I knew it had been a while since my last post, but was surprised to see it was actually in January. I haven’t done any of the things designed to boost readership, like … tell people I had a blog, post to other people’s blogs, leave comments around the web quoting myself, so it’s not like I was leaving anyone in the lurch, right?

But tonight, I decided to pick things back up and see what would come out. I felt like writing about cool books I have read. I’ve been thinking about reading this summer and don’t really feel like there’s a lot of good recommendations out there. So here are some of mine:

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
I read these books years ago when they were considered historical romance and filed as such in my local B&N. Imagine my surprise when I recently pointed some book club members to these books and we all traipsed over there to pick them up. I searched the G’s of the historical section with mounting panic … but they were nowhere to be found. I was on my way to the information desk, when I passed fiction and literature and thought “heck, I’ll take a quick look.” Boom baby! Diana Gabaldon, upgraded to fiction and literature, with new classy covers and everything. Most of mine have the original covers. Paperback. Yep.

Anyway, they are a sweeping saga of Scottish history, American history, English history with fascinating bits about historic medicine, customs and a fabulous love story or two or three wound in there. A main character with a Scottish accent and a kilt, a sassy strong woman and some time travel — color me happy. There are 5 books in the series, I think. All of them are great reads.

The Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich
When you’re looking for a sassy (there’s that word again) female detective, look no further than Stephanie Plum and her formerly-a-ho sidekick Lula. All kinds of crazy stuff happens to Stephanie. If she were real, I’d tell you NOT to EVER lend her your car. Did I mention she’s a bounty hunter? There are 11 books, and I think a new one coming out this summer. You don’t have to read them in order, but they have cool names, each with a number in the title so you know which one you’ve got.

The Judge Deborah Knott books by Margaret Maron
I love, love, LOVE these books, and have two of them signed by the author. (Thanks Miz Maron! I sure enjoyed meeting you a few years ago.) In these books, set in North Carolina, not too far from where I live, Judge Deborah Knott serves justice on the bench while tripping over a mystery or two. The first book in the series is The Bootlegger’s Daughter. And yes, the judge is in fact a bootlegger’s daughter. There’s a lot of good Southern stuff going on in these books, some fine mysteries and a whole lot of family. Right now I’m re-reading Killer Market, set at the High Point furniture market.

I’m doing this off the top of my head, so I’ll probably have more recommendations coming up later. I’m off to scrapbook.