Read any good books lately?

I am always on the lookout for a good book. I have my favorite authors - Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Lee Child, Giles Blount, Larry McMurtry, Mankell Henning, Ken Bruen, and so forth. But they all write more slowly than I would have them write so I either reread somebody or I keep looking for new authors to read. Every once in a while one of them dies, knock on wood, and the output dies with them (not always, sometimes publishers keep finding lost manuscripts.) So when they die I have an opening that can be hard to fill.

Remember when John D. MacDonald died? I was bummed for a long time that there would never be another Travis McGee story, and I find now that Travis has not aged well and that they do not bear up well on a reread. Tony Hillerman rereads well, as do Connelly and Block.

This morning the American Libraries Direct e-newsletter offered up Books Toolbox: 50+ Sites for Book Lovers. It covers Book Reviews, Book Communities, Publishing, Book Search, and more. I am going to try a few of the recommendations for finding leads to new authors and a site named Douban as a place to keep track of what I have read and want to read.
My book discussion group is reading E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime for the next discussion and I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. Very little dialog which I thought would drag down the story but it has not. The characters and setting are fascinating. Thankfully I do not remember the movie based on the book, so the ending will be a surprise.

The book list I selected for the discussion group has had a mixed reception but this should be one of the best. We started with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird which is so easy to use to elicit even the most timid 'discusser' but it is a tough act to follow. Will anyone make suggestions for the next list for the discussion group?