Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Thursday, March 26, 2009

When you can't read just one.

I've been doing a little thinking lately and I've realized- I can't think of a single author (one hit wonders like Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee aside) that I have read EVERY one of their novels. When I was a kid there were a few, but those authors kept writing after I'd moved on. I read all seven Harry Potter books, but have no desire to pick up the Tales of Beedle the Bard, perhaps I should. I occasionally think that I should quick read An Abundance of Katherines (on it's way to me from PBS) and Paper Towns (sitting here in my library stack) so that I can add John Green to my list of none. (Do I have to read the entire Let it Snow anthology to include him, or just his story?) I'm slowly working my way through Persuasion with the eventual goal of reading all of Jane Austen. I've only read one Marian Keyes, but she seems like a fine author to read all of. John Steinbeck? J.D. Robb (but would that count without reading all the Nora Roberts, and really, who has time for THAT??) Laurie Halse Anderson? I think I've read all but two of Bill Bryson's (Shakespeare and the memoir, both of which I have.) Should I start with someone dead so they don't keep writing?

So tell me, what authors have you completed? Who would you like to have completed? Whose backlist sits by your bed waiting?

15 comments:

  1. John Green is definitely on the list for me. I got Let it Snow just because of his story, and ended up loving them all. And one of the best things is that the stories are actually interconnected, so it's more like a novel-in-stories than a collection of stories.

    I'm close to completing Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Only a few of the less well-known comics to go for Neil and some non-Discworld books for Terry. I definitely want to read every single thing those two have written, but at the same time I like knowing there are books of theirs left for me to discover. Does this make sense?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently realized this myself, even authors that I love, I haven't read their ENTIRE work. I decided to make it a project to read everything Madeleine L'Engle wrote. She's my favorite author and she passed away not too long ago. I'm starting with her time quintet and working my way through.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't think of any off the top of my head. I've read all of Adriana Trigiani's novels, but not her cookbook - does that count? Oh, I may have read all of Ferrol Sams books and now that I think about it, I think I've read all of Joshilyn Jackson's books. I'm going to have to research this today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have only a couple books left of Anita Shreve to read, I've read most of James Patterson's books...I hope to finish all of Jane Austen's books. I have read all of Sophie Kinsella's work. But I have to say there are a number of authors I haven't continued reading for one reason or another...maybe its that towering TBR pile of new authors?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, I've read each of Jodi Picoult's and back when I was still reading a lot of adult fiction I loved Luanne Rice and Nicholas Sparks. I've still read all of their books, but I don't enjoy them as much anymore. I would love to someday get to all of John Green's... I LOVED Paper Towns and though I didn't super-love Looking for Alaska, I enjoyed it enough to want more from him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not counting authors who only have 1 or 2 books, I've read all of:

    -Jane Austen
    -J. K. Rowling (I think you'd enjoy Tales of Beadle the Bard, it was a nice treat and Dumbledore's notes were very fun to read.)
    -Jhumpa Lahiri
    -Augusten Burroughs
    -David Sedaris
    -Ruth Reichl

    I'm also consciously working on reading all of:
    -J. D. Salinger (1 left)
    -Kurt Vonnegut (I'm about halfway there)
    -P. G. Wodehouse (many, many left, this one is a hard goal!)
    -Bill Bryson - (3 left: Shakespeare, Short History of Nearly Everything, and The Lost Continent)
    -F. Scott Fitzgerald (so far: two novels and many short stories)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I keep picking up Anita Shreve books, just because the covers are so pretty, but I haven't read a single one of them! How bad is that? I'm on my way to reading everything Sara Donati has written thus far. It hasn't been too arduous a task because the books are definitely page-turners, and they come out every 3 -4 years, so there's plenty of time to catch up between books.

    I embarked on a mission one summer in college to read all of Jane Austen, which was fun, but now all the plotlines are jumbled together in my head, so I have to re-read or peruse summaries online when I'm trying to get them straight.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll have to sit down and think about this soon. Some authors just suck you in, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  9. For authors that I've finished every book written by: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, JK Rowling, Carrie Vaughn, Stephenie Meyer, Kelley Armstrong, Simon Clark.

    Authors I should, but haven't: Clive Barker (no desire to read his YA books), Nora Roberts (I only read her paranormals), Janet Evanovich (I only read the Plums), Anne Rice (not interested in vampire or Jesus books), then there's a whole different reason - I haven't had time but will definitely read all of the books by: Bentley Little, Brian Keene, David Wellington, Edward Lee, Richard Laymon, Scott Nicholson, Bryan Smith, Tim Lebbon, Jack Ketchum, Michael Laimo, Charlaine Harris (at least her Sookie books), and Shannon Hale.

    I'm sure there are more in both categories, but I'm still waking up :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I totally forgot this in my last comment - Wanted to let you know that I have an award for you at my blog, Unmainstream Mom Reads if you want to go pick it up.

    Also, I am running 7 different book contests right now - you'll find links on the righthand sidebar at the top :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm one book shy of having read all of Sarah Dessen's book.

    If you don't count that Let It Snow book, I've read all of John Green.

    And I've read all ONE of Harper Lee's books :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey, I've read everything by Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee too!!

    I'm with Nymeth--I'm comforted by the fact that there are still unread books by my favorite authors. I love Margaret Atwood, but I still have a few unread books on my shelf because I'm savoring the notion that one day I'll be able to discover them. I used read everything by Tom Robbins (a name you NEVER see on the blogosphere), but I still have a few on the shelf. I'm going to be reading Beedle the Bard for the read-a-thon, although it isn't high on my list. Which brings me to the question I've been dying to ask...

    You in for the read-a-thon? :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. If you want the truth, I don't think there is an author that I have read everything. I've read MOST of Stephen King's books. And that is a sizeable amount. I've read most of Neil Gaiman's, but I'm still lacking on the graphic novels. I love Charles de Lint, but again HUGE pickings. I'm sure I will read all of John Green.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've read all of Anne McCaffrey's books, and I'm pretty sure I've read all of Sheri S. Tepper's. I've read so many great new authors lately that I'm stumped about who I want to add to that list. It's a good question to think about though. I'll have to give that more thought. Oh, and I've read all of the Harry Potter books, and that's most of what J.K. Rowling has written. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. When I was in high school I was determined to read every Steinbeck on the shelf at the library. I think I did but I'm sure it wasn't every Steinbeck. As far as every book from an author I'd like to read. Laurie Halse Anderson for sure after just seeing her. I'd love to read all of Anita Shreve, Richard Russo, Shannon Hale. Some of the YA authors that have a couple books under their belt I've read them all. Patricia McCormick, Sara Zarr. Off the top of my head, I'm drawing lots of blanks.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting, please leave a comment! Whenever possible I reply to comments via email, so please leave an email address if you want a direct reply. Anonymous users, I'm sorry, but until you stop leaving spam, you can't comment.

  © Blogger templates Psi by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP