Play Book Tag discussion

This doesn't really lead to much conversation so I am not putting it on a Sunday Conversation Topic, but I'm curious.

What authors do you read whatever they put out? Also, a small link to the side of "My Books" page is most-read authors. Copy and past the top 10.

So for me, I read all the works by, or am working on reading all the works by:
John Grisham
Walter Isaacson
Dan Brown
Liane Moriarty
Fredrik Backman
Mary Roach
Jon Krakauer
Harlan Coben
John Gray
Michael Lewis
Michael Crichton
Dava Sobel

Some I read as soon as they publish a new book. Others, I am slowly making it through their list.

My top 10 most-read authors
1 John Grisham 38
2 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society 29
3 Harlan Coben 11
4 Orson Scott Card 9
4 Larry Niven 9
4 David Baldacci 9
7 Ian Fleming 8
8 Jeff Kinney 7
8Margaret Peterson Haddix 7
8 Dan Brown 7

None. I do not like to read very many books from the same author. If I do, it has to be at least 2 years between the books usually. The reason I got to be this way is because I read so many Danielle Steel books in high school and they all started to sound the same. Now I have this fear of that happening with other authors. The only author I will read *almost* everything by, is Paullina Simons. The author I've read the most of since my fear started would be Elizabeth Berg. I've read 7 of her books.

Tessa, you can pull up your most read authors on good reads. Its a link on the left side of the game when you go to My Books tab.

That's interesting you don't read the same author much. I can see Steel's books becoming blurred, much like Grisham. I have found some authors are really diverse and experiment with new types of stories and writing styles. Crichton would be a good example of this or Michael Lewis.

Michael Connelly
John Sandford
Sharon Shinn
Juliet Marillier
Patricia Briggs
Carrie Vaughn
Donna Andrews
Elizabeth Moon
Margaret Frazer (deceased)
Jim Butcher
Patrick Rothfuss
Sarah Addison Allen
Dick Francis (deceased)
Stieg Larsson (deceased)
Tanya Huff
Michelle Sagara
J.A. Jance
J.D. Robb (does this count since I don't read Nora Roberts except rarely?)

I used to have many more authors, but some of them I can't say I liked "everything" they have written so I've (reluctantly) kept them off the list as I don't intend to read the ones I didn't like which I DNF'd. Others I haven't read everything of theirs yet, so I don't know if I'll like everything.

My Top 10 according to GR:

author books read
1 Anne Perry 62
2 Mercedes Lackey 57
3 J.D. Robb 46
4 J.A. Jance 40
5 Patricia Briggs 25
6 Michael Connelly 20
6 Sharon Shinn 20
6 Leigh Greenwood 20
6 Jim Butcher 20
10 Elizabeth Moon 19
10 Carrie Vaughn 19

But this is only since I've been tracking on GR since 2014 or so (I think) so it doesn't reflect all the books I've read in my lifetime.

annapi, it's not an author you like everything, but authors you have or intend to read their complete work. That was the original question.

Jason wrote: "annapi, it's not an author you like everything, but authors you have or intend to read their complete work. That was the original question."

I was thinking what you said "whatever they put out", kinda thinking about those whose new books I will read without question. But my list does reflect those I've read all of or intend to, Jason. I've not included the authors whose body of work I have mostly read and enjoyed but there have been a few dogs that I could not finish. That's why Anne Perry and Mercedes Lackey are not on my list though they are the top 2 on the GR list. Some of the other authors on the GR list and a lot which didn't make the GR top 10 really have more books I've read than the numbers show, but I haven't reviewed them on GR since I read them long ago. I'm surprised Leigh Greenwood is so high - I had a romance binge a few years ago and her series are long, and I guess I rated them all on GR.

Hmmm, good question. There are a lot of authors that I like (and also a lot whose books I will never read again, lol). I tend to ring the changes.

Most of my regulars are in the sci fi/fantasy area.

Janny Wurts definitely. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.

Lois McMaster Bujold is going to be in that category - I've only just started, though :) And, for a different genre, I suspect that Liane Moriarty will join the "new favourites" list too.

For all time favourites, I can't beat Jane Austen :)

KateNZ wrote: "Most of my regulars are in the sci fi/fantasy area.

Janny Wurts definitely...."

I really need to get around to Janny Wurts some time. I've only read her collaboration with Raymond Feist, the Daughter of the Empire trilogy, which is one of my favorites. Sci-fi & fantasy are my favorites too - you should really try Sharon Shinn and Juliet Marillier. Heck, you should try all my favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors, they have given me many hours of pleasure!

annapi wrote: "I've only read her collaboration with Raymond Feist ..."

That's where I started - loved those books and didn't look back. The Curse of the Mistwraith series is amazing - super-detailed and 'epic' doesn't even start to cover it (except if the word "epic" is written in flame-red capital letters in large font), but I adore them. The Cycle of Fire trilogy is lighter work, but a neat story. And she has a few standalones, some of which I haven't read yet.

Authors I have read the entire works of, and continue to, include:

Alice Hoffman
Elinor Lipman
Liane Moriarty
Michelle Moran
India Edgehill
Jodi Piccoult (with the exception of Lone Wolf)
Frederick Backman (on the way)

annapi, wow that's about 300 books just in those authors. It's crazy I haven't read a single of those authors.

Oh, and Katharine Neville! I forgot her. There are probably others I have forgotten over a lifetime.

How could I ever forget:

Naomi Ragen
Maggie Anton
Curtis Sittenfeld

Here are my top 10 read from my "My Books" page. I found that it does not always reflect my must read authors because I have a couple must read series that include a lot of books but I am not necessarily going to read others by the author outside this series. For example, I love Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, but I tried his epic fantasy series and didn't get into it. So he is number 2, but that is only the Dresden books.


1 Brandon Sanderson 22
2 Jim Butcher 15
3 C.S. Lewis 9
4 Neil Gaiman 8
4 J.K. Rowling 8
4 Terry Pratchett 8
4 Suzanne Collins 8
8 N.K. Jemisin 7
9 Piers Anthony 6
9 Guy Gavriel Kay 6

If I was to make a list of authors whom I want to read their entire biobliography it would be:

Brandon Sanderson
Neil Gaiman
N.K. Jemisin
Guy Gavriel Kay
Catherynne M. Valente
Octavia Butler
John Scalzi
Jane Austen

Cora. Thankyou. bibliography was the work ai could not draw from the recesses of my mind.

Mine didn't match wither as most of my top 10 are series, so I wanted to check with everyone. I find it interesting who people read no matter what and what authors they have read the most books of.

I just joined in 2016, so Goodreads will never reflect my long relationship with some of these authors whose careers and works I’ve followed over a lifetime. I wonder what my button would say, only reflecting a two year period plus whatever made it over from Shelfari, and from Linked In from before. I feel now sometimes, that I would like to press the “read” button for books I have read, but then that would screw with my yearly count.

Amy if you click read without adding to currently reading, it does not add a date, or it didn't for me so it does not affect your yearly count. Even if it does you can change the read date.

Figured it out, and see how good I am? Forgot my number one, though...

Phillippa Gregory - 14 (of course)
Jodi Picoult - 11
Elinor Lipman - 11
Alice Hoffman - 10
Dorothea Benton Frank - 9
Michelle Moran - 7
Chris Bojahlin - 6
Liane Moriarty - 6
Laura Anderson - 6
Jojo Moyes - 5
Curtis Sittenfeld - 4
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - 4
Anne Rivers Siddons - 4
Ken Follet - 4
Elizabeth Gilbert - 4
Tennessee Willims - 4
Lisa See - 4
Frederik Backman - 4
Barbara Kingsolver - 4
Khaled Hosseini - 3
Elizabeth Strout - 3

And a ton of other threes which reflect Maggie Anton, India Edgehill, and few others on my original list, whose works I have read a long long time ago.... Very interesting function that I never knew about.

Cora wrote: "Here are my top 10 read from my "My Books" page. I found that it does not always reflect my must read authors because I have a couple must read series that include a lot of books but I am not neces..."

Ack, I forgot to add N.K. Jemisin to my list! And Fredrik Backman, Guy Gavriel Kay and Christopher Paul Curtis...

From my stats, the top 10:

Stephen King (66)
J.K. Rowling (20)
Marie-Aude Murail (14)
Orson Scott Card (13)
Terry Goodkind (13)
Lemony Snicket (13)
Diana Gabaldon (12)
Connie Willis (10)
Caroline B. Cooney (10)
Louise Rennison (10)


Apart from Stephen King and JKR, whom I make an effort to read every book, most of the others are from series (Outlander, Ender, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Gerogia Nicolson), or from my teen years when books I read were much shorter so I stuck to the same authors more (like, I have no clue what Caroline B. Cooney is doing there, I don't recall the Milk Carton series being that long XD) Basically some authors on there I haven't read in ages, so it's not very representative of my current reading tastes and habits.

Sometimes I just go check how many Stephen King books I've read to impress myself, lol.

I had no idea the "rank your authors" feature was there! Thanks for pointing it out!

My #1 go to author is Nora Roberts/JD Robb. But others are Sandra Brown, John Grisham, Beatriz Williams, and then a slew of cheesy Christmas romance writers. There are definitely other authors whose new books are higher on my radar, but these are the authors who I drop anything for.

My Top Ten authors are below, with some caveats.

These two authors are the same person, and I haven't rated all of the books I have read by Nora on GR. I have read over 100 books by Nora.
1 Nora Roberts (51)
2 J.D. Robb (21)

I will never read another Charlaine Harris book again. The Sookie series was enough.
3 Charlaine Harris (16)

I have also read more than 10 Grisham. I have read every one of his legal thrillers (definitely over 25) and then at least one of his other books
4 John Grisham (10)

Brown is another author who I had read virtually everything she has published since the early 90s when she switched to romantic suspense. Probably upwards of 25 books and she recently really hit a great stride)
5 Sandra Brown (8)

I want to read more Atwood!)
5 Margaret Atwood (8)

It is just not summer without Williams, and I have read all of her books thus far (though it feels like more than 8!). But, I have not been thrilled with her recent couple of books!
5 Beatriz Williams (8)

Only Macomber's Christmas books each year
8 Debbie Macomber (6)

I read the first 6 Women's Murder Club. They went off the rail and I have never read anything else by Patterson. Nor do I plan to
8 James Patterson (6)

I will read ANYTHING that Meyer publishes! And, if you counted the NUMBER of times I had read her books, it would be 4 times each for each of the Twilight books. No shame. I will likely read them again.
8 Stephenie Meyer (6)

Jason wrote: "So for me, I read all the works by, or am working on reading all the works by:
John Grisham"

We have John Grisham in common! I have read all of his legal thrillers—even the ones in his slump years, which we are kind of still in—but I haven't read many of his other books.

Tessa (FutureAuthor23) wrote: "None. I do not like to read very many books from the same author. If I do, it has to be at least 2 years between the books usually...."

I am the same way with needed space between the reads. I can't just sit down and read a series back-to-back, it gets too redundant. I have read two In Death books or other Nora Roberts books back to back a handful of time in my reading life, but the second book really suffered for it.

I don't need 2 years between them though. Typically 6 months to a year is enough for me.

annapi wrote: "..."

I forgot about Sarah Addison Allen! I am not as compulsive about reading her books as those of other authors, but she is always on my list when I need a good read!

And, you are the person who got me to FINALLY read the In Death series! lol

Cora wrote: "If I was to make a list of authors whom I want to read their entire biobliography it would be:

Brandon Sanderson
Neil Gaiman
N.K. Jemisin
Guy Gavriel Kay
Catherynne M. Valente
Octavia Butler
John Scalzi
Jane Austen ..."

I really need to get to John Scalzi

Ellie wrote: "Sometimes I just go check how many Stephen King books I've read to impress myself, lol. ..."

I knew that King was prolific, but I didn't realize he had written that many books!

Grisham's non legal thrillers are hit and miss. A Painted House was wonderful though it did take me a while to appreciate. Playing for Pizza is a favorite of mine. Bleachers was good. Skipping Christmas I hated.

Jason wrote: "Skipping Christmas I hated. .."

I did read Skipping Christmas. Maybe that is why I haven't read more of his nonlegal stuff! lol.

I also read An Innocent Man, which was good.

66 for King? Wow. does that include his pseudonym?

Oh yes. The Innocent Man was the first nonfiction I read and enjoyed. It was great. Calico Joe was decent if you like baseball.

Jason wrote: "66 for King? Wow. does that include his pseudonym?"

I just wikipedia'ed it and:

Novels (59)
Collections (10)
Nonfiction (5)
Others (11)

That is impressive!

Jason wrote: "66 for King? Wow. does that include his pseudonym?"

Yeah, Goodreads count his pseudonyms. Stephen King is still listed as author for his Bachman books, Bachman being there as pseudonym. (Just noticed they also do this for JKR/Galbraith, which is why I have so many JKR books!)

Some books King wrote when he was younger but never published, and then later he'll dust one off and publish it. This is how he manages to cometimes publish many huge books in a year, some of them were actually written beforehand.

So according to Wiki I'm missing a few. Well I haven't read his most recent few, and some of them are unfindable.

My top authors, reflects my love of mystery series, as most of them are series authors.
1 Ellis Peters -21 books - Brother Cadfael, completed
1 Michael Connelly 21 - Harry Bosch, among others
1 Shirley Rousseau Murphy 21 - Joe Gray, cat detective
4 Alexander McCall Smith 17 - Ladies no.1
5 Tony Hillerman 14 - Joe Chee series
6 Sharon Kay Penman 11 - I pretty much read anything she writes
7 Jeri Westerson 10 - Crispin Guest series
7 Anne Perry 10 - lost interest in the series
7 Martin Walker 10 Chief Inspector Bruno- I read them as soon as they come out.
7 Larry McMurtry 10 - Love his writing, but haven't read all his books.
7 Edward Marston 10- Domesday series, read them all
12 Qiu Xiaolong 9 - Inspector Chen series, I love them and read them as soon as they come out.

I have read all of the John Grisham, the James Patterson, and the Dan Brown’s. But that was before my Goodreads and Shelfari time. I probably even read all of Ken Follet. Hey as a kid, I probably read every single one of Sidney Sheldon. David Baldacci you could add to that list as well. Again, just not as involved in my current reads.

Yes, yes to Alexander McCall Smith, Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling (pseudonyms and all).

Adding Ben Aaronovich and Jasper Fforde...

Booknblues wrote: "My top authors, reflects my love of mystery series, as most of them are series authors.
1 Ellis Peters -21 books - Brother Cadfael, completed..."

I also love Cadfael, but can't put Ellis Peters on my list as I just could not get into Inspector Felse though I've tried.

annapi wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "My top authors, reflects my love of mystery series, as most of them are series authors.
1 Ellis Peters -21 books - Brother Cadfael, completed..."

I also love Cadfael, but can'..."

Haven't tried anything else by her. Also Alexander McCall Smith, I only like that series. I tried a couple of others but they didn't grab me.

My list is the one that I found on the my books page that they were talking about earlier in this discussion. If I were to list my favorite authors it would be slightly different. This is more of most books read by a particular author.

My top authors include:

Janet Evanovich 22
Laurie Notaro 11
Jodi Picoult 11
Sophie Kinsella 10

I do intend to one day read all of Picoult's books, although I space her's out because they are what I call "heavy reads".
I think I've read all of Notaro's books.
There are still books by Evanovich and Kinsella that I have not read.
I am in the middle of 2 of Evanovich's series, though.

Runners up are:

Joanne Fluke (7) and Debbie Macomber (8)

My favorite authors and instant buy is Jane Austen, Sophie Kinsella, Jill Mansell, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Sarah Addison Allen.

According to Goodreads these are the authors I’ve read the most of
1 Debbie Macomber 19
2 Ann M. Martin 17
3 Suzanne Brockmann 15
4 Nora Roberts 14
5 J.K. Rowling 11
6 Sophie Kinsella 10
7 L.J. Smith 9
8 Susan Mallery 8
9 Judy Blume 7
9 Kristan Higgins 7
9 Jane Austen 7
9 R.L. Stine 7

Jason wrote: "This doesn't really lead to much conversation so I am not putting it on a Sunday Conversation Topic, but I'm curious...."

LOL! It's 8:30 pm my time and this is the first I've logged in today. I saw the thread had 40 replies!!!!!! I went WOW! Then, opened the thread and see Jason's first sentence reading "not much conversation" to this topic.... LOL!

Ok, now backing up to actually read the thread!

Tessa (FutureAuthor23) wrote: "None. I do not like to read very many books from the same author. If I do, it has to be at least 2 years between the books usually. The reason I got to be this way is because I read so many Daniell..."

I've just opened mine (didn't know that link was there - thanks, Jason!), but - although I'm sure I do have a few that I read consistently, and can guess at a few before looking at what GR tells me! - like you, Tessa, I usually go at least a year in between, whether it's the same author or the same series.

Sometimes I just go check how many Stephen King books I've read to impress myself, lol. ..."

LOL!

I also read An Innocent Man, which was good."

"An Innocent Man" was so good! It made my favourites the year I read it!

My top 10 (11 because it's a tie!):

Stephen King 23 - I think I've probably read more than this, but so many were back in high school, so I likely forgot to record some.
L.M. Montgomery 18 Wow! I didn't even know she had that many!
Bill Willingham 18 This is mostly the Fables series
Charlaine Harris 15 Mostly the Sookie series
Margaret Atwood 13 I knew I'd read quite a few (and hers vary for me), but I didn't realize that many!
Lemony Snicket 13 All of the one series
James Patterson 12 A few of Alex Cross and 8 (I think) of the Women's Murder Club series
Neil Gaiman 12 This sounds about right.
Anne Rice 11 Most of this was around university, though a few were read more recently
Brian K. Vaughan 11 This was likely all from one series "Y: The Last Man". Not sure if I've read anything else by him
Agatha Christie 11 hmmmm, and I'm often not that excited about hers. I've maybe only had one or two 4 stars, and the rest are mostly 3 stars (ok), with a few 3.5 (good).

Now, ones that immediately came to my head that I've read a lot of, and I know I want to continue reading them:
- Michelle Moran
- Philippa Gregory
- Alison Weir
- Shannon Hale
- Linwood Barclay
- Harlan Coben
- Jodi Picoult

I never saw that interesting list of favorite authors. Thanks for pointing it out. My tastes have changed quite a bit over the years as some of my top authors I don't read anymore (looking at you James Patterson). The ones that are must reads for me now are:
Michael Connelly
Harlan Coben
John Grisham
Fredrik Backman
Mary Roach
Linwood Barclay
John Lescroart
Kent Haruf (alas, I've read them all)
Sue Grafton (all of hers too)
Tess Gerritsen
Jacqueline Winspear

Never noticed that most read authors.....thanks for pointing it out. Since I read a lot of graphic novel series which have a lot of books, my top authors write comics. The others are mostly ones that I read a long time ago Like Anne Rice, Richard North Patterson, John Sanford.

I’m like Tessa where I don’t like to read books by the same author right in a row (unless I skim some series I prep for a final book).
The authors that I am slowly working through their backlist and I tend to read new works right away are:
Sharon Kay Penman
Sandra Gulland
Sarah Addison Allen
Laine Moiriaty
Susanna Kearsley
JoJo Moyes
Stephen R Lawhead
Guy Gavriel Kay
N. K. Jemisin
Amor Towles
Lisa See
Anthony Marra
Robertson Davies (deceased)
Margaret Atwood
Julian Barnes (although I didn’t like The Sense of an Ending)

Too soon to tell or up and comers
Lucinda Riley
Brandon Sanderson
Beatriz Williams
Rhys Bowen (I’ve only read Her Royal Spyness series)
Deborah Harkness

Cindy, Michelle Moran is another author I also really enjoy! I still have her latest on my TBR, and I still have some of her older books to read.

Jolene, I was just thinking about Richard North Patterson when I was writing on the thread about James Patterson. He was another young twenties backdrop and I read everything he ever wrote at the time. He really got me involved in reading too. Lucinda Riley, I got involved with because of you, and the Seven Sisters. I have the Pearl Sister out of the library, and I am reading it right after Born A Crime. It’s two books away. Nicole and Lady Linda, I have read everything Michelle Moran has ever written. Haven’t missed one.

LibraryCin. I really thought this would be a post of lists.

I'm glad to see Harlan Coben on a few lists. Not the greatest, but amazing twist and he knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat.