Top 10 wonderful authors I have only read one book by and this is terrible
You know what I think every time I think of Sarah Rees Brennan? (Which, I grant you, is not every day, but still.)
I think, “I loved the Demon’s Lexicon series so much (even if minor character xxxxx died, which I hated) — no, really, I loved this series so much, and she has all these other books out, and I would probably love them, and I might have some on my TBR pile at this very minute, and WHY have I not made time for more of her books?”
This year the answer is, “Because I have been obsessively working on my own books,” so the amount of guilt is trivial compared to this same thought in previous years, but I am still sad.
Something interesting is going on besides the standard So Many Books So Little Time phenomenon: I’m a little put off because I worry that I wouldn’t love another book of hers as much as I loved the trilogy I read first. This doesn’t happen all the time, but more often than not, if I just loved the first story I read, I may feel this kind of hesitation about going on to another, unconnected book by the same author.
This difference is exacerbated by feeling like I need to be able to give a book my undivided attention. In contrast, if I liked-but-didn’t-love a book, I will just go on to the next book by that author whenever I happen to have time to spare, even if I can’t offer it unadulterated attention.
This pause between falling in love with the first book of a new-to-me author and the second book from that author doesn’t happen every time, by any means, but for me it’s not uncommon. Does anybody else feel this way?
Anyway: Here is a Top Ten List of authors where my first feeling whenever I think of them is I really should go on with their backlist, damn it, and quit hesitating. For some, I have in fact read more than one story, but the backlist is extensive and I’ve wanted to dip further into it for a long time, but haven’t.
These authors are not in any particular order, just the order in which I happened to think of them:
Sarah Rees BrennanLaura Ruby. I’ve read only Bone Gap so far. James Hetley / James A Burton. I read Powers and Dominions and this is an excellent duology, but I’ve never tried any others of his, even though I have four or five on my Kindle at this moment.RJ Anderson. I’ve only read Knife. I really want to go on with more books by this author.Naomi Kritzer. I loved the Freedom’s Gate series, which was absolutely my favorite read of the year a couple years ago. She has another series out, and have I tried it? No. Joan Aikin. When I found out that Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first book of a series, I was delighted. I read the second book, liked it very much, got the next book, and stalled out.Michelle Sagara / West. Kind of not right for this list because I have read two series by Sagara/West. One I didn’t like all that well, one I loved, there are so many more books in her backlist, I really want to try another series. Francis Hardinge. I’ve read two of her books, liked one a lot and loved the other, picked up two or three more of her books, and have never even opened them.Laini Taylor. I (mostly) loved the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, but have not been able to bring myself to read more than the opening paragraphs of Strange the Dreamer. This is one where I feel I need to give the book my undivided attention, and I don’t have undivided attention very often, so … China Mieville. I’ve read four of his, plus one DNF (Un Lun Dun), but it’s hard to think of another author where the hesitation to try another is stronger. I have at least two or three of his on my physical TBR shelves, but heaven knows when I’ll actually read any of them.
Please Feel Free to Share:
