Totally obsessed!

Have I written about my obsession with audiobooks? The fact that I am so in love with listening to digital book actually makes my commute (and walking / running combos) so much fun.
It is not that I don't love music-- I actually LOVE music and love to sing.  I used to perform a good bit, but never professionally, just in school productions and at coffee houses in college.
It's just that music is very sketchy for me- it brings up various emotions, and sometimes things I don't want to think about.  I know you may be envisioning a complete crazy person, but I often cry when I hear different songs. Happy tears, sad tears, regretful tears, memory tears: ugh. Can you say 'hot mess?'
Example: Do you know the song "Eye in the sky" by the Alan Parson's project?  That song makes me cry every time I hear it- and I avoid ever putting it on quite deliberately because it reminds me of a friend of my sister's who died tragically in a car accident during their high school years.
Yes: it is my SISTER's memory essentially, and I cannot even picture the guy, but I can picture his younger brother, who is my age, who subsequently had a son- many years later (I wrote about it on this blog over a year ago) who also died in an accident.  The son was a baby, who died after he choked on a piece of bread (ugh!!) ... but I've totally digressed.
What the hell was I saying?
Oh yeah: audio books and my obsession.

In case you haven't figured out by now: I am a very intense type of person and I typically don't do anything halfway.  I don't *try* to be intense-- it just happens.  Example: when I started my running career at age 26ish, I recall reading every single thing I could get my hands on (this was before the interwebs made it so simple) about running.  It just occupied every free space in my brain.

And now: at nearly 42 years old (October, y'all) I am OBSESSED with audiobooks, and, right now: with Michael Connelly police procedurals-- though I've strayed to the rest of his series as well, so I'm reading the Harry Bosch series and have dabbled in Mickey Haller and Jack McEvoy too.
Do you know these mystery, somewhat thriller, police procedural novels? If not, and you enjoy reading... give Connelly a whirl.  I love and am totally hooked on these books.
Fortunately: Harry Bosch books are contemporary novels that Connelly wrote (as in, they take place at the same time they are written... and Connelly has been prolific and written one per year) annually since 1994.  There is even a new one that came out this year.  I believe there are 19 or 20 books-- and I am into book four.  I dread the end of this series-- so I am looking for any good suggestions of books that would read like Connelly's.

Note: I've tried Jonathan Kellerman's "Gone." Hated it.
I like James Patterson books, but they are a little more cartoonish and not written in quite the same level of sophisticated style as Connelly's. That is not to say Patterson isn't entertaining-- he can really spin a tail, but he just gets tiresome more quickly than the Bosch series.

So I'm asking for any recommendations... let me know what else might be gripping, and ideally: a series.
However: I would be willing to try a fabulous stand alone book or books too.  I listen to everything, but I just find that crime/ mystery/ thriller genre lends itself great to a car ride or a walk/ jog.  You're so entranced, the time flies by.

Enough of the books: yesterday was a total shit day for me band wise, sorry to say.  It is all due to a stupid choice, very early in the day, to try to eat some delicious pasta salad (is that an oxymoron? Delicious + Pasta Salad= not imaginable...???) that I made the night before.
This pasta salad had totally yummy and fresh ingredients in it: fresh herbs and spices: (parsley, garlic, onion, lemon), fresh red and orange peppers, olive oil, tri-color pasta, fresh mozzarella, salami-- it was an 'antipasto pasta salad' and it was beautiful and good.
Well: I decided I wanted some in the morning-- and I still haven't outgrown the desire (though I cannot accomplish it and my band will totally stop me) to gobble down carby, fatty goodness like that in the pasta salad.
Le sigh.
I tried this, not thinking clearly enough-- and voila: pasta salad stuck, came back up (ugh, I know, gross) and I felt irritated and sick.  It kind of ruined my day- at least to some extent and I really hate when and if that happens... especially hate if I have a bad band experience in the morning because it colors how I am feeling all day. Bleh.

But today is a new day and I am philosophically viewing it as a reboot/ reminder to be super careful and healthy with my band.  I'll be sticking with some good soups and anything solid that I choose I will be eating slowly, chewing a TON and being careful.  It is all good-- my day should be very healthy as a result.  So far, so good at (only) nearly 8am, I've just had coffee and am not hungry anyway. When I do eat, I will keep it simple and healthy and band mindful.

Alright-- enough blabbing for now... off to keep researching more books for when my time with Harry Bosch will sadly come to an end. Glad to say, each book is at least 12 hours of listening-- and I have many more to go before I "run out" of his books on audio!