Help! I need a new author!

[Valerie]

I tend to find an author I like, then read pretty everything by them I can get my hands on. I am out of authors that I know I like. Please help! Anyone know a good one that has written a lot? I feel lost!

[Sherry, Doyenne]

It might help if we knew which authors you had already exhausted and what kind of reading you enjoy.

[Dottie]

Thinking I would find what authors had been "exhausted" by examining your shelves -- I find the only author you seemingly have read more than two of is Rowling -- and while the 7 HP books may be all she has written -- I don't think so even not being a Rowling reader, it seems I've heard she has written others -- or has them on deck.

Then you have a single Vonnegut listed -- he's written a great many others. Steinbeck has written many besides East of Eden. Tolkien has more than just the Hobbit to offer -- again I'm not a reader of his but I'm familiar and beyond wtih his work from talking with friends and family.

Two Dan Brown works? I think he has others.

Search around the offerings on Goodreads -- search around the shelves of folks in your groups or the shelves of your friends.

I have plenty to do and read here just watching my daily home page change over a half dozen or more times every day -- the list never flags.

Have I helped? I hope so -- because I believe only YOU can decide where your interest leads you as to what you might find of interest next up on the reading lists.

[Amy]

Hi Valduchi,
Looks like you're new to goodreads - I've not been here too long myself and it takes some time to build your bookshelves to actually reflect your reading, but I tend to like to stick to one author too and have been shelving quite a bit lately - we've had quite a lot of snow and indoor time! Feel free to check them out for some suggestions in a few different genres at least! Good luck!

[Danielle]

bill bryson is fantastic for travel reads.
my two cents.

[alicia]

not knowing what you like to read I'll tell you some of my favorite authors.
Cecelia Ahern
Jennifer Weiner
Nora Roberts
Tamara Thorne
Stephen King
Dean Koontz
John Saul
Joanne Fluke
Richelle Mead
Rachel Caine
Cleo Coyle
Victoria Laurie
Jimmie Ruth Evans
Hannah Nyala

[Jim]

If you are looking for an author that will really take up some time, try Balzac. He has well over 100 novels to his credit and most of them are fairly long. You could also consider Anthony Trollope. I inherited over 30 volumes from my mother-in-law who liked the idea of having "trollop novels". Admittedly I have only read 3 or 4 of them, but they are there when needed.

Or you could consider the example of the Jane Austen lover who said he only read six books a year and always the same six. Maybe we are victims of those insidious book report contests in grade school where the only thing that counted was quantity. The key to victory was finding a lot of short books and skipping Gone with the Wind .

Or maybe we should give in to the times and have a book report contest to see who can read and report on the most books the fastest. Sort of like speed dating. The problem with the book reviews on Goodreads is that you can get away with just putting a star on the book and there's no guarantee that you actually read it recently. This gives an unfair advantage to long time readers and skimmers.

[Marilyn]

I've read all of Sue Grafton's "A-B-C" mysteries. I recently finished "T is for Trespass" (that means I've read her prior 19 novels) and I found this new one both enlightening and amusing, and covering a totally different realm than her other books. Try her...you'll like her!--Marilyn

[Valerie]

Well, Dottie, obviously the 10 or so books I rated on this Web site are not the only books I have ever read. The Potter books just happened to be on the first page, and I have also read all 4 Brown novels.

I apologize to you because I thought the point of this site was for people to suggest authors to each other. As I do not have a single genre of novel I like best, I was simply looking for people who liked to read offering suggestions of good writers.

Thanks so much for everyone else's suggestions. Danielle, I LOVE Bryson, have you tried A. Maarten Troost? He is a travel writer who is funny like Bryson.

[Ruth]

Alice Munro, John Updike, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Jim Crace,Allan Gurganus, Kent Haruf, Ray Bradbury, MFK Fisher, Sharon Olds....

Will that hold you for a while?

R

[Dottie]

Phew -- well, Im glad to hear that! And I owe you an apology for how snippy I came off -- maybe I was just in a funk or just went into shock at how someone couldn't find enough to read after hanging around Goodreads because "for sure" Goodreads is about sharing book info. And then, you gave so little for anyone to go on and when I looked -- I thought -- HUH? Sorry -- I'm not always so cranky -- more these days than I would wish -- but not always. At any rate, I hope you have new authors aplenty what with the great ideas here -- and I would add, what about Alice Hoffman, Saul Bellow. Wm Somerset Maugham?

[Pam]

Matthews' Heart of the Country is on my all-time Top Ten. I'm tempted to re-read it, but when I've done that before with favorites, they don't seem all that special. I also liked Power in the Blood. Didn't care much for the one set in Australia -- I've forgotten the title.

[Mandy]

James Patterson has a heap of books. I'm a fan of Lee Child, big fan. Um, John Grisham. If you like a bit of satire and comedy Ben Elton.

[Dora]

How about Anne Tyler? I've gone back to read most of her books several times. I've just started reading Ann Patchett and love her work. I've read most of Isabel Allende. For mysteries, Sara Paretsky, Marcia Mueller, Margaret Maron.

An easy way to find new books here is to go to the explore link at the top of the page and read some reviews or look through members' bookshelves or read through group discussions.

Good luck!

[Sarah]

Valduchi, I'll verify that Dottie is hardly EVER cranky. She's usually full of good cheer and lots of good book ideas and thoughts. And Constant Reader is definitely about giving new author/book ideas; it's just that most of us, like you, I'm sure, read so widely that it's hard to suggest without knowing a little more about the person's taste. Here's some more: Marianne Robinson; Joyce Carol Oates; Graham Greene; George Eliot; Thomas Hardy.

Ruth, another Jim Crace fan! I discovered him in The Pesthouse this summer and then found out about Quarantine, which I read in November. What others of his do you recommend?

[Sherry, Doyenne]

Sarah, I'll jump in here with a Crace recommendation. Being Dead. I've read it twice. We had it as an "official book" of our reading list and Crace graced us with his presence. It was fascinating, and I have the discussion on my computer. If anyone wants it, send me an email.

[peg]

After shadowing the threads on this group discussion for some time, I decided to hop onboard.

Sherry,my book club read Being Dead a few years ago and, although it didn't sit well with several people in my group,I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Have you read any of Crace's other novels?

[Sarah]

Sherry, thanks for the recommendation, and I'd love the discussion so I can stash it until I've read it. Peg, welcome...I'm glad you came out of the shadows. After I read Being Dead, I'd love to hear what your book group didn't like. What else do you read?

[Ruth]

Being Dead is my favorite Crace. I also liked The Gift of Stones very much, and The Pesthouse. Not so much Arcadia or quarantine. He is an amazing writer.

R

[Jayne]

I have never read Crace, but looked up his work based on your recommendations, and he looks like someone whose writing I'd enjoy. Thanks.

As far as suggesting authors--I enjoy Thomas Cook, Armistead Maupin, J.M Coetzee, Cormac McCarthy--just to name a few

[Ashley]

Looking at your book list, I'd suggest Stephen King, Howl's Moving Castle,and the Left Behind series.

Happy Reading!@

[peg]

Sarah-It has been so long since I read Being Dead it's hard to remember what by book club members' criticisms were but as I recall,they did not care for some elements of Crace's style.I'm sorry that I can't be any more specific than that.

Some of my favorite reads are Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys,World's Fair by E.L.Doctorow,Ironweed by William Kennedy,and Snow Country by Kawabata.

Thanks,Ruth for your suggestions.I think that I will be reading another Crace novel in the near future.