Authors by volume

[paddy no 11]

I'm curious what authors ye just can't get enough of, as I want to pick up new stuff. For my part I reckon I've read

Cormac McCarthy 13
Steinbeck 10ish
George Orwell 5ish
John krakauer 4
Hemingway more than I care for really, student days
A few dostoyevskys but I was stretching myself here

[switchskier]

Hmm, went to look at my bookshelf and apparently I'm a creature of habit when it comes to fiction but not at all with non-fiction. Obviously dictated by authors who have written more but I have at least 5 of:

Iain Banks/Iain M Banks - 20
Terry Pratchett - 28
Robin Hobb - 14
Cormac McCarthy - 9
John Le Carre - 8
Ian Rankin - 8
Ernst Hemingway - 8
William Gibson - 7
Sebastian Faulks - 7
Neil Gaiman - 7
Douglas Adams - 7
David Mitchell - 5
Haruki Murakami - 5

Best new fiction book that I've read recently however is Either weird by Andrew Caldecott, which I thought was original and a lot of fun. Interested in others lists though as I do find myself wandering into the bookstore and gravitating back to the old favourites.

[paddy no 11]

Cheers switchskier. Our last book read thread is low volume so, seeing what people have mostly read over the last 40 years might be more useful

[Which Tyler]

Robin Hobb - 14

Argh!
How?
How do you get 14 books into a 16 book series and stop there?
My OCD is NOT severe, but...
ARGH!!!!

[Stom]

Mine is heavily skewed...

David Gemmell - 24
Robert Jordan - 14
Conn Iggulden - 10
Everyone else, less than 5.

[Which Tyler]

Right - I'm going to do e-books I own, as buying books, buying e-books, and reading either, are 3 separate hobbies (much like buying craft supplies and doing crafting are for Ali)
And this is by far the easiest thing to tot up, though it's also going to include Ali's books. These days I tend to read e-books mostly, and only buy paper books for my absolute favourites, but that's been a gradual change over the last 7-8 years or so.

46 - Terry Pratchett - any I don't also have in paper is due to being loaned out and not returned
25 - Anne McCaffrey - first 18-20 or so also in paper
22 - Bernard Cornwell - several also in paper
20 - George RR Martin - only ASAIAF also in paper
18 - Isaac Asimov
18 - Stephen Baxter
17 - Robin Hobb - 9 also in paper
17 - Simaon Scarrow - 3 or 4 also in paper
15 - Robert Jordan - all also in paper
14 - JK Rowling - 7 also in paper
14 - Neil Gaiman - 3 or 4 also in paper
11 - Philip Pullman - 4 also in paper
12 - KJ Parker - 3 or 4 also in paper
10 - Douglas Adams - 8 also in paper
10 - Arthur C Clarke - most also in paper
08 -Andrzej Sapkowski
07 - Jared Diamond - most also in paper
07 - David Mitchell (not that one)
06 - Ken Follett - 3? also in paper
06 - Bill Bryson - 3? also in paper
05 - JRR Tolkien - all 5 also in paper, though I've never managed to finish Silmarillion
05 - Juliet E McKenna - all 5 in paper + 3 I haven't got in e-form

Not including anyone I've fewer books from - which mostly rules out my non-fiction authors

[switchskier]

Robin Hobb - 14

Argh!
How?
How do you get 14 books into a 16 book series and stop there?
My OCD is NOT severe, but...
ARGH!!!!

On inspection it turns out two are nodding. Must have been borrowed by someone, which is frustrating.

[Which Tyler]

It happens. But personally, with a series like that, especially one I love, I'll replace them if go e for more than a few months.
One of the great joy of e-books is that cam loan them out, without worrying about it ever returning (the other being the ability to read o6n bed without disturbing her Ladyship)

As it happens, I'm re-reading these at the moment. Started book 2 last night. Which is why it stood out to me.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Here's my list of read books, paper and ebooks combined. I mostly read ebooks these days but a do still have a lot of unread paper which occasionally gets looked at. Quality is not the same thing as quantity . . . also I haven't read some of those highly placed authors in quite a while. Favourite authors in bold, favourite books in brackets.

20 - Bob Shaw (Ship of Strangers)
19 - Stephen Donaldson (The IIllearth War)
19 - Iain (M) Banks (Excession, The Player of Games)
16 - Stephen Baxter (Exultant, Ring)
16 - Christopher Priest (The Affirmation)
15 - Stanislaw Lem (The Cyberiad, Solaris, Mortal Engines, Imaginary Magnitude)
14 - Lemony Snicket
14 - Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle)
12 - Stephen King (Salem's Lot)
12 - Michael Moorcock
11 - Brian Stableford
10 - Philip K Dick
10 - CS Lewis
9 - John Wyndham
8 - Philip Jose Farmer
8 - Joseph Heller (Something Happened, Picture This)
7 - Ursula K Le Guin (The Dispossessed)
7 - Roald Dahl (Danny the Champion of the World, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
7 - JK Rowling
7 - Clark Ashton Smith (almost everything!)
6 - Philip Pullman (The Amber Spyglass)
6 - Julian Barnes
6 - Hugh Cook (The Wizards and the Warriors)
6 - Greg Bear (Anvil of Stars)
6 - Frank Herbert
6 - Douglas Adams
6 - Anne McCaffrey
6 - Adam Roberts
5 - William Hope Hodgson (House on the Borderland)
5 - Thomas M Disch (The Genocides)
5 - Robert Silverberg
5 - Richard Dawkins
5 - Ray Bradbury
5 - Peter Singer (Practical Ethics)
5 - Neal Asher
5 - Kim Stanley Robinson (The Mars Trilogy)
5 - Julian May
5 - JRR Tolkien
5 - John Christopher
5 - James Branch Cabell
5 - Isaac Asimov
5 - Harry Harrison
5 - George Orwell (1984)
5 - David Eddings
5 - Dan Simmons
5 - Brian Lumley
4 - Noam Chomsky
4 - Mervyn Peake (Titus Groan, Gormenghast)
4 - Margaret Atwood
4 - Greg Egan
4 - Franz Kafka
4 - Clive Barker (Weaveworld)
4 - Andrew Sinclair (Gog)
4 - Alastair Reynolds
3 - Roger Penrose
3 - Peter F Hamilton
3 - Olaf Stapledon (Star Maker, Last and First Men)
3 - Jeff Van der Meer
3 - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Crime and Punishment)
3 - Cixin Liu
3 - Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
2 - Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina, War and Peace)

[Son of Mathonwy]

For completeness here are a few favourite books by authors I should read more of (or there is no more to read )

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Cancer Ward)
David Lindsay (Voyage to Arcturus)
Derek Parfitt (Reasons and Persons)
Emile Zola (The Debacle)
Wu Ch'eng-En (Monkey)
Richard Matheson (I Am Legend)
Stewart Lee (How I Escaped My Certain Fate)
Mark Curtis (Web of Deceit)
Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising)
Michael Ende (The Neverending Story)
Jeremy Leven (Creator)
Lloyd Kaufman (All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger)

[paddy no 11]

I hope ye lads are in yer 70's, I've a lot of reading to do to catch up!

[paddy no 11]

I'm curious what authors ye just can't get enough of, as I want to pick up new stuff. For my part I reckon I've read

Cormac McCarthy 13 (Suttree)
Steinbeck 10ish (East of Eden)
George Orwell 5ish (1984)
John krakauer 4 (into thin air)
Kevin Barry 4
David Grann 3
Hemingway more than I care for really, student days
A few dostoyevskys but I was stretching myself here

Done an update based on Son of Mathonwys post

[Puja]

I'm possibly the Spiders Georg here, as I am an absurdly prolific reader. Last year, I read 117 books. This year is less so far, but probably still likely to be about 80-odd by the end of the year.

This was my reviews of last year's books: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vX7r7JJwvkTWZHrn/

Puja

[paddy no 11]

I'm possibly the Spiders Georg here, as I am an absurdly prolific reader. Last year, I read 117 books. This year is less so far, but probably still likely to be about 80-odd by the end of the year.

This was my reviews of last year's books: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vX7r7JJwvkTWZHrn/

Puja

Lol

I'm stuck on a board with a load of fantasy fiends, get me out of here

[Puja]

I'm possibly the Spiders Georg here, as I am an absurdly prolific reader. Last year, I read 117 books. This year is less so far, but probably still likely to be about 80-odd by the end of the year.

This was my reviews of last year's books: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vX7r7JJwvkTWZHrn/

Puja

Lol

I'm stuck on a board with a load of fantasy fiends, get me out of here

It has dropped in significance this year now that I'm not doing a Seanan McGuire reread!

Puja

[Which Tyler]

I'm stuck on a board with a load of fantasy fiends, get me out of here

If it helps - I also play D&D.

For my list, I stopped at authors I have 5 books (on my tablet) - which rules out almost all of my non SF&F books - the list of authors for whom I've read 1-2 books (usually because they've published 1-2 books) would be way too long. Mostly autobiographies, books on various European mythologies technically books ABOUT the fantasy genre, I guess), ancient histories and evolutionary biology / psychology.

As I see posters have included their favourite books (or at least, my most re-read), I'll just put my top 3

1. Nation - by Terry Pratchett - not sure if this is fantasy, historical fiction, comedy, or moral philosophy - as ever with STP, they're all intertwined. GNU.
2. The Story of the Human Body - by Daniel Lieberman - evolutionary biology.
3. Warlord Chronicle - by Bernard Cornwell (technically a trilogy) - historical fiction.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm possibly the Spiders Georg here, as I am an absurdly prolific reader. Last year, I read 117 books. This year is less so far, but probably still likely to be about 80-odd by the end of the year.

This was my reviews of last year's books: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vX7r7JJwvkTWZHrn/

Puja

Yes, I can confirm that you are an absurdly prolific reader .I used to read a lot more in uni and when I had a really long commute but I'm a bit more restrained now (although I never read 117 books a year . . . maybe 116?).

Thanks for sharing the reviews. Of those I think I've only read Wool (good, solid SciFi), The Colour of Magic (isn't this supposed to be funny?) and Anciliary Justice (nice ideas, disappointing ending, haven't read the other books) (on reflection, these are all books which haven't inspired me to read further in the series!).

[Puja]

I'm possibly the Spiders Georg here, as I am an absurdly prolific reader. Last year, I read 117 books. This year is less so far, but probably still likely to be about 80-odd by the end of the year.

This was my reviews of last year's books: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vX7r7JJwvkTWZHrn/

Puja

Yes, I can confirm that you are an absurdly prolific reader .I used to read a lot more in uni and when I had a really long commute but I'm a bit more restrained now (although I never read 117 books a year . . . maybe 116?).

Thanks for sharing the reviews. Of those I think I've only read Wool (good, solid SciFi), The Colour of Magic (isn't this supposed to be funny?) and Anciliary Justice (nice ideas, disappointing ending, haven't read the other books) (on reflection, these are all books which haven't inspired me to read further in the series!).

I am now onto book 10 of Discworld and am continually promised that it gets better - in fairness, it has got a lot better since The Colour of Magic, which was shit, but I'm still not seeing what other people absolutely adore yet.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

First 2 are shit, yes; anything with Rincewind is a bit shit (and he's STP's favourite character in those early books). Even STP himself suggested skipping the first 3 (but buy them anyway)

But then, his writing evolves, the humour and characters develop, and he starts adding in so many other facets. I'd say he's most loved for those other facets, once he's grown as an author and not just trying to write comedic fantasy.
Everyone's going to have their personal favourite eras of his, but I'd say it starts getting properly good at around Witches Abroad, and even then they can be hit and miss, if you're not in love with his world and writing style.

Of course, it may just not be for you, which is absolutely fine.
If you're thinking that, but still want to give him one last go, then I'd suggest one of:
A] Taking a break from the Discworld, and read Nation (first chapter is NOT representative of the book as a whole)
B] Hitting some of his high points as stand-alone books - Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment
C] Fast-track the city watch storyline - and go with Men At Arms, Jingo, 5th Element, Night Watch

Of course, if you average 2-3 books per week, then these quick-read books probably won't take you more than a day anyway, so even reading all 40-odd of them isn't a huge investment of time / energy.

For anyone starting Pratchett, the main advice is NOT to read in publication order; but to read through the storylines (eg from above - the City Watch books - Guards Guards, Men At Arms, Feet Of Clay, Jingo, Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud, Snuff)

[Son of Mathonwy]

Considering that a lot of people say the books get a lot better after the first few, and there are so many of them, and they're not exactly long, I should read one or two more.

I found the Colour of Magic to be a better fantasy than a comedy, although obviously it was highly derivative . . . without really adding anything to the things it vaguely satirised. I just found things disappointing. eg does Ankh-Morpork actually mean anything, do those two words actually combine to comedic or witty effect? Vaguely similar to Lankhmar? Am I missing something?

I saw the TV version of Hogfather. But that seemed to be an enormous amount of effort to no great effect. Great actors, lots of ideas, but in the end, a really complicated, eccentric plot which seemed to add up to nothing.

Now that I think about it I believe I read another of his books, probably Interesting Times, years ago, but it left almost no impression on me.

[switchskier]

First 2 are shit, yes; anything with Rincewind is a bit shit (and he's STP's favourite character in those early books). Even STP himself suggested skipping the first 3 (but buy them anyway)

But then, his writing evolves, the humour and characters develop, and he starts adding in so many other facets. I'd say he's most loved for those other facets, once he's grown as an author and not just trying to write comedic fantasy.
Everyone's going to have their personal favourite eras of his, but I'd say it starts getting properly good at around Witches Abroad, and even then they can be hit and miss, if you're not in love with his world and writing style.

Of course, it may just not be for you, which is absolutely fine.
If you're thinking that, but still want to give him one last go, then I'd suggest one of:
A] Taking a break from the Discworld, and read Nation (first chapter is NOT representative of the book as a whole)
B] Hitting some of his high points as stand-alone books - Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment
C] Fast-track the city watch storyline - and go with Men At Arms, Jingo, 5th Element, Night Watch

Of course, if you average 2-3 books per week, then these quick-read books probably won't take you more than a day anyway, so even reading all 40-odd of them isn't a huge investment of time / energy.

For anyone starting Pratchett, the main advice is NOT to read in publication order; but to read through the storylines (eg from above - the City Watch books - Guards Guards, Men At Arms, Feet Of Clay, Jingo, Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud, Snuff)

As a huge Sir Terry fan I've got to agree with all of this. Don't start chronologically, he grew as a writer and satirist until the end when the Alzheimer's started to take its toll.

My favourites, like so many people's, are the guards books. I think it's because we all want to see a bit of ourselves in Vimes. I particularly love Jingo, though that may be because it was one of the first that I read.

My recommendation to start would be to read The Truth. It works as a standalone but also gives a nice intro to Ankh Morpock. Small Gods and Soul Music would be my other suggestions. The other non discworld option would be Good Omens which was co-written with Neil Gaiman (who's sadly turning out to be a bit of a twit) and which is one of my all-time favourites.

Finally, don't skip the footnotes. Some of the best bits.

[Croft_No.5]

Great to see Ian/Iain (M) Banks on folks lists. Still holding back his last Iain M Banks novel to read when I have time to do it justice (then back t the start again!!).

Top list is
Banks
Alan Warner
HG Wells
Graham Green
Robertson Davies
Stuart McBride

Just started picking up some of the old Adventure novels of the 60s/70s from second hand bookshops - Robert Ludlum, McLean, Clive Cussler, Len Deighton (Goodbye Mickey Mouse is the latest which I ready first when about 12!).

About to move onto similar era horror, especially James Herbert if I can find any. Prefer the real paper versions!

[Puja]

Great to see Ian/Iain (M) Banks on folks lists. Still holding back his last Iain M Banks novel to read when I have time to do it justice (then back t the start again!!).

Top list is
Banks
Alan Warner
HG Wells
Graham Green
Robertson Davies
Stuart McBride

Just started picking up some of the old Adventure novels of the 60s/70s from second hand bookshops - Robert Ludlum, McLean, Clive Cussler, Len Deighton (Goodbye Mickey Mouse is the latest which I ready first when about 12!).

About to move onto similar era horror, especially James Herbert if I can find any. Prefer the real paper versions!

I do like a bit of Deighton. Bomber was an incredible book - captured the absolute horror of war, both in the atrocities that both sides committed and how great fuckups from little errors grow.

Puja

[Croft_No.5]

Trying to find an old copy of Deighton's Action Cook Book (1965), despite being neither a bachelor male nor a would be Harry Palmer (I wish).

‘The Action Cook Book’ was once an instructional book for the bachelor male – a guide to sophisticated cooking for the would-be Harry Palmer.

[BaldiePete]

I seem to have the same books as a lot of you. I can’t be bothered counting the actual numbers but here are some of them.

Pretty much everything I’ve bought since 2011 has been on Kindle. They take up no space on bookshelves and most importantly you can change the font size. My old eyes really like that.

All the Iain (M) Banks books. I have been a mega-Banks fan, I first read him in 1992 (Crow Road) and got all the books from then up till Surface Detail in hardback as soon as they were released and caught up with the earlier books in paperback. The last two books I got on Kindle.

All the Discworld books, all on Kindle. I tried reading The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic decades ago but couldn’t get on with them at all so ignored him for years. After he died I retried but crucially started with one of the Witches stories, I think it might have been Lords and Ladies. It was a vast improvement on those early stories so I restarted the whole series. His writing improves so much over the duration of the series, his humanism really shining through.

All of George MacDonald Fraser’s books (Flashman novels, Macauslan short stories and his war autobiography Quartered Safe Out Here, which is one of the best things you will ever read about men at war).

All of Christopher Brookmyre’s books. Tartan Noir, starting off as slightly farcical crime novel satires with a scabrous sense of humour. His later books drop the humour somewhat but improve the storytelling.

All Ian Rankin’s Rebus books.

All of nine of Len Deighton’s Bernard Samson books.

Most of John Le Carré’s books.

All of Charles Stross Laundry Files books. Wikipedia calls those books a mixture of Lovecraftian horror, spy thriller, science fiction and workplace humour which pretty much sums it up. The Laundry is a government agency that has to deal with occult threats but is still part of the civil service so Bob Howard, the main protagonist, has to deal with supervisors, office politics, report writing and appraisals as well as fighting occult entities from other dimensions.