Welcome to the Reader's Nook!
Welcome Readers
This is our new Reader's Page. Please explore, enjoy, and suggest new features! This page is intended to serve the Sisters in Crime reader in all of us. After all, without you, the writers have no audience for their work! Check back for regular updates and book discussions and events for both local and global reading fans.
Mystery Subgenres
Mysteries come in many varieties. Most of us have already seen it just browsing the local bookstore or library. That broad category, “Mystery,” can be divided into subgenres based on the type of crime and how it is solved. Here are some of the main subgenres waiting for you to discover.
Top 100 Mysteries and Thrillers
TIME Magazine recently put together a panel of celebrated authors—Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey—to present “the most gripping, twist-filled, satisfying, and influential mystery and thriller books.” We'll feature a few of these every month for you.
A Reader's Links
Here are some useful local links for readers: the library system and nearby bookstores. Check them out!
Book of the Month
Check out this page once a month to see which novel we've chosen to be our Book of the Month!
Top 100 Mysteries and Thrillers
TIME Magazine recently put together a panel of celebrated authors—Megan Abbott, Harlan Coben, S.A. Cosby, Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Sujata Massey—to present “the most gripping, twist-filled, satisfying, and influential mystery and thriller books.” We’ll feature a few of these every month for you.
This 2005 novel was a runaway hit in Keigo Higashino’s native Japan with more than two million copies sold. It also won the Naoki Prize, a prestigious Japanese literary award. The Devotion of Suspect X is “a brilliantly constructed puzzle mystery.”
Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, published posthumously in Sweden in 2005 after the author’s death in 2004, was an international sensation, becoming the first novel to sell a million digital copies (the series has sold 100 million), and racking up awards including Sweden’s Glass Key Award in 2006.
Roberto Bolaño died in 2003. He was considered one of the most important writers of his generation by many in the Latin American literary world. 2666 was to be his masterpiece. It was posthumously published in Spanish in 2004, based on his written instructions, and translated into English by Natasha Wimmer in 2008.
Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories serves as the first in a series of five, and has been adapted for the small screen by BBC One. The author’s “meticulous writing is urgent and addictive, and she doesn’t shy away from making clever observations about the human condition, underlining larger themes around grief, loss, and cruelty. “
Mystery Subgenres
There are roughly 15 basic subgenres in the Mystery category of fiction. Are you familiar with all of them? Do you have a favorite?
Click the button to explore more mystery subgenres.
Local Links for Readers
2nd and Charles (Greenville)
Angel’s Bookshoppe (Greenville)
As the Page Turns (Travelers Rest)
Barnes and Noble (chain)
Fiction Addiction (Greenville)
Hub City Bookshop (Spartanburg)
M. Judson Books (Greenville)
Mr. K’s Used Books (Greenville)
Pages on Pine (Spartanburg)
Book of the Month
The Book of the Month for May is:
Little Rot
by Akwaeke Emezi
Aima and Kalu are a longtime couple who have just split. When Kalu, reeling from the breakup, visits an exclusive sex party hosted by his best friend, Ahmed, he makes a decision that will plunge them all into chaos, brutally and suddenly upending their lives. Ola and Souraya, two Nigerian sex workers visiting from Kuala Lumpur, collide into the scene just as everything goes to hell. Sucked into the city’s corrupt and glittering underworld, they’re all looking for a way out, fueled by a desperate need to escape the dangerous threat that looms over them.
Akwaeke Emezi (they/them) is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Death of Vivek Oji, which was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize; Pet, a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature; and Freshwater, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Selected as a 5 Under 35 honoree by the National Book Foundation, they are based in liminal spaces.
Would you like to join us?
We would love to have you as a member of Sisters in Crime of Upstate SC. If you’d like to join a fun-loving, adventuresome chapter, contact Treasurer Adrienne Mathues at [email protected]!
Five Editing Tips
The thing to keep in mind about writing and editing is to keep them separated in your mind. When you’re writing, just write. When you’re editing, just edit. In this way, you’ll develop two different types of skills.
Quick Tips: Making A First Impression
Tired of digging for a business card? Ready to make a better first impression at the next in-person event? We have a tip for you.
Avoid Book Marketing Burnout
Book marketing got expensive, and it was a lot of work, but you’re still not making near the sales you know you should. There is a reason for that.
Top Ten Writing Tips for Productivity
Do you need a fresh start, or a better way to manage your writing schedule with real life? Most of us do, so don’t be too hard on yourself!
Finding the Perfect Character Name
How do you find the perfect name to match your character, the one that readers will remember? Contributing member, EJ Murray has a few ideas about that.
Welcome to Sisters in Crime Upstate SC!
Welcome! Sisters in Crime Upstate South Carolina is 25 years old. Based in Greenville, SC, but with members all over the US and Canada. Come join us, today!