Saturday, June 11, 2011

FIRST-TIME (AT LEAST FOR ME) AUTHORS

I'm going to list all of the authors that I have read for the first time starting with 1/1/10.  They will be lumped into 3 categories:  Will Read Again (and, in some cases, already have), Might Read Again, and, you guessed it, Won't Read Again.  Here we go:

Will Read Again -
Garth Stein - The Art of Racing in the Rain - loved it
John Elder Robison - Look Me in the Eye (NF) - good look at growing up with Asperger's
Sam Eastland - The Eye of the Red Tsar - already read #2 in the series - published this year
Abraham Verghese - Cutting for Stone - everybody knows about this sensation
Jo Nesbo - Norwegian - liked it a lot
Paul Sussman - The Last Secret of the Temple - already own 2 more - haven't read either one yet - will
Kathryn Stockett - The Help - who knows if she can do it again - this one was excellent
Keith Thomson - Once a Spy - have already read #2 in the series - not nearly as good as #1
David Benioff - City of Thieves - loved it - read another of his, The 25th Hour - liked it too - not as well
Peter Gruber - The Good Son - liked it but not tons - will try a second one - might stop after that
Brad Thor - The Apostle - he's already written a number of books in this series - liked it

Might Read Again -
Taylor Stevens - The Imperfectionist - first in a series - Lizbeth Salanger-like protagonist - tough call
Ruth Reichl - Garlic and Sapphires (NF) - liked it but one may have been enough
Greg Mortensen - Three Cups of Tea - I'm not a huge fan of NF - not sure if I'll do another one
Tom Rachman - The Imperfectionists - critically acclaimed - thought it was only okay
Sam Bourne - The Righteous Men - very good last 300 pages - first 250 pages so-so
John Verdon - Think of a Number - his first effort - leaning toward reading the next one
Thomas Steinbeck (John's son) - In the Shadow of the Cypress - probably a little too literary for me
Efrem Sigel - The Disappearance - another first effort - again, leaning toward reading the next one
Nick Hayhurst - The Bullpen Diaries (NF) - somewhat entertaining - one is probably enough
Sebastain Junger - War (NF) - again, written well and interesting but not a big fan of most NF

Won't Read Again -
Lisa See - Peony in Love - highly thought of by book clubs but way too slow for me
Alan Bradley - Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - cute - once
Cara Black - Murder in the Marais - it was okay but not entertaining enough to read others

I would love to hear other opinions about my choices.  I'm sure there will be a bunch of disagreement.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great list of books! Many of the authors are new to me. Just started a Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder protagonist). Once I finish, I want to grab one from your "will read" group, and I'll let you know if I'd keep it in your classification:)

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  2. Looking forward to hearing your comments. Thanks.

    Also wanted to let you (and others) know that I'm reading another first-time author now and think he's great. His name is Paul McEuen, and his book is called Spiral. His is a great debut.

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  3. I liked Peony in Love, but that doesn't mean anyone else has to. It was a mix of story and whimsy, which I always think is a fun escape, but definitely not very fast-paced.

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