Good grief! I thought I would just whip together my next mystery book theme, but I’m finding that it is taking a little longer than I had planned.

One really nice thing about putting together a new theme for the Theme Page, is that I get to “revisit” mystery authors who perhaps I hadn’t thought about in a while. I tend to keep to my “favorites” (as in favorite authors) and forget about possible favorite authors.

I am creature of habit…

However, right now I am trying to devote my reading time to trying new authors. I am glad that I have done just that, since I have been able to add a few new ones to my “favorites” list… Bill Crider and J. B. Stanley (aka Jennifer Stanley, although I haven’t read any of her books under that moniker YET!!!)

I do have to admit, though, that there have been a few stinkers in my latest attempt to broaden my horizons. I am not going to name those authors, but let me just say what I posted on my private list of authors: YUCK!!! Yep, that’s my code, and I don’t think I need to say more!

So, right now I am starting a mystery book by a new author (to me) and I will be posting about him/her in a few days… IF I like his/her mystery book. 

When I am in this discovery-type of mood, I am always hopeful that I will find a mystery author who I can add to the others… and am always sad when that doesn’t happen. I’ll let you know after I hit the magic page number (50, for me) >>> but if you don’t hear from me, that means I’m off on another “search and identify” mission, and that this latest mystery author has turned out to be an addition to my YUCK!!! list.

I have spent part of the day thinking about people…

Some of them are people who I knew personally, and others are people who have meant a lot to me, even though I never met them.

People who have made a huge difference to my life. And in my thoughts, I thank them for making it possible for me to live the life I do.

Thank you, to the many!

You know, I started thinking the other day, (my husband always likes it when I do that!) – am I more likely to try a new Cozy Mystery series by an author who is a woman, or would I look at both female and male authors in the same manner?

Hmmm…

I know which authors fill my TBR (to be read) bookshelf, and I have to admit that there are a whole lot more women authors than men crammed into each tier of my TBR (To Be Read) shelf unit. I mean, I have male authors in my “favorites” group but there are, by far, a lot less of them than women authors.

Is it because women authors simply lend themselves to being “Cozy”-er than their male counterparts? Is it that several best selling male authors have “ruined it” for the other male authors by including their craziest male fantasies into every novel they publish? I mean, I can only take so much of the 007 graphic “womanizing” (and that’s a tame word for it!!!) before I simply say… “In your dreams, Buddy!”

Do any of you have definite preferences when choosing to try a new mystery author?

Hmmm… How do I broach this subject without sounding like I think I’m the end-all to all… plus a little more?!? (Which, by the way, is not at all the case!)

Several times a month I receive offers of free mystery books. Yes! FREE mystery books!!! Sometimes these offers come from the mystery book authors, and sometimes the offers come from their publishers. Either way, they are very generous offers… and believe me, I would LOVE to accept every one of the offered books!

But, I don’t!

I just “flat-out” have a policy of not accepting free mystery books. I think that this policy comes from my very ingrained “guilt complex” >>> which, if you have, then you know what I mean!!! I know that with my guilt complex, I would end up feeling “obligated” to write a good review.

I must be honest and disclose that I did (once upon a time) accept two free books from authors/publishers. I don’t know what possessed me to think that I could be fair-minded in my reviews… but let me just say that one of the books I loved, and the other I didn’t finish.

So, I decided not to review either book. One would clearly have gotten a 5 star rating, the other would have gotten a … Yup! That’s when the guilt complex comes in! I couldn’t give that free book less than 3 stars, which, since I didn’t get past page 50 (my cut-off for books that I literally make myself stay with!) would have been a sham.

Me and my guilt complex!!! I’d rather spend the $6.99 and not “have to finish” a book I’m not enjoying, than stay with a book I don’t like just so that I can try to find nice things to write about in a review. (Thumper’s mom would be proud of me!)

PS>>> I’m using the “five-star” rating system as my example since it seems to be the most prevalent…