Nancy Gideon: Top Ten To-Be-Read List

Today I have Nancy Gideon here for a guest post on her top ten to-be-read list, so here she is.

I’m getting ready to have knee replacement surgery next month. What I’m looking forward to almost as much as those new hinges is a rare opportunity to do the one thing I really love . . . read! Working a fulltime job AND being a fulltime writer, there never seem to be enough hours left over to sit down with that enticing new title languishing on my iPad Kindle app. When I do read, it’s usually just before I go to bed which means about six pages in, I’m snoring (no reflection on the book! It’s just that I get up at 5:00 a.m.!) It’s hard to establish a rapport with characters when you’re halfway to your own dreamland before you’re halfway through the chapter. The last time I really had a reading marathon was during a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. I think I read a book a day between beach time and siestas. It was wonderful! And I always carry a book on the place when I travel (usually Dean Koontz!) and usually have it done before landing back at home.

Four to six weeks of unbridled reading . . . Where to begin . . .?

Variety is the spice of a writer’s life. To keep the imagination cooking, I like to read in all different genres, not just in the ones I write. My interests are all over the place: horror, suspense, regencies, historicals, men’s action adventure, chick lit, and young adult. But all of them have to have these few things in common:

1. A strong hook. If I’m not immediately engaged, I’m going to be snoring.

2. In your face characters. I adore a quirky, opinionated, unique character I can relate to the minute he or she speaks. I don’t even have to like them to be interested in them. Sometimes the best friend or even the villain (!) is my reason for loving the book.

3. A quest. I love an adventure, to be carried away on an exciting ride.

4. Suspense. If it’s got a whisper of intrigue, I’m there. I can’t resist the challenge of a Who Done It . . . especially if I can’t guess who do it by page 50.

5. Dialogue that pops. Character is revealed by what a person says, how they say it and when they say it. A character with a compelling (and consistent!) ‘voice’ always draws me in.

6. Fast pace. Keep me awake . . . please! A plot that moves, layers that unfold, surprises that catch me off guard, a story that drags me into the late hours of the night (or early morning). Those are my go-to authors.

So what am I going to be carrying in the saddlebags of my walker? Here’s my Top Ten:

Justin Cronin’s The Twelve. Couldn’t get enough of the first book during my last vacation and am dying to get back into this dark vampiric post-apocalyptic world. I hope Justin has learned how to do paragraphs since the first book.

Lisa Gardner’s Catch Me. Love her D.D.Warren books! She always has me right at the edge of the crime scene tape.

Perri O’Shaughnessy’s Dreams of the Dead. It’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed me some Nina Reilly. Lake Tahoe and attorneys . . . the best of both worlds. Like being at work but with better scenery!

Thea Devine’s His Little Black Book. A little something naughty for the cardio workout from my pal who was doing HOT when gray was still just a dull color.

Eileen Dreyer’s Barely A Lady. I started her delicious Drake’s Rakes regency series out of order so now’s the time to get up to speed.

Sherrilynn Kenyon’s Acheron. Because I never had a chance to read it and I love Nick (that secondary character thing!)

Jennifer Greene’s The Baby Bump. Because she makes series contemporary
romance awesome!!

Sandra Brown’s Lethal. This romance alum builds irresistible thrillers with the best characterization around.

Cassandra Clare’s City of Ashes. Loved the first Mortal Instruments book and figured I’d better hurry up before all of them are movies.

Dean Koontz’s 77 Shadow Street. Just in case I have trouble sleeping and need an excuse to leave the light on. My main man!! (And the book’s so thick I can use it for physical therapy!)

Let’s see how far I get . . . What’s on your list?

Balancing a criminal empire and a preternatural clan war, reluctant front man Giles St. Clair doesn’t need a problem like Brigit MacCreedy . . . How much trouble can the head-strong and manipulative Shifter beauty get into in two weeks? Plenty when her schemes range from kidnapping to fleeing the retribution of her dead lover’s clan.

With her family’s lives on the line, Brigit is willing to do whatever it takes to save them. The only thing standing in her way is an immovable stone wall of a man she can’t bully or beguile . . . a human, no less, who has promised to protect her from the secrets and dangers she conceals.

Risking her own safety gets complicated when an honorable and annoyingly desirable man puts himself between her and her powerful enemies in a battle he can’t win in this Taming of the Shrew meets Shifter Goodfellas on the Bayou tale of consequences, redemption and finding love in all the wrong places.

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