Recently I was introduced to a book called “Book Lust” written by Nancy Pearl in 2003. Nancy Pearl is the current director of library programming and the Washington center for the book at the Seattle public library. She has also worked as a librarian in numerous places and was a keen book reader from a young age. In her book she has classified published books into more than 175 different categories. One category of her, “I love mystery” is my favorite subject especially when the main character is not a spy, detective or related authority but someone ordinary and has to go through the ordeals of resolving the situation, unraveling the truths and avoiding deaths. These sort of charecters have to show the courage and intelligence to stand out and the writer has to put in extra effort to potray them as the lead character. Following are some of the suggested reading by Nancy in this category, the profession of the lead character is shown in the brackets.

Sarah Caudwell’s Thus Was Adonis Murdered (Lawyers)
Edmund Crispin’s Gervase Fen Series, especially The Moving toyshop; The Case of Gilded Fly; and The Glimpses of Moon (Oxford Don)
Agatha Chrisite’s Nemesis (little old lady)
Dorothy Sayer’s Gaudy nights (Wealthy dilettante and writer)
Nevada Barr’s Blind Descent; Flashback; and Hunting Season (park ranger)
M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (first in the series featuring a public relations flak)
Ayelet Waldman’s The Big Nap (stay at home mom, ex-public defender)
Susan Conant’s Bloodlines (dog fanatic)
Earlene Flower’s Mariner’s Compass (museum curator)
Joan Hess’s Out on a Limb (bookstore owner)
Jonathan Kellerman’s When the Bough Breaks (psychologist)
Sharyn McCrumb’s Paying the Piper (anthropologist)
Barbara Neely’s Blanche on the Lam (cleaning women)
Rich Boyer’s Billingsgate Shoal (doctor)
Michael Nava’s Rag and Bone (lawyer)
Lia Matera’s Face Value (lawyer)
John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey (British Lawyer)
Veronica Black’s A Vow of Compassion (nun)
G.K. Chesterton’s The Best of Father Brown (priest)
Harry Kemelman’s Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (rabbi)
Ellis Peter’s A Morbid Taste for Bones (medieval monk)
Amanda Cross’s The Theban Mysteries (college professor)
Carolyn Hart’s The Christie Caper (bookstore owner)
Elizabeth Peter’s Crocodile on the Sandbank (Victorian explorer and fan of all things Egyptian)

I believe if someone wants to start reading books and doesn’t know where and what to start from, then this book is really worth seeing.