other side of Great Britain on Norfolk’s flats, Galloway is called to investigate a collection of children’s bones discovered buried in a bleak beach. The sad reveal stirs up memories of another girl, abducted and never found.

Ruth lives near the site, alone, in a tiny house facing the salt marsh. The setting feels portentous. Apparently, its vast expanse of desolate grassland was once considered sacred among ancient settlers who viewed it as the division not only between the earth and the sea, but between life and death.

The book is saturated with the sights and smells of the marsh and the mystery of the mudflats that are as treacherous as they are occasionally fruitful with preserved Bronze Age artifacts—as well as more modern and horrifying discoveries.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Crossing Places is among Joanna Schaffhausen's ten top dynamic detective duos in crime fiction.

The Page 69 Test: The Crossing Places.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 novels about novelists

Louise Dean is the author of four novels and has been published globally by Penguin and Simon & Schuster amongst others.

[The Page 69 Test: The Old Romantic; Writers Read: Louise Dean (March 2011); My Book, The Movie: The Old Romantic]

Dean has won The Betty Trask Prize and Le Prince Maurice Prize, been nominated for The Guardian First Book Prize, and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Award and The Booker Prize. Her books have been deemed the top books of their year by The Guardian, The Observer and Publishers Weekly. A finalist for the Costa Coffee 2020 Short Story Award.

In 2017 Dean founded of The Novelry. It provides courses and advice to writers of any moral condition, with or without novels in progress.

At the Guardian the author tagged ten top novels about novelists, including:

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

When down-on-his-luck author Jacob Finch Bonnet takes up a new teaching role at a Vermont college he is under-prepared, uninterested, and feeling impostor syndrome to his very bones. He soon encounters his worst nightmare: an extravagantly confident student possessed of an idea for a novel that is so remarkable that even Jake despairingly admits, “the worst writer on the planet could not mess up a plot like this”. Before too long, the stars align for Jake to make his ill-advised move. The killer plot is now his, and glittering success soon follows. But will it last? Spoiler: no.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven books for World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day, an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.

In 2020 Laura Sackton tagged seven titles to help you brush up on your World AIDS Day history, books that are "full of inspiring stories about the bravery and determination of ordinary citizens in the face of a terrifying crisis," including:

Stand by Me by Jim Downs

The AIDS crisis in America came at a time when the burgeoning LGBTQIA rights moment was just starting to get mainstream media attention. Even now, there's a common belief that gay liberation began at the Stonewall Inn, and that the 1970s were solely about sexual freedom. In Stand by Me, historian Jim Downs revisits the 1970s, drawing a more nuanced picture of gay life. Drawing on documents and records from LGBTQ community centers in major cities, he tells the stories of gay people all over the country who came together to build communities. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of gay liberation before, during, and after the AIDS crisis.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twenty-five of the best vampire books

At Bustle, K.W. Colyard tagged twenty-five of the best recent vampire books, including:

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger’s first Parasol Protectorate novel introduces readers to Alexia Tarabotti, a young woman whose lack of a soul makes her impervious to all supernatural attackers — including the vampire who breaks the laws of common decency to go after her. Now he’s dead, and none other than the Queen herself has sent a werewolf investigator to sniff out Alexia’s trail.

Read about the other books on the list.

Soulless is among David R. Slayton's ten groundbreaking urban fantasy novels and Darynda Jones's ten must-read crime-fighting duos.

My Book, The Movie: Soulless by Gail Carriger.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top science fiction books by autistic authors

Ada Hoffmann is the author of the space opera novel The Outside, the collection Monsters in My Mind, and over 60 published speculative short stories and poems.

[The Page 69 Test: The Outside]

Hoffmann was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of 13, and is passionate about autistic self-advocacy. Her Autistic Book Party review series is devoted to in-depth discussions of autism representation in speculative fiction. Much of her own work also features autistic characters.

At Shepherd Hoffmann tagged five of the best science fiction books by autistic authors, including:

Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen

A boy named Caiden, raised a slave on a remote planet, escapes - only to find himself thrown into a battle for justice and freedom larger than he can comprehend. This sweeping, visceral space opera is full of vivid visuals, inventive technology, fantastical species, and harrowing challenges. Behind the scenes, it's also a very nuanced look at found family, trauma, and healing.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top murder mysteries that take place during Christmas

Amy Pershing, who spent every summer of her childhood on Cape Cod, was an editor, a restaurant reviewer and a journalist before sitting down to write the Cape Cod Foodie Mystery series, including A Side of Murder — which Elizabeth Gilbert called “the freshest, funniest mystery I have ever read” — and An Eggnog to Die For — which Kirkus Reviews gave a starred review, saying, "A delightful sleuth, a complex mystery, and lovingly described cuisine: a winner for both foodies and mystery mavens."

At CrimeReads Pershing tagged ten "stylish, well written and cleverly plotted" murder mysteries that take place during Christmas, including:

Red Christmas by Reginald Hill

“I’m not going to be shot in a wheelbarrow, for the sake of appearances, to pleases anybody.” Mr. Samuel Pickwick

In this Dickens-inspired whodunit (which includes lovely chapter-headings from Dickens himself), the author of the Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries, Reginald Hill, takes us to Dingley Dell, a secluded hotel in the English countryside where the guests have been promised a “Dickensian Christmas.”

In this stand-alone novel, Miss Arabella Allen, “possessed of all the knowing cynicism of a twenty-three-year-old English virgin,” (it’s 1972, people) finds herself snowbound with a rather odd assortment of fellow hotel guests—and a frozen corpse. As the temperatures drop and the body count rises, the clever and resourceful Arabella takes it upon herself to investigate this increasingly deadly silent night.

Verdict: A thrilling (spies!) “Dickensian” mystery.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven novels by African writers about the legacy of colonialism on their homelands

Okezie Nwọka was born and raised in Washington, D.C. They are a graduate of Brown University, and attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop as a Dean Graduate Research Fellow. They are presently teaching and living in their hometown.

Nwọka's debut novel is God of Mercy.

At Electric Lit they tagged seven "books by African writers about the legacy of colonialism on their homelands." One title on the list:

Butterfly Burning by Yvonne Vera

This beautiful novel is set in 1940s Bulawayo (a city in then Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe) and follows the story of Phephelaphi Dube, a young woman who falls in love and ends up in troubling relationship. This novel is written in verse with most of its lines feeling like works of poetry. This book explores the nature of city life during Zimbabwe’s colonial era and is unrelenting in its exposition of the main characters.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best books that take zombies in a new direction

Rachel Aukes's many books include the zombie trilogy, The Deadland Saga. About the first book in the series, 100 Days in Deadland, from the author:

100 Days in Deadland, the Amazon bestseller that made Suspense Magazine’s Best of the Year list, is set in a near-future Midwest United States decimated by a zombie plague. In this tale, our hero, Cash, and her guide, Clutch, are forced on a journey through hell on earth in a modern retelling of Dante Alighieri’s epic medieval poem, The Divine Comedy...reimagined zombie apocalypse style!

At Shepherd Aukes tagged five books that take zombies in a new direction, including:

The Retreat: Pandemic by Craig DiLouie with Stephen Knight and Joe McKinney

This book is the first part of a limited series by some of the biggest names in the genre. They’ve teamed up to bring you zombies that are absolutely insane. There were multiple times in the book where my jaw dropped in unexpected shock or I jumped in my chair at these zombies. I just have to say, if these zombies take over Earth, we are screwed. These zombies will maim, eat, and do many, many other horrible things to us and have a blast doing it. If you’re in the mood for a high-octane zombie book that stars the most disturbing zombies out there, read this book.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 novels and stories of the 1970s

Hilma Wolitzer is a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and a Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. She has taught at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, New York University, Columbia University, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Her first published story appeared when she was thirty-six, and her first novel eight years later. Her many stories and novels have drawn critical praise for illuminating the dark interiors of the American home. She lives in New York City.

Wolitzer's newest book is Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket: Stories.

At the Guardian she tagged ten top novels and stories of the 1970s, including:

Final Payments by Mary Gordon (1978)

When Isabel Moore’s demanding and devoutly Catholic father dies after a series of strokes, she’s released from caring for him into the terrifying freedom of independence. Isabel was 19 when she first became his carer after her mother’s death, and now she’s an unworldly 30. Two female friends offer advice and support, and two men become her lovers. Isabel, who struggles with the meaning of Christian love, has to choose between the pleasures of an unfettered life and doing penance for an act that contributed to her father’s fatal illness. Final Payments was Mary Gordon’s debut novel, and it is remarkably insightful and accomplished.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of worst fictional characters to invite to Thanksgiving

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Jill Boyd tagged five of the worst fictional characters to invite to Thanksgiving. One entry on the list:

Ignatius J. Reilly (A Confederacy of Dunces)

You may be able to forgive Ignatius for his bloviating, his condescension, even his gluttony. But his stance on canned food—that it is a perversion, damaging to the soul—is unforgivable. Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce that retains the shape of the can from whence it came.

Read about the other entries on the list.

A Confederacy of Dunces is among the Telegraph's critics' fifty best cult books, Melissa Albert's eight favorite fictional misfits, Ken Jennings's eight notable books about parents and kids, Sarah Stodol's top ten lost-then-found novels, Hallie Ephron's top ten books for a good laugh, Stephen Kelman's top 10 outsiders' stories, John Mullan's ten best moustaches in literature, Michael Lewis's five favorite books, and Cracked magazine's classic funny novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twenty-five of the best Thanksgiving books

At Oprah Daily DeAnna Janes and Elena Nicolaou tagged twenty-five of the best Thanksgiving books to celebrate the holiday, including:

Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich

Thanksgiving means family, food, and...romance? In Janet Evanovich’s easygoing page-turner, you’ll devour the instant connection between Megan Murphy, the redhead who’s been hurt by love’s games in the past, and Patrick Hunter, a doctor who is "too handsome to stay mad at for long."

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

The best novels for learning how to write crime fiction

Thomas Perry is the bestselling author of over twenty-nine novels, including the critically acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, Forty Thieves, and The Butcher’s Boy, which won the Edgar Award. He lives in Southern California.

Perry's latest Jane Whitefield novel is The Left-Handed Twin.

[The Page 69 Test: Silence; The Page 99 Test: Nightlife; The Page 69/99 Test: Fidelity; The Page 69/99 Test: Runner; The Page 69 Test: Strip; The Page 69 Test: The Informant; The Page 69 Test: The Boyfriend; The Page 69 Test: A String of Beads; The Page 69 Test: Forty Thieves; The Page 69 Test: The Old Man; The Page 69 Test: The Bomb Maker; The Page 69 Test: The Burglar; The Page 69 Test: A Small Town; The Page 69 Test: Eddie's Boy; The Page 69 Test: The Left-Handed Twin; Q&A with Thomas Perry]

At Shepherd Perry tagged five of the best novels for learning how to write crime fiction, including:

Pure by Jo Perry

This is a risky choice because the author is my old university colleague and later television writing partner, to whom I’ve been married for 41 years. I feel comfortable about it because of the number of fine British and American writers who have recommended this and her earlier books. I picked it because it’s the first novel I’ve read that makes a credible artistic attempt to grasp the experience of the current Pandemic. It’s a murder mystery that takes place during those first few months, when what was happening in the world seemed unthinkable, going out meant breaking a lockdown, and contact with anyone might be fatal. The amateur investigator, a young woman with an aimless and undisciplined past, takes a deep expedition into death, and it galvanizes her into taking charge and being really alive.

Read about the other entries on the list.

My Book, The Movie: Pure.

The Page 69 Test: Pure.

--Marshal Zeringue