The Sword and Laser discussion

Trike wrote: "I only had two bookshelves, though, so I eventually had to keep my books in cardboard boxes. I'm afraid to even count how many books I have."

The majority of my books are in cardboard boxes right now. The only books on my small shelf are TBR titles. I use to have a spreadsheet of all the books I owned, with all the pertinent information about each one (e.g., year of publication, # of pages, ISBN, etc.).

And cover artist, too, right?

Even as a preteen I was concerned with the cover.

Wow, Rikki, I'm impressed. I wish I had started tracking when I was younger, too. When I joined Goodreads in March 2013, I had been keeping a record of my own since June 2007, so I just imported my file. But pre-2007, I had no idea, so what I ended up doing was putting in books I knew I read, but I gave them all January 2006 read dates. I know it's not perfect, and every once in a while I'll remember a book I read and file it under 2006.

Also, Mercedes Lackey is nothing to be ashamed of! I guess. I've given up on most of her stuff nowadays. The latest Valdemar books are pretty terrible in my mind, which makes me supersad.

Trike wrote: "List nerd high five!

I did the same thing. I'm not sure what happened to that original notebook. Probably got lost in a move at some point. "

Glad to know I am not the only one :) I still maintain my original Index Tab book that goes back to 1974. Slowly I have been working backwards putting them into Goodreads. (Currently on 1981.) The only problem is that as I go further back I am finding more books that do not exist in Goodreads.

AndrewP wrote: "The only problem is that as I go further back I am finding more books that do not exist in Goodreads."

Yeah, that's one of the failings of Goodreads--when people complain about incomplete or inaccurate book listings, the people in charge say, "We're not a book catalog site! We're social meeeddiaaaa!" Which kind of ignores that it IS a catalog for most people, and if you do a google search on books, the Goodreads book page is one of the top ones.

There are some sites to help get some of the info if you don't have everything, like ISFDB (though it's not 100% complete of course). The thing that usually trips me up are "weird" editions of books, like book club editions. I had a book in hardcover that had the same cover as the retail copy in paperback, and I almost edited the "mistake" in Goodreads before I found out via ISFDB that the copy I had was actually a book club edition (no clues otherwise).

Sometimes the more I delve into the inner workings "behind the curtain," the more I realize how messy some of this business can be for people who like things nice and orderly...

David wrote: "AndrewP wrote: "The only problem is that as I go further back I am finding more books that do not exist in Goodreads."

Yeah, that's one of the failings of Goodreads--when people complain about inc..."

Yeah thankfully you can edit and add things, no reason to complain just fix it yourself.

Aaron wrote: "Yeah thankfully you can edit and add things, no reason to complain just fix it yourself.."

Sometime that's just not possible. For several obscure editions all I can find online is maybe the title in an author listing or a book cover on a 2nd hand bookstore site.

A good example are the pulp crime books written under the collective pen name of Hank Janson. Goodreads has about 40 but Wikipedia has 222. Details are very sketchy and hard, if not impossible, to find.

AndrewP wrote: "The only problem is that as I go further back I am finding more books that do not exist in Goodreads."

Yeah, I had that problem when it came to my '50s, '60s and '70s pulpy sci-fi paperbacks. With some of those I had to look through what editions Goodreads had listed and see if they had anything close to the one I had. Again "messy...for people who like things nice and orderly."

Here's my top 5(ish).

1. Jim Butcher - 21
2. Robert Lynn Asprin - 13
3. Alan Moore - 8
4. J.K. Rowling - 7
4. Naomi Novik - 7
6. Warren Ellis - 6
6. Patricia C. Wrede - 6
6. George R.R. Martin - 6
6. Gail Carriger - 6

I was more surprised to see Asprin at #2 than anything else - I didn't realize how many of his Myth Adventures books I'd read.

David wrote: "Wow, Rikki, I'm impressed. I wish I had started tracking when I was younger, too. When I joined Goodreads in March 2013, I had been keeping a record of my own since June 2007, so I just imported my..."

Oh, I loved Mercedes Lackey (the newer works, not so much). She was one of my go to authors when I was kid. I just couldn't believe that I had so many books by any one author (so many books).

I wish I still had those notebooks.

Since I recently joined goodreads (about 3 years ago), my book reading list is not as impressive as some others on this site. So far I've only added, rated and reviewed books since I joined the site for one basic reason. Even if I've read a whole lot of books during my lifetime, there's no way I can remember if they were good, bad or so-so. So unless I'm willing to re-read them, they'll remain unrated. And I'm pretty sure I've outgrown of most of those books. I've read all of Goosebumps, Babysitter's Club and Animorphs during my preteen and teen years so that alone should've bumped up my numbers.

Since I learned of goodreads from Felicia Day and her Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, I was surprised to hear that this site existed far longer than I thought it did. There are some pretty impressive numbers in this thread!

Here are my meager top 5 read authors so far (since 2012):

1.) Rick Riordan - 9
2.) Ilona Andrews - 7
3.) Jessica Day George - 4
4.) James Dashner - 3
5.) Brandon Sanderson - 3

So I just did an update to my 'read' books to make this as accurate as I can with the books I have on my shelves that I hadn't added in here yet. The Goodreads Android app offers a barcode scanner which makes it really easy to add books to your collection, for those who are interested.

My list, like many others, won't include books I've read before I started on the site, or that I don't own, but its in much better shape now:

1 Stephen King 20
2 Jim Butcher 17
3 Richard Castle 11
4 Clive Barker 10
5 George R.R. Martin 9

Brandon Sanderson 13

Orson Card 8

Naomi Novik 8

Scalzi 7

Then follows Kevin Hearne, E.E. Knight, Michael Crichton, and Rachel Aaron.

Interesting. Because the Robotech serialization was 26 books, Jack McKinney is my #1 author.

#2 Margaret Weis w/24
#3 Peter David w/23
#4 Douglas Preston w/22
#5 Isaac Asimov w/17 (the short story collections on here count as one book!)
#6 James Rollins w/17
#7 E.E. Knight w/16 ( (those two have gone up, I haven't updated Goodreads in awhile.)
#8 F.Paul Wilson w/16
#9 Ben Bova w/15
#10 David Weber 15
Anne McCaffrey squeaked in at #11 w/14.

author books read
1 David Eddings 25
2 John Scalzi 11
2 Terry Goodkind 11
2 Trudi Canavan 11
5 Brian Herbert 10
6 Karen Miller 8
7 Stephen King 7
7 J.K. Rowling 7
7 Frank Herbert 7
7 Brent Weeks 7
7 Gail Z. Martin 7

SporadicReviews.com wrote: "Interesting. Because the Robotech serialization was 26 books, Jack McKinney is my #1 author. "

How many would it be if you add in the titles by James Luceno and Brian Daley under their own names?

My are:
R.L. Stine with 135
Jim Davis with 62
R.A. Salvatore with 55
Stephen King with 55
John R. Erickson with 53

The problem with this is that Goodreads counts doubles of books, which I have a lot of for Salvatore and King, and all the others I read them in grade school, and they come out with many books within a year, so they really cannot be counted.

1. Bernard Cornwell 32
2. Bruce Coville 31
3. Terry Brooks 26
4. Jim Butcher 24
5. Brian Jacques 18


Three authors from my childhood days (2,3 and 5)

Louie wrote: "Who are your top 5 most read authors? (according to Goodreads stats)

Mine are fairly predictable. The big three Grand Masters of SF, my former favorite living author, and my current favorite livin..."

1) David Gemmell - 26
2) Michael Connelly & Robert Jordan - 15
3) David Dalglish & Michael Moorcock - 14
4) David Eddings - 13
5) Robert Adams - 12

Dunville wrote: "Lo
1) David Gemmell - 26
2) Michael Connelly & Robert Jordan - 15
3) David Dalglish & Michael Moorcock - 14
4) David Eddings - 13
5) Robert Adams - 12 "

Wow -- Robert Adams -- there's someone I haven't read in a long, long time. I saw that they've released most (all?) of the Horseclans books electronically on Amazon, but with really, really dreadful covers; and I admit I'm a bit reluctant to go back for fear that I'll find things I don't like ...

1.) Daniel Pinkwater - 77
2.) Agatha Christie - 31
3.) Barbara Park - 28
4.) Beverly Cleary - 23
5.) Raymond Feist - 21

I wasn't surprise on Pinkwater, Christ, Cleary or Feist as I love all their work. I was surprised on Park but then remembered how many of these books I've read to my daughter and I'm totally fine with that because the books were/are hilarious.

Right after these come the ones I expected like David Eddings, John Scalzi and Piers Anthony (I went through a big David Eddings, Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony phase back in the 1980's).

author read
1 Terry Goodkind 17
2 Dean Koontz 16
3 Brandon Sanderson 15
3 Robert Jordan 15
5 John Flanagan 13

No surprise for me. I am sci fi/fantasy nut. Butcher and Robin Hobb are creeping up my list quickly. Once I finish Discworld Pratchett will be up there too.

I read a boat load of comics in 2015, so it's no surprise that comic book authors have crept up my Most Read Authors list.

1. Terry Pratchett 33 -> not a surprise
2. Wolfgang Hohlbein 26 -> remnants of a misspent youth
3. Stephen King 23
4. Robin Hobb/Lois McMaster Bujold 18 -> Hello Fitz and Miles!
5. Diana Gabaldon 13 -> I'm pretty sure this one actually belongs to Robert Jordan but I couldn't remember when I gave up, so I didn't bother logging them at all.

Interestingly, my most read authors are not necessarily those, who wrote my favorite books.

Leavey wrote: "Interestingly, my most read authors are not necessarily those, who wrote my favorite books."

Yeah, that was a recurring observation among the previous participants of this thread.

My book collection kept building up just too much and so I got rid of all except for those I will re-read and focus on getting my books from the library now. It's just too easy to get buried in your collection these days. Definitely an absolute blessing since we live in such a small pocket of history with such access to the written word, but it's just too much for me haha.

I've only been putting books into Goodreads as I read them for a few years now so I've got a lifetime of stuff not entered. As such my list would be something of a mystery to me.

But I imagine it would be something like this but perhaps not in this order:

Stephen King - I've read nearly everything he's done, some multiple times.

Franklin Dixon - I read nearly the whole Hardy Boys series as a kid.

Edgar Rice Burroughs - again as a kid I read nearly the whole Tarzan series though never any John Carter stuff.

If we count comic books though (I saw someone above had Brian Bendis) my easy #1 is Chris Claremont.

Rik wrote: "If we count comic books though (I saw someone above had Brian Bendis) my easy #1 is Chris Claremont. ."

have you read his sci fi books? I liked themFirstFlight

Rik wrote: "Edgar Rice Burroughs - again as a kid I read nearly the whole Tarzan series though never any John Carter stuff."

I recommend reading the first 3-4 Barsoom books, if only to see one of the main sources that Lucas lifted from. It's dated and some of the attitudes are now objectionable, but it's still an influential work.

1. Bernard Cornwell-32 (Sharpe Series +)
2. Bruce Coville-31 (Favorite as a child + first author I followed)
3. Jim Butcher-30 (current favorite author)
4. Terry Brooks-26 (favorite in high school)
5. Brian Jacques-22 (Redwall was another childhood favorite)

Seems my childhood dominates my top 5

Mine are :

1. John Scalzi 25 (The Old Man's War serials really kicked this number up, lol)
2. Mercedes Lackey 17
3. Terry Pratchett 15
4. Charlaine Harris 13
5. Jim Butcher & Jasper Fforde are tied at 11

Fun thread. Here are mine:

1. Terry Pratchett (42) - Currently reading #43
2. Kentaro Miura (38)
3. Piers Anthony (33)
4. Norihiro Yagi (23)
5. Lois McMaster Bujold (17)
6. Neil Gaiman (15)

Numbers 2 and 4 are Manga, so perhaps that shouldn't count the same as a novel, but Neil Gaiman is a mix of Novels and Graphic Novels.

My most read authors are:

1. Neil Gaiman (my goal is to read everything he has written. well, maybe not emails, unless he lets me).
2. Alastair Reynolds (only three stories of his I haven't read)
3. Neal Asher
4. Robert Jordan (A Memory of Light more than made up for the filler books in that series)
5. Raymond E. Feist

1. Jack Vance (I'm 25 stories away from having read everything sf/f he's written, and I've got one of his anthologies with half of those.)

2. Preston and Childs, although the Pendergast series is running on fumes.

My longterm goal is to read everything by John McPhee (I've read 9 of his 27 books) and Agatha Christie (I've read 10-15 of 80ish books).

I never knew that feature was there! Here are my top 5 most read authors on Goodreads... well top 6 because number 5 is a tie:

1: Terry Pratchett - 55
2: Anne McCaffrey - 31
3: Isaac Asimov - 27
4: Ellis Peters - 21
5: Alastair Reynolds - 16
5: Bahá'u'lláh - 16

I don't think it's a coincidence that Ms McCaffrey, Mr Pratchett and Dr Asimov are rather famous for being prolific, so they have an edge over someone like Vernor Vinge who aims for quality over quantity. That said those top three would probably top my "Most ReRead Books" list as well... :-)

I've had some changes to my list since last year (message #54).

I suspect Bendis will continue battling it out with Niven for the number one slot.

Trike wrote: "I suspect Bendis will continue battling it out with Niven for the number one slot."

Currently, Bendis and Asimov are tied as my third Most Read Author. And with as much Bendis I've been reading lately, its only a matter of time before he takes the #3 slot, with a bullet.

Novels only, not including manga:
1. Katherine Applegate (I see we have a few fans of Animorphs here) - 45 books
2. RL Stine (Goosebumps and Fear Street rules!) - 43
3. Terry Pratchett - 20
4. George R.R. Martin - 19
5. Robin Hobb - 18

Hm, I read Animorphs way before I started using Goodreads. Maybe I should add them all to my profile, pretty sure KA Applegate will shoot up my most read authors list...

It's been almost 3 years since I last posted in here, so an update. Now expanded to my top 10. The comic book authors have truly invaded and entrenched themselves as my Most Read Authors.

Louie wrote: "It's been almost 3 years since I last posted in here, so an update. Now expanded to my top 10. The comic book authors have truly invaded and entrenched themselves as my Most Read Authors. "

Wow, I had completely forgotten about this thread. Looks like comics are consuming your list. Same with me, especially since I’ve read like 70 so far this year.

Even more ties now, so I extended it to the top 10. I have 2 Astro City books to read and John Varley’s newest, so those numbers will change soon. But as I said back in 2016, Bendis and Niven are still 1 and 2.

Trike wrote: "Looks like comics are consuming your list. Same with me, especially since I’ve read like 70 so far this year."

They really are. Over 250 in trade paperback (mostly) this year for me. Sadly, I've only read one novel this year, the last Expanse book, which has been true the last 2 years now.

Rob wrote: "Here's mine:

1 Jim Butcher 25
1 Stephen King 25
3 Hajime Isayama 19
4 John Grisham 18

Robert Jordan (15), Robin Hobb (14) and Brandon Sanderson (13) are just outside my top five. And the last two being favorites of mine and still writing, will hopefully knock him out of the top 5 eventually..
"

Apparently I only posted my top 4, although it looks like Robert Jordan might have been #5 and is now out.

Attack on Titan has usurped the top spot from my actual favorite authors, and Brandon Sanderson has pushed Grisham down. I need to read 3 more Robin Hobb (16) books so I can eject Grisham from my top 5 completely.

1 Hajime Isayama 31
2 Stephen King 30
3 Jim Butcher 29
4 Brandon Sanderson 21
5 John Grisham 18

Personally, I'm kind of discounting Isayama from the list. I like Attack on Titan, but a volume of the manga doesn't really compare to books by any of these other authors to be "most read".

That would leave Robert Jordan (15) and John Scalzi (15) just outside. Scalzi will move up later this month, and I imagine he'll be in my real top 5.

He probably also overtake Ms. Hobb since he seems to put out new books a lot faster than she does. Although I still have her Soldier's Son trilogy and a collection of short stories of hers to read.

It would be nice if we could sort it by Pages Read, too. Since a lot of individual issues of comics can be added separately, that would drive up the total. My Bendis count would jump from 28 to the mid 500s, for instance. Ultimate Spider-man alone is like 240.

And of course I haven’t added every book I’ve ever read, so that count is off, too.

1 Terry Brooks 30
2 Jim Butcher 22
3 Brandon Sanderson 20
4 Jacqueline Carey 17
4 Anne Bishop 17

This is since I started tracking at some point as an adult.... As posted by others in the early posts in this thread I read of ton of stuff as a youth that I don't have in here: Baby Sitter's Club, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High/Twins..... I'm sure I read dozens of each.

Robert Heinlein 44
Isaac Asimov 27
Spider Robinson 24
Larry Niven 24
Orson Scott Card 20
David Eddings 20
Robert J. Sawyer 18
Gary Larson 14
Arthur C. Clarke 13
Terry Pratchett 13

Dara wrote: "1. Steven Erikson
2. JK Rowling
3. Brandon Sanderson
4. George RR Martin
5. Bryan Lee O'Malley

I feel like this isn't really indicative of much because most of those are books in a long series. *shrug* I haven't read O'Malley in a long time. There are just 6 Scott Pilgrim books I've read. Meh."

1. Robin Hobb
2. James S.A. Corey
3. Steven Erikson
4. J.K. Rowling
5. Brandon Sanderson

I would say I have a Robin Hobb problem but I don't see this as a problem.

The Most Read Authors apparently doesn't take into account rereads.

My Goodreads profile covers books basically from June 2007 on + ~800 books I know I read from before then (and I'd probably have more Franklin W. Dixon in there or Donald J. Sobol but couldn't remember how many I'd read).

1. *CLAMP (76)
2. David Weber (62)
3. Mercedes Lackey (61)
4. *Rumiko Takahashi (56)
5. Agatha Christie (48)
6. L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (45)
7. Anne McCaffrey (37)
8. Alan Dean Foster (35)
9. *Stan Sakai (34)
10. *Brian K. Vaughan (32)
10. Glen Cook (32)
10. Jim Butcher (32)
10. Orson Scott Card (32)

(*primarily comics/manga)

What I find interesting about the above is how many of these authors I'm unlikely to ever read again, like Card or Takahashi, and probably not Foster or much in the way of new Cook or Lackey.

Interesting blend which I think shows my varying tastes

1. William Kent Krueger
2. Tom Clancy
3. Vince Flynn
4. Timothy Zahn
5. Naomi Novik
6. Andrzej Sapkowski
7. Drew Karpyshyn
8. Mary Robinette Kowal

My top 5 are:


1. Michael Moorcock - 44
2. Isaac Asimov - 27
3. Mickey Spillane - 21
4. Terry Goodkind - 20
5. Ed McBain - 19

Ed McBain is going to creep up this list as I'm working my way through his 87th Precinct novels. There are 50+ books in the series:)