Ever since I saw Joy’s announcement of the 2nds Challenge I knew I’d be joining in. I’ve been participating in her First in the Series Challenge and have managed to read some great first books so it’s only natural that I want to read the next book. This will be the perfect excuse to do just that.

The challenge doesn’t start until September so I still have time to come up with my final list (well, I’m sure I’ll make changes as I go along as I tend to do that) but I thought I’d share some of the books that I’ve been thinking of since I found out about the challenge.

• Secondhand Smoke by Karen E. Olson. Last year I got to read Karen’s first book, Sacred Cows, and really enjoyed it. I also was lucky enough to host a Q&A with Karen and since then I’ve been meaning to read up on this series. Karen will have a new book out later this Fall so I must get caught up on this series!
• Preaching to the Corpse by Roberta Isleib. Again, another author I discovered last year. I thought her first mystery in the Advice Column series was really well done so I’d like to revisit with her characters.
• The Likeness by Tana French. I know I’ve mentioned that In the Woods has been one of my favorite reads this year so far so I’m very curious as to what happens next with these characters.
• The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip to Italy.
• Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George. Really liked the first one in this series and it looks like I’ve got a way to go to catch up with this one.
• Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn. I want to know what happens next to Lady Julia Grey.
• When Gods Die by C.S. Harris. Another great historical mystery series which I want to follow.

I realize these are all mysteries and I could easily pick books in some different genres but when I think of a series, I always think of mysteries first. So, that’s my long list for now. I only have to read four books for this challenge but these are all books I want to read so even if I don’t get to them for this challenge, they are on my TBR shelves and I will get to them eventually.

I had to go to the library this afternoon to pick up a book for my mystery book group meeting in September but I managed to walk away with a few others. I shouldn’t have picked those up as I have so many new books to read but I couldn’t help it. They sounded interesting and why not?

Anyway, I got The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. This is for my new mystery book group that I’ve joined in Austin. You know me, I don’t like to read series in the middle and this is the 16th in the series. Yikes. I think I’m going to have to get over my “must-start-at-the-beginning-of-a-series” mode.

I also checked out B As in Beirut by Iman Humaydan Younes. This book is about the lives of four women who live in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war. I also noticed that this is published by an imprint I’m not familiar with, Interlink Books. I had a quick look at their web site and I already like what I see.

Because I always like a good Victorian setting, I couldn’t walk away without A Tissue of Lies by Tessa Barclay. I also picked up Skim by Mariko Tamaki, which means I may actually finish my Graphic Novels Challenge soon.

Of course I also picked up the free copy of BookPage but I think I’ve already heard of all the books mentioned from you guys. Gotta love that.

Anyway, I’m still behind on my emails and blog reading so I apologize. I had planned to make a dent into that today but I found my energies going into dealing with car insurance stuff. You see, on the weekend a big car decided to park close to my small car and then they couldn’t get out very easily. When they tried, my poor car got some small scratches. It’s a pain to deal with this but at least the girls waited for me to get to my car to give me their insurance info. More book talk tomorrow.