Whether an avid or a sporadic reader, everyone has some typical reading habits, pet peeves or TBR problems. So I wanted to share mine :). Today’s topic is about my favorite authors and the backlist of their books I still need to read.
This will sound familiar: think of that one book of a new-to-you author that you loved. Remember yourself looking up the synopsis of his or hers other books, adding them to your TBR, maybe even buying them on the spot. And now they are sitting on your shelves. Then you see the announcement that their newest sibling is on its way: a brand-new book by one of your favorite authors… So you pre-order it.
Now, you might think this is becoming a story of all those unread books on my shelves by my favorite writers. But it isn’t. It’s a story about that one book that I always keep unfinished on my shelves, waiting for the next book to be published.
The thing is: I hate the feeling that I have finished all the books of my favorite authors or series. What if there won’t be a next one? Or if I have to wait two more years for it? What if I’m in a reading slump and the only thing that can save me is a book from that particular writer?
So I always keep one book unread from my favorite authors. And when a new book is released I decide to read either that one, or the one sitting unread on my shelves… So I still have one more to go.
Watch the lady for example is the only unread Tudor novel of Elizabeth Fremantle on my shelves. She has started writing historical thrillers set in the Stuart era so I also have ‘The honey and the sting‘ to go. Next time I want to read something from Fremantle I can make my choice between these two books.
The same happend with Sarah Dunant, I saved her ‘In the company of the courtisan‘ a long time as it was the last historical novel I still needed to read from her. But I gave in to the temptation when I was in need of an Italian renaissance fix (one of my favorite periods).
Of course, there are a lot of favorite authors where I’m lacking behind in reading their works. From Joanna Hickson for example, I have three more books to go. But I’m quite sure that when I reach the second one and there hasn’t been a new release yet, I won’t be inclined to read the third and last book of her on my shelves.
The same thing goes with series. I haven’t read the last published Outlander novel ‘written in my own heart’s blood’ because I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the next installment. I have this problem less with shorter series such as a trilogy or with series where the last book is already published (as is now the case with Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon series, although I’m not ready yet for the final book).
I will probably die having not read every single book of my favorite writers or not knowing how certain series will end.
Anyone else having this problem? Or is it just me?
In Another Era 