002, What’s On My TBR List | Thriller Novels I Want to Read
Hello, Book Lovers!
During August, I decided to devote much of my time to preparing my debut crime thriller novel, Missing for publication. So that meant, revising my fourth draft and preparing the manuscript for editing. At present, I’m eight books behind schedule. In light of this, my TBR list for October is going to feel a little ambitious, because I need to catch up on those eight books, then read the number of books I need to read for October to stay on schedule and meet my goal of 40 books read by the end of the year. And if you’re curious about how I managed to get so far behind on my reading goal and my plans to catch up the check out the first episode of the podcast by clicking here.
In the spirit of reading and getting back on track in this episode of The Book Nerd Podcast, I’m going to share with you exactly what’s on my TBR list.
Books on My Kindle and Audible Apps
The first part of my TBR list are books on my Kindle and Audible apps. I’ve purchased the Kindle whisper sync for voice versions of these books, where you purchase the Kindle book and then underneath the Buy Now button there is a little text that sort of says buy the audio version. Usually, the added audiobook is priced somewhere between £2.99 and £4.99. Sometimes I do see them ambitiously pricing the audiobook for £7.99. I think once the price gets to £7.99, there’s a part of me that would prefer to purchase the audiobook using my audible credit. At the moment, I’m on a plan for one credit a month. Two or three times a year, I purchase three credits for £18.00. Yes, I do listen to a lot of audiobooks.
Archaeological Thriller Novels
The first three books in this list are within the archaeological thriller genre. Unfortunately, there isn’t an archaeological thriller genre or category on Amazon. The way I found these books is obviously by searching Amazon with the keyword’ archaeological thrillers.’ Or, you can go to literature and fiction, then underneath there should be an action and adventure subcategory, and usually, these books are heaped within this category.
I don’t like this because I do have a strong preference to characters who have an archaeological background over characters who are former spies because I find these stories far from reality, not that I have experience with being a spy or anything. But, I find the characters a little bit two-dimensional. For example, the spy protagonist is usually a gunslinging hero that comes into town, kills the two-dimensional pure evil bad guy, then leaves.
The Exception
The exception to this is a series by Mark Dawson, and it’s called John Milton thrillers. I do like John Milton as a character, even though he’s a former special agent. From what I’ve read so far, John Milton has an emotional depth to them. And as a disclaimer, it’s worth pointing out that I’ve only ever read the first book in the series titled the Cleaner; I absolutely love it even though it’s not a genre I particularly like. Dawson captured the emotional depth that was necessary for the story considering the background of the supporting characters and the tragedy that occurred within the timeline of the story.
At some stage, I will do an official review of the cleaner by Mark Dawson on the Thriller Novel Nerd Podcast.
But back to my TBR list.
Book #1 – The Spear of Atlantis by Andy McDermott
The first book is the Spear of Atlantis by Andy McDermott, and it is book 14 in the Wild/Chase series. I initially got hooked on this series when I read book 8, which is called Temple of the Gods. With this book, and the next one, which is also in the same series, I started in reading this series because I read Temple of the Gods. All three of these Wilde/Chase books were purchased because I want to write an archaeological thriller series featuring a character from my crime thriller, Missing, and one of those books will feature something to do with the discovery of Atlantis. It isn’t necessarily about getting ideas, but making sure that I wasn’t rehashing the same thing everyone else was repeating and I would bring something new to the Atlantean tale.
What I liked about this particular series is, the author gives just enough information for you to be able to enjoy the book as a standalone without you having to go back and reading the previous seven or thirteen books in the series. These books are not a true serialised fiction even though they follow a story arch.
Book #2 – The Midas Legacy by Andy McDermott
Book two on my TBR list is The Midas Legacy by Andy McDermott, and it’s book 12 in the Wild/Chase series. Just so that you’re aware, the names Wilde and Chase are actually the last names of the two main characters in the story. It’s quite an unusual way of naming a series, but that’s how the author has chosen to name the books. I’m also assuming because I was able to read book eight as a standalone, I’m able to read the Spear Atlantis and the Midas Legacy in the same way without having to read all of the back histories in the previous novels.
Book #3 – The Lost Library by A. M. Dean
The third book in the archaeological thriller section is the Lost Library by A.M. Dean. As per the title, the book is most likely about discovering the lost library of Alexandria, and that alone is what made me purchase the book from Amazon. The Lost library might also be a part of the series because there is a second book featuring the protagonist Dr Emily Weiss. But, A. M. dean seems to be taking his time publishing subsequent books. I get that books to take a long time to write, edit and produce. However, I’m there’s a part of me that’s a little bit nervous that I’m gonna get really hooked on this and then there’s gonna be no more books after the second one for me to read which is a tragedy. Well, I think that’s a tragedy anyway.
Cozy Mystery Novels
These next two books, books four and five, are within the Cozy Mystery genre. This is just another fun genre that I love to read because it’s light-hearted, but at the same time, there is a case or a murder to solve. Even though it’s free of violence, blood, gore, and sex, it’s still intriguing, and an all-around fun read. Usually, these books are a little on the shorter side, but that’s fine because it means I can read more of them.
The audiobooks for these particular two cozy mystery novels are about five hours in length. Just to give you a bit of perspective, the Spear Atlantis is almost thirteen hours in length, I guess it’s a genre thing. These two books are by no means short stories, but they are long novellas or short, shorter novels.
Book #4 – Case of the Holiday Hijinks by J.M. Poole
Book four on my list is Case of the Holiday Hijinks by J.M. Poole, and it’s book three in the Corgi Case File Series. And, it’s exactly what you’d expect.
A middle-aged guy moves to a small town and ends up adopting a Corgi, and that same Corgi helps him solve mysteries. By the second novel, he ends up adopting a second Corgi. At present, I’m about seven percent of the way through this story already, and I love it. Even though this book does have a Christmas/holiday feel and is somewhat seasonally inappropriate for this time of year, as I’m recording this, it’s the 9th of October 2019, and it’s clearly not Christmas, but I’m still enjoying the story. What can I say? It’s a fun read.
Book #5 – Case of the Pilfered Pooches
The fifth book in the series is Case of the Pilfered Pooches, and again it’s by J.M Poole. I discovered this series by J. M. Poole by listening to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast. The authors who host this podcast are Lindsey Buroker, Joe Lallo, and Jeffrey Poole. All the authors who host the podcast write within the science fiction and fantasy genres. When you have a podcast of this nature, it’s hard to talk about how to market a book without mentioning how you sell your own books because honestly, that’s generally the best advice. But, that’s how I discovered the series, I got super curious, and I read the first book in the series which is called Case of the One-eyed Tiger.
Yes, I’m addicted to reading about these adorable little hounds and their adventures in crime-solving.
And, If I Have Time
These next four books that I have on my TBR list are books that I want to read if I have the time. If I reach the end of October and I’ve still got more reading time, then I will be diving into these books. Some of these books I purchased the paperback or hardback, then went on to buy the audiobook. The reason why I’m purchasing two versions of the same book is I have tried taking physical books along with me. What happens is the pages get damaged, or the corner of the paperback cover gets folded back, and with the hardback novels, the pages get dog-eared.
Reading Physical Books While Travelling
If you’re watching the YouTube channel, you can see that I’ve got these beautiful bookcases behind me in there jam-packed full of books and games. So, I’m a bit of a bibliophile—I’ve got a book problem, and I think books are beautiful and I want to keep my books in excellent condition.
When I’m travelling or when I go out, or if I’m doing chores around the house, usually I will listen to the audiobook. If I have time to read the physical books, I will simply figure out where I’m at in the audiobook by flipping to those to that page or that chapter in the physical book, and I’ll continue reading. I tend to read an entire chapter at a time, this is easier to figure out where I’m at because I’m reading two versions of the same book at the same time. I hope that makes sense, and it’s not too confusing.
Book #6 – Along Came A Spider by James Patterson
The first book in the if I had time section is, Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. I initially decided to purchase this book and this one, after completing Patterson’s Master Class in Writing. It was general writing, it wasn’t specifically thrillers. What got me onto this particular book, which is the first in the Alex Cross series is, in the Masterclass, the author mentions that this book has an ambiguous ending. He simply hinted at the type of story ending, and I was a little curious, so I picked this up at the Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus.
Book #7 – Kiss The Girls by James Patterson
I picked up this particular book while I was in Brisbane, visiting my family with Roland. Kiss the Girls cost me 19.99 Australian Dollars, including taxes.
Book pricing is part of the problem with reading and growing up in Australia. As a child, I did a lot of reading, but as a teenager and a young adult I didn’t, and it was purely because the books were priced so high. Because I’m as old as the dinosaurs, they didn’t have Kindles when I grew up, it was just paperbacks and hardbacks, and audio CDs. Reading is costly in Australia. Obviously, since the introduction of e-reading devices and ebooks, reading has become a little bit more affordable.
In 2011, upon moving to London and starting to write, I fell back in love with reading, again. And, to my surprise, the books were so much cheaper here. If you take a look at the ISBN barcode at the back of Kiss the Girls, you will see that this book costs £7.99 in the UK. That’s roughly 10.00 Australian dollars. The book is half the price on the other side of the world. Books are so expensive in Australia, and honestly, I don’t know why.
Book #8 – The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
The third book in the ‘and if I had time’ section is called to the Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch, and this is the sixth book in the Peter Grant/Rivers of London series.
A Quick Disclaimer
Just a disclaimer with this book, I used to work for Orion Publishing, and this particular author is published by Gollancz, and that is a subsidiary of Orion Publishing. When I worked for Orion, one day, someone sent a staff email to say that Ben Aaronovitch was in the building and conducting a book signing to celebrate the release of his third book.
So, I turned up to the author signing event, and I got the first two books in this series in paperback and the third book which was only available in hardback at the time, all signed and for free. Upon returning to London in 2014, I started purchasing these books with my own money as they were published and I also have the paperback comics in this series as well.
About the Book
This book isn’t a thriller, but it does sit within the Urban Fantasy genre, and it is a police procedural, which is why I’ve included this series. It is a little bit cross-genre, but it’s something that I really love. The protagonist in this series is PC Peter Grant. He’s a new recruit to the police force which had just finished his training. One evening, by accident, he gets assigned to this special secret magical division of the police force which is purely devoted to magic and crimes related to magical individuals.
PC Grant is super funny, witty and is a younger protagonist, but he’s still too old to be considered young adult; so it’s definitely an adult genre. I absolutely love this series, because it’s set in London and you get to see all the interesting places in London.
Book #9 – The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
This last book is called the President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton. I guess it’s safe to say this book is a political thriller. This hardback has a black cover with gold embossing, and beautiful red lined page edges and the book is absolutely stunning. I purchased this book purely because “Bill Clinton wrote a book?” There’s a part of me that gets en impression that Clinton probably didn’t write the book, but he contributed a lot of insider knowledge to whatever goes on in the plot of this book. On top of this, I have no idea about the plot of this book. It was an impulse purchase due to its beauty, intriguing title, that happened to fall into my shopping cart in Waterstones.
Concluding Thoughts
So, that concludes my first ever what’s on my TBR list episode. Going forward, I will do one of these episodes per month or quarter. If I don’t finish all of my book for the month or quarter, I will mention that the books are still on my list, but I won’t go into great detail about those books; l will spend the majority of the time talking about the new additions to my TBR list.
I guess my question for you is, do you have a to be read list? And if so, what’s on it? Are you organised about what you want to read? Or, are you a bit like me? I have a TBR list, and I have every intention of reading the books on the list, but sometimes I get distracted, and I end up reading other things. Other times I will see something online and feel compelled to read it, or I go back to a series that I love. Do you read like this as well or do you still to your TBR list? Let me know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.
Thank you for listening and happy reading, everybody.
With love,
Amelia xx
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I’m Amelia. I write mystery and thriller novels under the pen name A. D. Hay and I’m the author of Missing the first book in the James Lalonde series. I’m the host of the Book Nerd Podcast and The Authorpreneur Podcast. Right now, I’m editing my soon to be published mystery novels, The Candidate, Duplicity, 24 Hours, and Immunity. When I’m not writing, hosting my podcasts or coaching aspiring authors, I love to travel around Europe with my Husband Roland, drink tea, and eat pizza.
