Tag / The Thursday Murder Club

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Streaking Authors

Every other year or so, we take a fresh look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  I thought it would be interesting to mix it up a bit and, instead of looking at the overall total, to instead look at the authors I have read continuously for the longest period of time.  So, without further ado, it’s time to take a look at which authors have the longest streak of consecutive years read.

Ten

Jeffery Deaver – Thanks mostly to his Lincoln Rhyme series, Deaver put together a streak of ten years with at least one book read by me starting in 2015 with The Vanished Man and ending in 2024 with Fatal Intrusion, his first collaboration with Isabella Maldonado.  After a one-year absence, corresponding with my completing the Rhyme series, he returned in 2026 to hopefully start a new streak.

Nine

Riley Sager – Sager burst onto the scene in 2017 with his first novel, Final Girls.  Every year since, he has put out a new book and I have read it, continuing through last year’s With a Vengeance.  He can extend his streak and tie Deaver for the longest if the library can deliver his latest in the next two months or so.

Karin Slaughter – Another current streak, Slaughter first came across my notice in 2018 thanks to Pretty Girls.  Due in part to her Will Trent and Grant County series, she has showed up at least once every year since, including Girl, Forgotten, which I completed earlier this year.

Eight

Richard Castle – The ghost writer for Richard Castle, the character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in Castle, made appearances in eight straight years, thanks to the novels that were supposedly written in the show, starting in 2010 with Heat Wave and culminating in 2017 with A Bloody Storm.

Six

Sarah Pekkanen – Starting in 2020, with her writing partner Green Hendricks, Pekkanen started her streak with The Wife Between Us.  Her streak outlived the partnership, continuing through last year with The Locked Ward.

Five

Nancy Holder – Thanks to her television show tie-in work, Nancy Holder was able to string together a streak of five years, starting in 1998 with Halloween Rain, based on the adventures of Bully the Vampire Slayer, and finishing in 2002 with The Burning, a collaboration with Jeff Mariotte.

Stephen King – My history with King is long but contains many frequent breaks.  His longest streak, which is current through the end of the year, started in 2021 with Later and runs through last year, when I completed his latest, Never Flinch.

Mary Kubica – The local author first came to my attention in 2015 with The Good Girl.  She appeared at least once annually through 2019, when I completed When the Lights Go Out.

Rebecca Forster – Forster was a constant presence as I worked through her Witness series, beginning in 2021 with Silent Witness and completing last year with Lost Witness.

Alex Finlay – Finlay first landed on my Kindle in 2022, thanks to Every Last Fear.  His streak continues on, thank to this year’s The Anniversary.

Richard Osman – His Thursday Murder Club series has helped him put together a streak of five years, starting in 2022 with The Thursday Murder Club and continuing through 2026 with The Impossible Fortune.

Elin Hilderbrand – We wrap up with Hilderbrand, who also has a current five-year streak going into 2027.  She started in 2022 with The Hotel Nantucket and continued this year with Winter in Paradise.

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2025: The Year In Movies

The return of my annual long December vacation helped push up a weak first eleven months of the year, giving me my lowest total since last year.  I managed to watch 55 movies last year, my fifth consecutive year under 100, despite being home all day and not needing to bother with pesky things like a commute.  Or exercise.  Reading 66 books and watching game shows all day probably didn’t help either.

Here’s a look back at the first 50 movies I watched last year and what recollection, if any, I have of them. The films are listed in the order I saw them.

Queenpins (2021)
A pair of housewives create a $40 million coupon scam.

Blackwater Lane (2024)
A woman believes she will be the next victim of a serial killer.

MaXXXine (2024)
Mia Goth returns in this prequel to X.

Mothers’ Instinct (2024)
The friendship between two women is tested when one loses her son.

Blitz (2024)
A group of Londoners tries to survive during the German bombing during World War II.

Poor Things (2023)
Emma Stone plays a woman who has the brain of a baby transplanted into her head.

The Idea of You (2024)
A 40-year-old single mom begins an unexpected romance with the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet.

Back in Action (2025)
Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz star as retired CIA agents forced to come out of retirement to save their family.

Kinds of Kindness (2024)
Emma Stone reteams with writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos.

Y2K (2024)
Machines go nuts as the clock strikes midnight and the world enters the year 2000.

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Prolific Authors – Five Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today with the ten authors I’ve read two times, an increase of three from two years ago.

Serpent’s Storm – Amber Benson

Amber Benson

The former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star checks in with the five entries in her Calliope Reaper-Jones fantasy series.

Dan Brown

Brown, who became a publishing superstar with the release of The DaVinci Code in 2003, has a new Robert Langdon book due out later this year.

Diane Carey

First read in 1991, she was a stalwart of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel line, which accounted for four of her five entries.

The Night Shift – Alex Finlay

Alex Finlay

Five books in four years, including Parents Weekend from earlier this year, have pushed Finlay up this list.

Jeff Mariotte

The former WildStorm VP and DC editor stands pat with his entries from the Buffy and Angel series of novels.

Kimberly McCreight

A New York Times bestselling author thanks to her debut novel, Reconstructing Amelia, she has been a steady presence since 2013.

Yvonne Navarro

All five of the Chicago native’s works that I’ve read revisit the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe.

We Solve Murders – Richard Osman

Richard Osman

An English television presenter, Osman turned his efforts to fiction in 2020 with The Thursday Murder Club, which I came across in 2022.

Tom Perrotta

A nice two-book jump for the American novelist and screenwriter, whose works have a tendency to wind up on screen.

William Shatner

The actor best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek checks in with his efforts, whatever they may have been, both with his TekWar series and on two Star Trek novels.

 

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Prolific Authors – 3 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  Since I’ve far surpassed my “normal” reading output the last three yeas, I thought it would be nice to once again take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through the start of October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the 20 authors I’ve read thrice, an increase of eight over the past two years.

Kevin J. Anderson

Last read in the 20th century, he’s responsible for three of the X-Files books on my shelf.

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman

This Swedish author has become a recent favorite, showing up once a year over the past three years, with more to come, I’m sure.

Adam Carolla

The former comedian and current right-wing nutjob managed to get me to read three of his podcast regurgitations.

Bill Carter

The former media reporter for the New York Times delivered three behind the scenes looks at the television industry, including the transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno and from Jay Leno to Conan O’Brien and back again.

Executive Order – Max Allan Collins

Max Allan Collins

Author of all entries of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Suzanne Collins

The woman behind a little trilogy about a young woman named Katniss who upends her entire world.

Keith R.A. DeCandido

Two Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels and a Spider-Man novel make up his works.

Alex Finlay

A DC lawyer writing under a penname, Finlay has placed three books in my hands over the past two years.

The Guest List – Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley

Another recent fave, Foley, a New York Times best seller, has shown up annually since 2021.

Megan Goldin

The former Reuters correspondent first appeared on my radar in 2021 with her debut, The Escape Room.

Paula Hawkins

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Book 41 (of 52) – The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

When murder finds its way to a retirement community, a group of four residents, who get together once a week to talk about and investigate cold cases, insert themselves into the investigations and help the police track down leads for the two current (and one older) dead bodies.

The Thursday Murder Club, the debut novel from UK television personality Richard Osman, became a smash hit and has become the first in a series of mystery novels about the group of old timers.  While the world awaits the film adaptation, I’m sure I will get around to the next two entries in the series.