Today, the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish have asked us to list ten authors we own the most books of.
I don’t own a big library. I read, lend, borrow, sell, I don’t see the point of having tons of books in my house which I’ve already read, and don’t plan on reading again.
So I’ve slightly modified this meme to list the ten authors I’ve read the most.
It’s a bit hard for me to actually remember because there are so many authors writing series nowadays, that the numbers can get skewed and would make you think that I madly love for example, Stephenie Meyer, which is not the case. It’s just that I read all the Twilight books to see what the hype was all about, and finished the series just for the sake of finishing it and knowing how things would all end. I also read The Host, which I liked quite a bit actually.
But, you see where I am going with this, right? I am not going to make this post purely about the numbers. It’s how many books I’ve read and a little something else, do I still have fond memories of the author and do I actually still want to read anything else the author puts out.
That said, on to the list.
- Agatha Christie – I’ve read everything she’s written under her name, and I am now contemplating reading the books she read under her Mary Westmacott pen name. I am rather doubtful though about how good they will be.
- Georgette Heyer – Again I’ve read most of everything she’s written including her somewhat dry historical books. There are a few mysteries still left though.
- Jean Plaidy – I was introduced to her books when I was a teen and I loved her historical novels, so much better than Philippa Gregory. I also love her gothic mysteries penned under the name Victoria Holt. She also has a few romances written under the pen name Philippa Carr. Yes, she was very prolific, surprisingly very good too. A lot more hits than misses.
- Stephen King – Another prolific author. There was a phase when I read everything he wrote, and read his books back to back. Now that is no longer the case, but still I’ve read more Stephen King books than not.
- Ben Bova – He’s not that well-known now I think. But during my science fiction phase I devoured everything he put out. And do you know he used to be a technical writer? Have to get behind him for that reason alone 🙂
- Isaac Asimov – Remember that science fiction phase I talked about? Yes, Asimov was the one responsible. I’ve read his entire Foundation series and the Robot books. Loved them all.
- J.K.Rowling – I’ve yet to start the Cormoran Strike books, but seven Harry Potter books and The Casual Vacancy has got to count for something. Plus, I think I will read practically anything she puts out. Such a good writer!
- Charlaine Harris – I read all the books in the Sookie series (ok, I think I am yet to get to the last one) for the Sookie Stackhouse reading challenge hosted a couple of years back by Beth Fish Reads.I haven’t read any other books by her but I like her Southern writing style, and would like to try out more series novels that she has put out.
- George R.R.Martin – I’ve read only five of his books but that’s not my fault! One, he takes ages to complete a book, two, his books are madly over-priced (at least in India), and three, they are always checked out from the local library 🙁 . But, he’s another writer whose writing style I love, and I will happily read anything he puts out. Why, I even read his blog posts 😀
- P.G.Wodehouse – I’ve read most of his books. We love him around here. My parents have the complete set of the Emsworth series and the Bertie Wooster books. It’s a pleasure to dip into his world when I visit home.
Love to see another list with Stephen King on it. I’ve read all the Sookie books too, even when they kept getting worse, I still kept reading (even the final one). And reading 5 of GRRM’s books is like reading 15 or any other author.
Nishita – I just have to say, you have EXCELLENT taste. 🙂
Visiting from Books on the Table via the Steadfast Reader — I like the way you modified this prompt. I avoided it because I realized I don’t own books by some of the authors I’e read the most. I
Stopping by from Steadfast Reader–I posted on this prompt as well! Agatha Christie also made my list, but I had no idea that she also wrote books under another name!
Hi, just found your blog through the linky party. I’m also a Stephen King fan and he’s one of the authors I read the most.
When I saw the name, Jean Plaidy, I thought, Who? But I actually have a Victoria Holt novel, one I found in a secondhand bookshop and it sounded good – Snare of Serpents. Haven’t read it yet though.
Great list Nish, I don’t think I’ve read anything by Ben Bova but I’ve certainly heard of him! I’ve only read a couple of Agatha Christie’s books – not a huge “whodunnit” fan, to be honest. I finally got a Jeeves book but I’m pretty sure I haven’t read anything by Wodehouse yet (unless it was as a teenager and I’ve forgotten – I didn’t keep track of books I read then and I borrowed a lot from the library) so I don’t know yet if I’ll like him (her?).
@Giraffe_Days:disqus Victoria Holt is my guilty pleasure. They are gothic romance + mysteries, highly predictable but still fun. Her historical books are also very good, they are entertaining but also feel very true to the events that occurred.
About Wodehouse, it is a quintessential British sense of humor. It depends on individual tastes. Those who like that style adore Wodehouse, those who don’t steer very far 🙂
Georgette Heyer. <3 I'm not through all her books yet. I'm not as big a fan of her mysteries, though.
My TTT.
@shanaqui:disqus agree with you, her mysteries are just about average.
Nish, you’ve got all my favs too except for the science fiction, a genre which somehow passed me by. My other favs which I don’t see here are Wilbur Smith and Sidney Sheldon. One of my all time favs is the Wheel of Time series. I’ve always felt that Rowling was quite inspired by the theme which also has an evil force which cannot be named, a hero who is unaware of his powers and even creatures which suck out peoples happiness and ultimately their souls. I really enjoyed reading this post 🙂
@Anjana: Argh, sorry, my son just pounced on the comp. Will respond in sane manner later.