Oprah Ain't Got Nothin' On Me!

Wow! How did it get to be Thursday already? And the 18th of June? This month has just been full of excitement. Coming up Saturday, I'll be sharing the excitement of my trip to see the amazing writing duo Michael Stanley. Tomorrow, though, Chris Grabenstein has been kind enough to provide me with a short break, so I can get caught up a tad bit. He'll be guest blogging about "The Boss" tomorrow. I'm so excited to hear what Chris has to say about Springsteen's influence on both him and my beloved John Ceepak. Speaking of which, MIND SCRAMBLER comes out on Tuesday. So in conjunction with Chris's guest post, we'll start a giveaway for an ARC copy of MIND SCRAMBLER. Don't miss out on your chance at that beauty! Check back tomorrow.

So, on to the title of this post. Surprise, surprise, Oprah has some book lists out. If you're interested in her 25 reads for summer, you can find those here. None are on my list to read anytime in the next decade. She also has a list of "Unputdownable Mysteries." O.k., first of all, "unputdownable"? Who's writing this? They couldn't come up with something better than "unputdownable"? Here's the list:

The Complete Ripley Novels - Patricia Highsmith
The Long Fall - Walter Mosley
Nobody Move - Denis Johnson
The Grift - Debra Ginsberg
Not in the Flesh - Ruth Rendell
What Was Lost - Catherine O'Flynn
Trauma - Patrick McGrath
Go With Me - Catle Freeman, Jr.
Talk, Talk - T.C. Boyle
Lulu in Marrakech - Diane Johnson
Yes, My Darling Daughter - Margaret Leroy

I'm sure that there are folks out there who will eat this list up. This list, however, does contain a book I have plans to read - THE LONG FALL. Aside from that, I doubt very seriously that I'll make time for any of the others. But, I decided that I would counter Oprah with my own list. I'll stick to eleven titles as she did, and I'll include titles up through August releases (not sure what Oprah's date requirement was). However, I'll start with a catchier title. I give you:

Jen's 2009 Crime Fiction Titles to Covet

THE DARK HORSE - Craig Johnson
MIND SCRAMBLER - Chris Grabenstein
THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU - Michael Stanley
BREATHING WATER - Timothy Hallinan
RAIN GODS - James Lee Burke
TRUST NO ONE - Gregg Hurwitz
A RULE AGAINST MURDER - Louise Penny
THE BIG DIRT NAP - Rosemary Harris
THE SILENT HOUR - Michael Koryta
OUT COLD - Tom Schreck
KILLER KEEPSAKES - Jane Cleland

O.k., so a few I have read and are among my favorites so far for this year and the rest are ones I will definitely read before the year's out. Of course I have a slew of others that should be on the list as well, but I said I'd keep it to 11. Michael Lister, Robin Burcell and Libby Fischer Hellman all have books coming out that I'm coveting as well, but those won't be out until after August. They'll have to be on my list for fall reading, huh? But this is my idea of a "mystery reading list." How about you? Do you want to read any from Oprah's list? What would be on YOUR list? Time to sound off...what would you choose?