SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Yes I might be stealing this thread idea from elsewhere but it's interesting and I'd like to see how it goes here.

Click on My Books at the top of the page and then go down the left hand side under your shelves and click on "Most Read Authors". Post and discuss your top 10 here.

Doesn't apply to me. My most read authors are not my favorites, they're just the ones who are most prolific. I'll give one example. Katherine Applegate is in the top ten, because I read the 50+ Animorphs books with my kids. Does that mean I'll read everything I can by her? Absolutely not.

1 Terry Pratchett 44
2 Raymond E. Feist 33
3 Neil Gaiman 24
4 Robert G. Barrett 23
5 Steve Berry 16
5 Roald Dahl 16
7 Bill Bryson 15
7 Matthew Reilly 15
9 David Eddings 14
10 Kevin J. Anderson 13

It's interesting as a lot of these authors I've not read anything from in a long time. 3 of them have passed away. Reilly and Berry write what I call popcorn books. Fun adventures without much substance. The book version of mindless action movies.

The highest female author in my list is J.K. Rowling at number 19 with 8 books and then Ursula K. Le Guin at 31 with 6 books. I don't know how much the top of this list will change as a lot of my favourite authors aren't as prolific and I try and spread out my reading rather than focus on one particular author.

1 3535 William Faulkner 28
2 16094 Lois McMaster Bujold 22
3 13026 Glen Cook 18
4 10746 Jim Butcher 16
5 6252 Robert Jordan 15
6 25307 Robin Hobb 14
7 947 William Shakespeare 14
8 31232 Steven Erikson 12
9 1023510 R.A. Salvatore 12
10 656983 J.R.R. Tolkien 11
11 9388 Louise Erdrich 10
12 2778055 Kurt Vonnegut 10

I didn't realize Faulkner had wrote this much! Otherwise the rest don't surprise me though...

Cheryl wrote: "Doesn't apply to me. My most read authors are not my favorites, they're just the ones who are most prolific."

Well that's the point. I didn't say they would be your or anyones favourites. My top 10 certainly isn't apart from the top 2.

Also it's interesting to hear why people have read so much by an author if they aren't a favourite, like your example.

Well, my list isn't interesting anyway, Though I do see your point.

1 Mercedes Lackey 25
2 Neil Gaiman 23
3 Lois McMaster Bujold 21
3 Isaac Asimov 21
5 Arthur C. Clarke 18
5 David Eddings 18
7 Tanya Huff 15
7 Jonathan Carroll 15
7 Ben Bova 15
10 Kelley Armstrong 14

First thing I would note is that these might not necessarily be the most read authors, just the ones I have added to My Books on Goodreads. I have come nowhere close to adding all my books in.

I guess most of these are fairly prolific authors, so there are a lot of books. I went through a Lackey phase, an Eddings phase and an Asimov and Clarke phase, so that explains them.

Sandman will make up a good portion of the Gaiman, and the Armstrong will be the Women of the Otherworld series. Bova will be the Grand Tour books. Love them.

I'll read anything Bujold and Carroll put out. And obviously Huff as well, although I wasn't aware I'd read that many.

Historical fiction and fantasy. Yep, this is about what I'd expect from my top list.

Robin Hobb 14
Ron Rash 9
Bernard Cornwell 7
R. Scott Bakker 7
George R.R. Martin 6
Guy Gavriel Kay 6

I have 849 books on my list, my top ten are

Anne Perry 27
Mercedes Lackey 24
Anne Rice 23
Christopher Stasheff 22
Anne McCaffrey 22
Ellis Peters 21
Elizabeth Peters 19
Laura Joh Rowland 16
Jim Butcher 15 (tied with William Shakespeare, Raymond E. Feist, Louise Cooper, and Douglas Preston with Lincoln Child)

I have not entered many children's books or Nancy Drew would probably top this list.

I read a lot of historical mystery series.

I'll bite...

Piers Anthony 33
Andre Norton 19
John D. MacDonald 17
Stephen R. Donaldson 15
Isaac Asimov 13
Robert Jordan 13
Dan Simmons 11
Ian Fleming 11
Michael Crichton 10
David Brin 8

The top 5 are all a direct result from time spent reading as a kid. Now I get pulled in so many directions, it is hard to focus on one author for more than a few books. I suspect Jim Butcher will start creeping up in the next few years.

Piers Anthony certainly was a favorite but isn't anymore.

Several of these are from comics, I think, and some from re-reads:


1 - Terry Pratchett - 40
2 - Neil Gaiman - 39
3 - J.K. Rowling - 24
4 - Bill Willingham - 22
5 - Mike Carey - 19
6 - Simon R. Green - 17
7 - Stephen King - 15
8 - John Flanagan - 14
8 - Warren Ellis - 14
8 - Ted Naifeh - 14
8 - QuinRose - 14
8 - Holly Black - 14
8 - Garth Nix - 14

The top two authors really are fantasy favorites, but Mercedes Lackey is not really a current favorite.

Charles de Lint 16
Mercedes Lackey 16

Then there are the mystery authors:

Laura Joh Rowland 15
She's just finished a series that I loved, so she probably won't remain my most added mystery author. She intends to take a completely different direction.

Laurie R. King 14

Not so favorite any more. She's been trying too hard to impress me with her research which would be fine if she left it on her website, but instead I have to read pages and pages of research bogging down the plot of her novels.

Aimée Thurlo 13

She's now deceased, but I loved her Navajo Tribal Police central character.

Kerry Greenwood 13

A new favorite. I'll be continuing to add more Phryne Fisher novels.

Eliot Pattison 10

I will soon be adding his latest.

Colin Cotterill 9

When he writes about Dr. Siri Paboun, I'll definitely read it.

I'm clearly showing my age considering who my #1 is (Babysitter's Club). I have done an okay job of filling in books I've read as a child. Only Anne McCaffrey, Brian Lumley, and Jim Butcher on this list would qualify as favorites, and I haven't even read anything by Brian Lumley since college. I was shocked that Robin Hobb is #22, and Robert Jordan is #28. Clearly, I love series. Even when you get to #50, I've still read at least 9 books by that author. Considering that Goodreads lists me as having read 1599 books, I guess that shouldn't be too surprising.

1. Ann M. Martin 53
2. Bill Amend 37
3. Jonathan Kellerman 34
4. Jerry Scott 32
5. Dave Barry 30
6. Anne McCaffrey 30
7. Janet Evanovich 27
8. Brian Lumley 25
9. Sue Grafton 24
9. Gary Larson 24
9. Jim Butcher 24

1. Stephen King 73
2. Neil Gaiman 36
3. Terry Brooks 25
4. George R.R. Martin 21
5. Jim Butcher 19
6. Michael J. Sullivan 18
7. Bernard Cornwell 17
7. Michael Moorcock 17
9. Robert Jordan 16
10. Roger Zelazny 15
10. R.A. Salvatore 15

Interesting list. Like Colleen said, I see a big inflation on some of these with re-reads and graphic novels.

I did notice that it doesn't count the second author listed in a collaboration. I have Brandon Sanderson down with 13, but it doesn't count the three Wheel of Time books he finished. If it did, he'd be tied on my list with...Robert Jordan.

1. Ursula K. Le Guin 15
2. Lynn Flewelling 11
3. Sergei Lukyanenko 10
4. Terry Pratchett 8
4. Jim Grimsley 8
6. J.K. Rowling 7
7. Wolfgang Hohlbein 6
8. J.R.R. Tolkien 5
8. Chuck Palahniuk 5
8. Christopher Paolini 5
8. K.J. Charles 5
12. Diana Wynne Jones 4
12. Stephen King 4

Hmm, three of these were a 'phase', I guess (Hohlbein, Lukanyenko, Palahniuk - which I btw dislike now that I know his views of women in fiction). Then there's Paolini who's books I listened to (which explains the odd number although he only wrote 4 books). Can't say I liked any of them. Some parts made me laugh but that was usually the result of bad writing.
It's nice though that authors I actually like are also quite high on the list. Le Guin for example is someone I also admire as a person.
Lynn Flewelling should absolutely write more books, though. :) I need to read more Diana Wynne Jones, I guess.

It's fairly inaccurate for me. I don't doubt that Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven and Alan Dean Foster would be in my actual top ten as they are in this one, but since my Goodreads list doesn't have the bulk of the books I've read, it will be missing Anne McCaffrey and Katherine Kurtz, among others.

Position author books read
1 Larry Niven 22
2 Brian Michael Bendis 19
3 Isaac Asimov 18
4 Alan Dean Foster 14
4 Arthur C. Clarke 14
6 John Varley 12
7 Robert Kirkman 11
8 Brian K. Vaughan 9
8 Mark Waid 9
10 Octavia E. Butler 8

A lot of books I have read are not on my Goodreads list, but I do, of course, know which authors are my favorites/ most read and a mix of Fantasy/Sci-fi and Mystery/Adventure. I don't read books I don't enjoy, so all of mine are authors with books I have liked, although in many cases, I have not liked all of the books by a particular author, but I've listed the ones I seem to follow and/or re-read the most often. Some of the authors are deceased or at least no longer actively writing, but I'm 70 and have been reading all my life, so that is something to (unfortunately) expect.

Fantasy:
Mercedes Lackey
Lois Bujold
Robin McKinley
Anne McCaffrey

Sci-Fi:
Robert Heinlein
Clifford Simak
Eric Flint
David Weber
David Drake
Larry Correia
S.M. Stirling
Taylor Anderson

Mystery:
J.D. Robb
Dick Francis
Robert Parker
John Sandford
Thomas Perry
Peter Bowen
Heron Carvic
Craig Johnson

Adventure:
Alistair MacLean
Desmond Bagley
James Rollins
Clive Cussler

1) Katherine Applegate 76
2) David Weber 56
3) Terry Pratchett 39
4) Yu Wo 24
4) Ben Bova 24
4) Lois McMaster Bujold 24
7) Rifujin na Magonote 22
7) Jim Butcher 22
9) Reki Kawahara 20
10) Ichiei Ishibumi 17

Applegate: YA, In middleschool I loved animorphs I read some of her other series too so yep long.
Weber: Military Sci-fi, Extremely prolific author combined with the fact that I find him fairly consistently good across the board.
Pratchett: Discworld, British Humour
Yu Wo: Taiwanese Light Novel, writer of one of my favorite fantasy series I have ever read. Very prolific but not all her stuff gets translated.
Ben Bova: Hard? Sci-fi When I first started reading I only had the library and the library had basically all his books and his books had pictures of planets so yep. I read him before I knew better stuff existed.
Bujold: Sci-fi Amazing Sci-fi author love her just go read her stuff now...wish she would write more but alas.
Maganote: Japanese serial writer...very good portal fantasy writer. Does a surprisingly good job of always keeping the story moving and even if it stagnates for a few dozen pages it's still very interesting and more of a quick breather before everything grinds up again.
Jim Butcher: Great fantasy writer. Both of his series I feel have rough starts...but I love them both, really excited to start reading his next series and continuing Dresden books.
Reki Kawahara: Japanese serial author, best known in the west for Sword Art Online but as the author continued to write he went from great story...bad writer to becoming a very very competent and solid writer and his current series Accel World is probably the best YA fiction I have read, beating even Artemis Fowl.
Ichiei Ishibumi: Japanese serial author, guilty pleasure writing it's so bad it's good, at least the author is very aware of this based off his writing notes at the end of every arc.

I read a lot of comics so they skew my number quite a bit (read them as singles but log them here as GNs once I read a block of them) but my list is:

Top 10 Authors
Glen Cook 27 - one of my faves
Isaac Asimov 20
Terry Pratchett 20
Michael Moorcock 19 - lots of Elric
Margaret Weis 16 - mostly Dragonlance from when I was younger
Anne McCaffrey 15 - mostly Pern, from younger days
Steven Brust 14
Iain M. Banks 14 - so good but sadly no more :-(
Charles DeLint 14
Fritz Leiber 13 - mostly Fafhrd and Grey Mouser ... great stuff!

Top 10 comics writers (only logged about last 5-6 years worth, so not so accurate)
Mike Mignola - mostly Hellboy and BPRD stuff
Brian Michael Bendis - one of the best!!!
Bill Willingham - mostly Fables (wish he would draw again!)
Geoff Johns - another great writer
Stan Sakai - mostly Usagi Yojimbo, a long time fave
Kazuo Koike - Lone Wolf and Cub
Jean Van Hamme - French GN writer (mostly Thorgal)
Ed Brubaker - another fave
Brian Wood - DMZ, Northlanders, others ...
Alan Moore - a classic master!

This is interesting--I didn't know that you could find this on Goodreads. I'm realizing that I don't read too many books by any single author--I guess I don't read as many series as I do standalone books or trilogies. I also noticed that my top 6 are all female authors, which doesn't surprise me; I tend to gravitate more towards female authors in general.

1 Charlaine Harris 26
2 Ilona Andrews 16
3 Tamora Pierce 12
4 J.K. Rowling 10
5 Margaret Atwood 8
5 Seanan McGuire 8
7 Neil Gaiman 7
8 John Grisham 6
8 Dennis Lehane 6
8 Bill Bryson 6

1. Ben Aaronovitch 8 (mostly the 5 Peter Grant novels, plus some Dr. Who novelizations)
2. Ed McBain 8 (the 87th Precinct novels; you gotta respect a writer who can keep a series going for 50 years; that, he was Hill Street Blues before there was Hill Street Blues)
3. S. J. Rozan 7 (I love her Lydia Chin/Bill Smith stories, but I love Lydia more b/c I'm more interested in the Chinese side of NYC)
4. Loren D Estleman 6 (his Valentino novels and short stories are a film lover's delight; the Four Horsemen stories are good hard boiled historical police procedurals)
5. Graham Greene 6 (greatest British novelist of the 20th century, IMLTHO; short stories are generally fab, too, but not as good as Joyce's)
6. Neil Gaiman 6 (Sandman's brilliant, what more can I say?)
7. Michael Connelly 5 (I love Harry Bosch, but I think the earlier stuff is much better than his later works; I need to read TRUNK MUSIC and THE POET for other characters)
8. Max Allan Collins 5 (hard boiled historical PI novels showed me what a historical mystery could really be--and Nate Heller's the Man)
9. Octavia Butler 5 (brilliant SF writer, adored her trilogy LILITH'S BROOD & found her take on the vampire trend interesting in FLEDGLING; I first read her in SF as Literary Genre class I took b/c my friends were taking it)
10. Liz Williams 5 (mostly, it's her Inspector Chen novels; I really like the use of religious Daoism/Buddhism as well as the bureaucracy of Hell and ineffectuality of Heaven).

Maggie, that it's a delightfully eclectic list.

1 Philip K. Dick 41
2 Joe Haldeman 19
3 Greg Bear 18
3 Kurt Vonnegut 18
5 Alastair Reynolds 12
6 Frank Herbert 11
7 Iain M. Banks 10
8 Roger Zelazny 9
8 Peter F. Hamilton 9
10 Dan Simmons 8

My list pretty much shows exactly who I like to read, with the exception of Zelazny (tied for #8). Only things I've read by him were his Amber series, that's why the number's so high. I wasn't too fond of them over all: interesting to a point, but very, hmm, rougly edited and repetitive. Oh, I've also read the one collaboration Zelazny did with PKD, Deus Irae, which is an interesting blend of their styles.

But, yeah, as you can see, I'm a total Dickhead. He he.

Peter F. Hamilton will be going up a rank soon 'cause I'm reading Great North Road now. So soon it'll be a tie for 7th place.

1 J.R.R. Tolkien 29
2 William Shakespeare 19
3 Thomas Hardy 18
4 Arthur C Clarke 14
5 Anonymous 11
6 Joseph Conrad 11
7 Iris Murdoch 11
8 C.S. Lewis 10
9 Hermann Hesse 10
10 Charles Dickens 8

I am pleased to see Anonymous at number five with eleven books, an obscure writer very often overlooked, if not forgotten, but still responsible for such works as Beowulf, The Elder Edda, The Kalevala and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

1 Ursula K. Le Guin 12
2 Kelly Sue DeConnick 9
2 Ed Brubaker 9
2 Fumi Yoshinaga 9
5 Chinua Achebe 7
6 Yasunari Kawabata 5
6 Yukio Mishima 5
6 Brian K. Vaughan 5
6 Octavia E. Butler 5
10 Marguerite Abouet 4

That's only covering the past six years, though. My all-time most read authors would certainly include Isaac Asimov, Agatha Christie, Diana Wynne Jones, and Dr. Seuss.

1. George R.R. Martin - 44
2. Jim Davis - 41
3. C.J. Cherryh - 28
4. Anne McCaffrey - 27
5. Lilian Jackson Braun - 26
6. Bill Amend - 25
7. Lindsey Davis - 23
8. Terry Pratchett - 20
9. Jim Butcher - 17
10. Scott Adams - 15
10. Paul Kearney - 15

GRRM is certainly one of my favorite authors, but he hasn't actually written quite that much. He is however the primary editor for Wild Cards so that takes up half right there.

I also still have a lot of my old comic strip books from years ago which is why they show up on the list.

1 Juliet Marillier 13
2 Brian Jacques 11
2 Robert Jordan 11
4 Robin Hobb 9
4 John Marsden 9
4 Kate Elliott 9
7 J.K. Rowling 8
8 William Shakespeare 6
9 Gregory Maguire 5
9 Jane Austen 5
9 Isabel Allende 5
9 George R.R. Martin 5
9 Robin McKinley 5

The way these things go, most of these are authors I'm no longer interested in. Jacques, Jordan and Marsden, in particular, wrote series I loved as a kid. But then had I listed everything I'd read as a kid, the author of the Boxcar Children would have the #1 spot!

1. Stephen King 18
2. Carl Hiaasen 16
3. Robert Crais 16
4. Jim Butcher 15
5. Sidney Sheldon 15
6. Elmore Leonard 14
7. Brandon Sanderson 14
8. John Irving 12
9. Stephen R. Donaldson 10
10. James Patterson 9

None of these really surprise me as these are mostly series that I've loved either as a youngster or as an adult and/or authors that have a pretty large body of work.

I honestly thought there would be more King and Irving in there, since they have probably been my two favorite authors over the last ten years or so.

Slightly embarassed at the amount of Patterson and Sheldon, but what are ya gonna do? A guy's gotta have his mysteries. At least Crais, Hiaasen and Leonard have a good showing.

Dresden is all sorts of kick ass, Thomas Covenant was my first introduction into fantasy and Sanderson's work is amazing (fully expect him to be at the top of my list pretty soon).

Although there are many authors here that I have read most of their books, many of the series i enjoy and have actually bought the books (rather than use the library) arent on the Shelf. eg Joel Shepherd, Kylie Chan . I have all Fiest, all Asimove, all Clark, all McCaffrey and so on.

It's funny, because I wouldn't really say that these are my favorite authors. Also, my list doesn't know how to keep count, so that's a thing...

1 Charlaine Harris 14
2 Stephen King 10
3 Philippa Gregory 9
4 Anna Godbersen 7
5 Cassandra Clare 6
5 Stacia Kane 6
7 Ken Follett 5
7 Kami Garcia 5
9 Dan Simmons 4
9 Kalayna Price 4

01 Robert B. Parker 62 - dead; mystery
02 Georgette Heyer 43 - dead; historical fiction
03 Bill Willingham 33 - graphic novels
04 Brian K. Vaughan 31 - graphic novels
05 Ed Brubaker 30 - graphic novels
06 Dave Barry 29 - humor
07 Peter Lovesey 28 - mystery
08 Jim Butcher 23 - fantasy
08 Eric Flint 23 - science fiction
10 Patricia Briggs 21 - fantasy
10 Elizabeth Moon 21 - science fiction

I've not added everything I've read to my shelves.

If I did, it would probably look more like this here:
01 Robert B. Parker 62 - dead; mystery
02 Harry Turtledove 56 - alt history
03 W.E.B. Griffin 50 - military fiction/historical fiction
03 Georgette Heyer 50 - dead; historical fiction; mysteries
05 David Weber 48 - science fiction/fantasy
06 Dick Francis 43 - dead; mystery
07 Brian K. Vaughan 36 - graphic novels; science fiction
08 Bill Willingham 33 - graphic novels; fantasy
08 Scott Adams 33 - humor
10 Peter Lovesey 32 - mystery; historical fiction

Like many others, I find my list to be more of an indication of authors with many books in a series that I've read, rather than an indication of my favorite authors.

*Disclaimer: I adjusted my list to remove the related short stories for Jennifer Estep since there were so many.

1. (24) Janet Evanovich
2. (21) Lynsay Sands
3. (20) Jim Butcher
4. (17) Jennifer Estep
5. (16) Ilona Andrews
Charlaine Harris
Karen Marie Moning
Kim Harrison
6. (15) Lara Adrian
Ken Follett
Patricia Briggs
Jeaniene Frost
7. (14) Karen Chance
Eloisa James
8. (13) J.R. Ward
9. (12) Gail Carriger
Stephen King
10. (11) Carrie Vaughn


In looking at this list, I can't help but wonder why I feel so compelled to continue a series when I know it is crap??? I am less guilty these days, but sheesh.

Authors from the above list that I actually think are deserving of my having spent so much time reading their books:
1. Jim Butcher
2. Ilona Andrews
3. Kim Harrison
4. Ken Follett
5. Patricia Briggs
6. Gail Carriger
7. Stephen King

Valerie wrote: "In looking at this list, I can't help but wonder why I feel so compelled to continue a series when I know it is crap??? I am less guilty these days, but sheesh."

I've completely given up on that. I'd rather spend my time reading books I want to read rather than feel some sort of obligation to finish a series I don't like.

Kim, over the past couple of years, I've recognized this trend in myself. This year, especially, I am making a commitment to myself.

Life is too waste time on crappy books!

1 Piers Anthony 46
2 Mercedes Lackey 44
3 Terry Pratchett 43
4 Marion Zimmer Bradley 38
5 Robert A. Heinlein 36
6 Anne McCaffrey 31
7 Roger Zelazny 28
8 C.J. Cherryh 25
9 Andre Norton 24
10 Agatha Christie 22

Wow! That is interesting. Most of these date back to waaaay back when, especially Anthony, Lackey, and Bradley. On the other hand, if I had a record of all the books I actually have read, Asimov, Clarke, Norton, and Christie would move up quite a bit. And I agree, I have been trying to discipline myself to quit wasting time on series when they have clearly lost my interest and respect.

I had curiously checked this at the beginning of the year. Of course, my most read authors are going to be the ones with long running series I've followed. Not necessarily my favorite authors. But still, it points to my reading preferences of PNR and Sci Fi with a sprinkling of CR that I started peeking at about a year ago.

1 6268 Christine Feehan 40
2 4430 Sherrilyn Kenyon 37
3 64364 Jacquelyn Frank 17
3 20248 J.R. Ward 17
5 48206 Karen Marie Moning 13
6 669810 Jeaniene Frost 12
7 16667 Isaac Asimov 11
8 25883 Robert J. Sawyer 9
9 35023 Alyssa Day 8
9 5430144 Colleen Hoover 8
9 589 Orson Scott Card 8

1 Charles de Lint 44
2 Jane Yolen 29
3 Jennifer Roberson 27
4 Jim Butcher 24
5 Kelley Armstrong 23
6 Lois McMaster Bujold 22
7 Tanya Huff 21
8 Charlaine Harris 18
9 Patricia Briggs 16
9 Diana Gabaldon 16
9 Walter Dean Myers 16
12 Carrie Vaughn 15
12 Bill Watterson 15
14 Neil Gaiman 14
14 Octavia E. Butler 14
14 Connie Willis 14
14 Ursula K. Le Guin 14
14 Holly Black 14
19 Chris Crutcher 13
20 Ellen Datlow 12
20 Robin McKinley 12
22 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 11
22 Ilona Andrews 11
24 Louise Erdrich 10
24 David Levithan 10
24 Michael Chabon 10
24 William Shakespeare 10
24 Sherman Alexie 10
24 Jo Walton 10

What an interesting development. I think it shows the scope of reading - various genres as well as times. But its also if you find someone you like you read a lot of their books.





author books read
1 Andre Norton 95 (sf and fantasy)
2 Louis L'Amour 69 (westerns)
3 Alan Dean Foster 53 (sf and fantasy. Flinx and Commonwealth novels)
4 Franklin W. Dixon 51 (hardy boys mysteries)
5 Piers Anthony 48 (sf and fantasy Xanth)
6 Dick Francis 43 (horse riding mysteries)
7 Mercedes Lackey 42 (fantasy)
8 Robert A. Heinlein 35 (sci fi master)
9 Anne McCaffrey 34 (sf - Pern)
10 C.J. Cherryh 33 (sf)
11 David Weber 28 (sf and some fantasty - Honor Harrington)
12 Edgar Rice Burroughs 27 (old line master Tarzan)
12 Michael Connelly 27 (detective novels Harry Bosch)
14 Alistair MacLean 26 (thrillers)
15 William Shakespeare 24 (the Bard - plays)
15 Lois McMaster Bujold 24 (sf and fantasy - Vorkosigan family
15 David Baldacci 24 (thrillers)
18 Jo Clayton 23 (fantasy)
18 Janet Evanovich 23 (funny mysteries)
18 Elizabeth Moon 23 (sf and fantasy Paks and military sf)
21 L.E. Modesitt Jr. 22 (sf and mostly fantasy - Recluce)
21 Christopher Stasheff 22 (fantasy)
23 Jim Butcher 21 (urban fantasy and fantasy)
23 Clive Cussler 21 (sea thrillers)
25 Patricia Briggs 20 (fantasy and urban fantasy)
25 Larry Niven 20 (old line sf master)

1 Lois Gladys Leppard 40
2 26 Anne McCaffrey 39
3 10518 Elizabeth Moon 24
4 10746 Jim Butcher 23
4 1069006 C.S. Lewis 23
6 123715 Agatha Christie 21
7 989968 C.J. Cherryh 20
8 40563 Patricia Briggs 19
8 4260 Diana Wynne Jones 19
10 874602 Ursula K. Le Guin 18
10 8185168 Charles de Lint 18

The top author is one I read to my kids when they were little, so just forget hers (the Mandie series). The remaining authors are favorites, it worked for me!

Does anyone know what has happened to the 'Most Read Authors' link? Has everyone's gone, or is it just mine?!

Sorry to put this on a super old thread, but I searched for the topic and this is what came up, so...

Yes, MRA is gone.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Anna wrote: "Yes, MRA is gone.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Ah, thanks Anna. That's a shame - but I suppose it will prompt me to learn how to use spreadsheets at last!

But there seems to be a hell of a lot of people who want it back.....

I want it back.

Well, you can download the CSV export. Then, all you need is a database program, import the CSV and run a single SQL query.
Makes me wonder why the function was removed, considering it's easy to process (I presume that the function did nothing else than said SQL query) and did it only on user request - unlike the likewise removed top readers/reviewers/whatnot that hat to be updated constantly.
---
Edit: you can use spreadsheets as well, though it's not as elegant as a database.
---
Edit two: well nevermind, tried downloading the CSV, it's far from foolproof. Since there can be commas in names (usually between series name and #), and those can be in the book name itself, it completely screws up the import.

the csv export works for me and all I do is open the file using Excel. I don't import it, I just open it. The only problem I have is that the special characters used in foreign words don't export correctly and thus don't import correctly.

Anna wrote: "Yes, MRA is gone.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Official word posted this AM (in the above thread) that the MRA is gone for good. You are down to a lame workaorund posted by adding lots of extra shelves or working with the .csv export file to generate your own list.

csv export combined with creating a Pivot table on Excel works quite well but you need to create a Num (or other name) column populated with ones that will total all the books by each author. It's easy to do

Conal wrote: "Anna wrote: "Yes, MRA is gone.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Official word posted this AM (in the above thread) that the MRA is gone for good. You are down to a lame workaorund p..."

Yes. Even though there are a ton of unfixed issues with the .csv export files. So that's not even a real option.

this is what works seamlessly for me

export csv file
open Excel
use the Excel menu to open the csv (Browse and change the All Excel files to All files)

it will open and not ask you to select dividers like comma or semi colon, etc, it will just open and the content of the author field will look like this: Wilson, Robert Charles
with a couple of oddities like this one: Jr., L.E. Modesitt
and special characters not being recognized: Pötzsch, Oliver

do a save as an xls
then insert a column next to author (I use Num) and fill with ones

then highlight the author name and the Num column and use the Insert menu to insert a Pivot table (google instructions if this is confusing)

the key is to not import a csv which demands you use dividers, but to open it