Hey, I’m Reading Thriller Reading Challenge

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I love thrillers, if you’ve been here at all, you’ll know that. Ive read so many over the last year and am still going strong on that kick with no end in sight.

I like to think I’ve read a good variety of thrillers but thought a thriller reading challenge would be a fun way to make sure I get variety in there.

I’ve accepted I can’t read something if it’s something I have to read, like a book club. It just doesn’t work for me, I can’t force myself to read something if I’m not in the mood for it.

I think it’s got just enough flexibility to be challenging without the forced reading of a traditional book club.

I’ve wanted to make more reading challenges and figured this would be the perfect place for me to start since it’s what I’ve been into reading right now.

At first as I was making the list, I had separate challenges (I guess that’s what they’re called?) for a thriller by a Black author, an Asian author, and an Indigenous author, but I don’t want you to just read them because of who the author is, I want you to read them because they sound good.

So instead of having them separated, I mixed them in throughout all of the other challenges. I’ve included a few suggestions for each of these so you’ll have a place to start when looking for books to read.

Of course, they don’t have to be read in this order and you can choose anything that falls into these categories, it doesn’t have to be one from the list here, it’s just a place to start.

• If you want to listen to some of these, consider trying Audible! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free.  Get that Audible deal here.
• If you’re on more of a budget, try Scribd!  You can get your first month free there. You can read books and listen to audiobooks. It is unlimited (especially the reading) but if you listen to tons of new audiobooks you may be restricted after a few. I don’t listen to enough to confirm this, but I do use Scribd myself and like it a lot. Sign up for Scribd here!
• Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
• If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a wonderful option. It’s $9.99 a month but if you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases, it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here!
• Get $5 off of $25 from BookOutlet! This is a great place to find new books for pretty cheap. They also have sales quite a bit, so keep an eye out for those. I tend to check here for books I want if they’re more expensive other places. They don’t have everything but they do have a lot. Shop BookOutlet here!
• Thrift Books has become my go-to when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
• Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here.
• Shopping internationally? Check out Book Depository!

Domestic thriller

Domestic thrillers usually focus on interpersonal relationships between family member, usually involving secrets and disturbances. They are usually psychological thrillers, too.

• The Couple Next Door
• The Wives
• Greenwich Park
• The Twilight Wife

Popcorn thriller

Popcorn thriller is a term I learned from Crime by the Book and I love it. It’s books that are easy to read and just kind of fun, light thrillers instead of some of their heavier counterparts. These are perfect for between darker reads.

• My Lovely Wife
• Reputation
• A Deadly Inside Scoop
• Until the Day I Die

Nordic noir

Nordic noir is something I’m loving a lot lately. It’s usually less thriller and more mystery and suspense with a dark, creepy, or moody setting set in Nordic countries like Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, or Finland.

All four of these are on my TBR but I have read quite a few others and have quite a few more I would like to read.

• The Darkness
• Snowblind
• The Chestnut Man
• I’m Traveling Alone

2022 release thriller

This is pretty obvious (and will be updated yearly) but this is just a new-release thriller that you want to read. There are a lot I’m looking forward to this year and these are four of them.

• The Book of Cold Cases
• The Night Shift
• The Last to Vanish
• The Paris Apartment

Thriller set in Latin America

I decided to do a few location specific ones, but not too specific. First up is Latin America which I’m including Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

I’ve only read Saint X and have The Mosquito Coast on my TBR but will update this if I read any others that I would want to include.

• Dark Echoes of the Past
• The Mosquito Coast
• We Were Never Here
• Saint X

A thriller from your TBR

Obviously, this is subjective but I’m including four from my own TBR and wishlist that I haven’t read yet. I have way more I want to read though, like, so many.

• I Know You Know
• One By One
• The Other Black Girl
• Cherish Farrah

Thriller set in the UK

UK thrillers seem to be a pretty big part of the thriller genre. I’ve only listed four here, but anything by Catherine Ryan Howard, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, CJ Tudor, and B.A. Paris will check this one off.

I’ll pretty much read anything by any of those authors. Catherine Ryan Howard is one of my favorites in general.

• Behind Closed Doors
• 56 Days
• Then She Was Gone
• The Chalk Man

Psychological thriller

I actually didn’t realize what exactly a psychological thriller was until right now but it’s a thriller where, usually, the narrator or antagonist has a complicated state of mind. I haven’t read any of these but want to read all of them.

• Best Day Ever
• Undertow
• Dark Saturday
• The Fire Child

YA thriller

This is pretty obvious but it’s just a thriller in the young adult category. Some of these are scattered throughout the post as well. I love these, have read all of the ones I listed and about a million more.

• That Weekend
• A Good Girls Guide to Murder
• Good Girls Lie
• Firekeeper’s Daughter

Supernatural Thriller

This is also pretty obvious, but it’s a thriller with a paranormal or supernatural element to it, like a haunting or something similar. I like these a lot when I know to expect it but don’t like when a thriller that seems normal is supernatural, if that makes sense.

• White Smoke
• The Sun Down Motel
• The Only Good Indians
• The Lingering

Thriller from the year you were born

This will vary for everyone, of course. I did a quick search for me (1992) but didn’t see much in that quick search so I’ll have to look more when I get to this one.

Thriller set in Africa

Next up for the specific location category is a thriller or mystery set in Africa. This was probably the hardest one to find books for but I managed. I read the first one on the list, have a few in the second series, and want to read both of the others!

• My Sister the Serial Killer
• The Number One Ladies Detective Agency
• Lightseekers
• The Missing American

Thriller recommended to you

This one, like the TBR and birth year challenges, is also subjective. So I included one that was recommended to me (I Remember You) and three that I would recommend to you!

• I Remember You
• The Perfect Stranger
• The Perfect Child
• The Window

Thriller set in Asia

The last in the location thrillers is a thriller set in Asia. I haven’t read any of these yet but they all sound interesting and I know I have Ghost Month so I would really like to read that one.

• Ghost Month
• Death of a Red Heroine
• All She Was Worth
• Out

Classic mystery thriller

This is one that will be a challenge for me because I don’t tend to enjoy classics or (gasp!) Agatha Christie. Well, at least And Then There Were None.

I haven’t tried any others and would like a recommendation if you have one I might like more. It was the writing style I didn’t love, though so who knows. But there are a few others I might like, like Shirley Jackson.

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle
• Death on the Nile
• Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock
• A Study in Scarlet

Winter thriller

I’ve been on a winter thriller kick recently having just read No Exit and I’m Thinking of Ending Things. I also recently read Rock Paper Scissors and really enjoyed all of them. These Silent Woods is high on my TBR.

• No Exit
• I’m Thinking of Ending Things
• Rock Paper Scissors
• These Silent Woods

Locked-room thriller

Now we have locked-room mysteries and thrillers. This is when a group of people are, you guessed it, locked in a room together, someone dies or something happens, and they have to figure out who did it.

I read both Ten and All Your Twisted Secrets but both of the others I listed are on my TBR. I usually enjoy this kind of story and definitely want to read more of them.

• Ten
• The Dark
• All Your Twisted Secrets
• The Marvelous

Are you going to join me on this thriller reading challenge?! I hope so! Have you read any of these yet? Which ones? Any you’ve got your eye on?