Reading everything by an author

I've seen on many profiles that people like to read everything by one author. I completly understand that, but I was wondering if you read the books all at once or spread them out over time? I can't bring myself to read them all at once even though I want to. For instance, I've fallen in love with George Elliot, but I'm only reading about a book a year because I always want one to look forward to. It is almost scary to me to read all the books of one author and know that is it and I can't expect any more (unless of course they are still alive). I've been doing the same with Edith Wharton who I absolutely love. I just don't want to get to the point where there isn't another one of her books out there for me to explore. In a way it doesn't make sense because my to be read list is so long I need many lifetimes.

I'm just like you.
Although I get to like authors a lot and want to read everything they've written, I spread them out so that I'm not just "getting them out of the way". That way I know that if I get stuck in a book rut, I always have someone I know I like to fall back on.

Most of my favorite authors are contemporary, so I have to wait until the next book comes out - e.g. Isabel Allende, Barbara Kingsolver, David James Duncan. I get very impatient sometimes.

For me it depends a little on the books. For example, I've read everything by Jasper Fforde as he has two series, and of course I want to know what is going to happen in the next installment! Same with Eoin Colfer. Others, such as Kurt Vonnegut or DH Lawrence I spread out over the years to savour. If I read everything in one big hit, I often find that I just don't retain the details of each book.

I agree with you that it would terrible to finish all the books by one author, but I'd rather do that than not read one of my favorite author's books.

I don't think I've read everything by one author yet, although there are a few I've been working on. It's not that I've been spreading them out or saving them up. Either I get distracted by something new or I just need a change. Even though I might love a particular writer's style, I find I sometimes need a break from it so I can come back and appreciate it all the more.

I have always been unable to wait to savour a great author once found as I am too impatient and just cannot bear a delay. Reading all books by a favourite author depends on a few things - including how many MUST read authors you have on the go, how much time you have, and how much you think you can ignore your fellow humans around you without being totally anti-social.

Firstly, if you have loads of time, then reading them all at once is a great enjoyment.

But if your time is limited, I can worry that I am ignoring other authors. With time constraints, or if the books are read with no intervening interval, they can blend together (in my experience). I usually read a fabulous author every second or third read, once discovered.

My current 'absolutely must read all his books' is John Fowles, after reading The French Lieutenant's Women. I am going on to The Magnus ASAP. Actually, also MUST read more Angela Carter and Michael Chabon and..... so therein lies the other problem. Too many must reads.....

I have also had the experience of loving one book and then being intensely disappointed with others - eg Louis Bernieres, Brian Moore, Roddy Doyle are a few that did not come through on subsequent books for me. It stops me continuing through the full repetoire of an author - although I have found that if two or more books are true greats, they are all likely to be so.

The truly great reads - Austen, Hardy, McEwan, etc etc would burn a hole in my library shelf if they were not read and re-read.

I never worry about reading up all that an author has to offer, as I know that the books can be re-read and re-read. That is why I cannot give up books on my shelf. They need to be ready for the next time.

Maybe the question should be, 'When you discover a truly great read, how long should you wait to re-read it, or should you continue onward looking for the next new great author?'

Karen--I see your point. I guess I'm not to the stage of rereading yet. In high school I would reread a book over and over again and then in college it hit me how many books are out there to read. I love "discovering" a book for the first time. I do have a few on my shelf that I know I'd like to reread down the road. Of course, for some reason the majority of them are all doorstoppers like Vanity Fair, Les Miserables and Anna Karenina.

I have a little bit of a problem reading everything by one author. Even my favorite authors, after a while I sometimes feel like I am reading the same story, the same character, same theme over and over again. I have to spread them out or I get "sick" of them.

The only author I have ever successfully read everything by is Jane Austen.

I like to read everything by an author I enjoy, but not all at once.
I spead them out. I think if you read them all at once then they tend to blend together and I confuse them in my mind.
I like to be able to think of a specific point in my life and remember the book as I related to it then.

I also like to spread out books by a new favorite author. I like to acquire all of them, so I can read them whenever I like, but I'm not likely to read them in a row.

I have a very long list of books I'd like to reread, but the list of the ones that I have to read for the first time is just too long to justify that at the moment.

I am doing this with Jane Austen. Once I read Pride and Prejudice, I was overcome by the need to read everything that she had written and to DO IT NOW. :) It ended up taking me about three months to get through all her finished novels, since I was working on my M.A. thesis at the same time, but I read each one fairly quickly, since I couldn't wait to see what happened once I got started on a new book. It has taken me longer to get around to reading her short works and unfinished novel, which I have in a collection Sanditon and Other Stories.

I did feel a certain sadness when I finished Persuasion, the last of her major works that I read, knowing that there would not be any more novel-length works to enjoy. (Without knowing it, I kind of read her works in chronological order.) But I have also found enjoyment in reading scholarship concerning her novels, and I expect I will re-read each of them in the future.

I like the idea of once I have found a good author, then reading all their works. Most have lead to some disappointment as they spit out new books right and left minus some quality for quantity. But it is a safe bet to stick to the classics with Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. I could read those over and over and look forward to them all over again. (the old stranded on a desert island kind of books) :)

I often find myself spreading the books out when I find a new author, mostly because it takes me a little while to round everything up. I buy most of my books used, so in many cases it's not simply a matter of making a trip to the bookstore; I've got to hunt around a bit before I find what I'm looking for.

I also sometimes find that I'm reluctant to just dive right in with newer authors. I want to read a couple more books before I decide to start buying up all their stuff, just to make sure the amazing book I just read wasn't a one-off. I'm currently facing this with Pauline Gedge. I enjoyed her first two books, but I was completely blown away by a later volume I read last month. I now want to read everything she's written, but I'll try a couple more books before I commit to buying everything.

Depends on the kind of book it is for me. Mysteries and other series books (eg Bujold, Hess) I tend to devour all at once. Literary works (eg McEwan) I'll space out so as never to run out of good stuff to read. Time fillers (eg Jeffrey Archer) I pick up and read haphazardly while on plane flights, etc.

I am currently working my way through Terry Pratchett, but due to time, money and a sense of savoring his work, it will be slow. I buy them as I can afford them.

I cannot resist another book from one of my favorite authors, so I have most of Dickens, but have by no means read them all. Same with several other classic authors, though I feel no compulsion to own all their works. I get them if I find them inexpensively.

I have all the mysteries from my four favorite mystery writers, Laurie King, Ellis Peters, Rex Stout and Dorothy Sayers. Those I have read, reread, and discovered this wonderful thing called the internet with groups of fans who love to read through the books together and talk about them. Joy!

I tend to spread them out. When I first got into Terry Pratchett, I tended to read them in batches of twos and threes as I acquired my own copies of the books in the series. Eventually though, I caught up with the author and now I read the new ones as they come out. I occasionally re-read them, but usually just whichever one takes my fancy at the time and not all of them in a row.

I recently got into Jane Austen, but I'm pacing myself and reading books by other authors in between, so as not to get bogged down or bored by one author's style - I'd hate to ruin any author for mw by reading myself into exhaustion!

I would like to read all of Margaret Atwood's novels; as well as all of John Steinbeck's novels and travelogues. I don't plan on reading them all at once, but will spread them out over time.

I generally space them out except for when I read the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They were definitely light reading and I read them fairly quickly - probably within three months or so. I did read a book or two or three in between but I would say I probably read one every three weeks until I was finished. I didn't buy them, though - I checked them out of the library. For other authors, such as Steinbeck, Wharton and a few other classics, I like to space them out for many of the reasons already listed. There are so many good books out there to read but you do run into a few that you really don't like. It is nice to have some books in backup that you can go to when you have read a string of not so greats.

For my favorite authors, and especially for my very VERY favorite ones, I like to spread out reading their books. Like you, I always want something to look forward to from that author.

My MOST favorite is Neil Gaiman, and aside from his constant releases, there are still past works of his I haven't read. I already own several of these, but though I feel tempted to read them all at once (reading a very good book by an author makes me want to read another of his or her book right away), I refrain from doing it so that I know I have another delectable book to look forward to. =)

I also do this with my other favorites: Haruki Murakami, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, Terry Pratchett, etc.

I've read everything by a few authors, and them I psychotically await their newest books, or I sulk if they don't write anymore/are dead.

I have chunks of every Hunter S. Thompson book memorized. And I'm waiting a bit hysterically for the next Will Christopher Baer and Warren Ellis books.

I read them all at once. I lack self-control.

I tend to want to read more and more by an author I enjoy, BUT if I've reached the end of a series that I really loved (for example, Relic and the following books by Preston and Child or the Mary Russel mysteries by Laurie King) I'm almost *scared* to try something different by that writer because I don't want to be disappointed. LOL

It helps that the library or the bookstore or my own library rarely has ALL of the books I "need" at once and so I'm forced to do the right thing and space out my reading selections. :P

thatbooksmell,My experience with Preston, Preston, and Child is that if their names are on any book you can't go wrong. Both Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have written several things solo and they are really good.

Are you aware there is supposed to be a new Pendergast book out soon? There are non-Pendergast books that feature some of the same characters as in the Pendergast books, so be aware of those. Thunderhead, Ice Limit, and Mount Dragon come to mind.

I will personally vouch for any solo book by one of these two.

BTW, I'm sure you know this, Richard Preston (The Hot Zone, The Demon in the Freezer, The Wild Trees) is Douglas Preston's brother.

A family of writers!

" I psychotically await their newest books"

i hope you mean neurotic. although one can go psychotic from nonfiction!

No, psychotic is right. I've definitely yelled at people, demanding books that are not yet in print.

Fiction/nonfiction/whatever. If I want a book, my sanity level sinks dangerously low.

I have read a handfull of books by V.C. Andrews and want to someday read all of them. I found that I had to take a little break from that Author and moved on to reading John Saul. I have read five of his books in the past month but I only read two of his books then I'll read a book by a different author, and then after that I read two more of his... Soon I will pick back up on V.C Andrews... :)

I've read all Kelley Armstrong's books apart from Exit Strategy (and it looks like I may get that one for my birthday, so I'll be reading it shortly too!).

Regarding living novelists, I always eagerly await the latest Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro and P D James.

I'm currently trying to work my way through all of the works of 2 authors: Stephen King and Agatha Christie. Somehow I managed to pick two of the most prolific authors out there, so I'll be at it for a long while. I space their works out; my systems is to read in a rotation of threes: one book from my own TRB shelves, one King book, one Christie book, and so on. And for each author I'm reading their books in chronological order.

Those of you who spread the books out - do you reread books or not? I guess I don't have a problem devouring all the books I can find by a new favorite author because I know that if I really like them that much, I'll reread them someday. My to-read list will never be so long that I won't revisit my old favorites, probably more than once.

I do reread books when I get a chance, but I still enjoy spreading them out. Reading a new book is different than rereading an old favorite, even though I enjoy doing both.

Geneg, I asked at the bookstore about a new Pendergast book and they didn't have a clue! I'm so glad to know that one is coming!!

My husband bought me several of the other books by these authors in paperback, like The Codex (fun, fast read--I enjoyed it!) and those you mentioned. I've been putting them off, though. lol I'll give them a try!

Im currently collecting books by Ben Elton and Ian Rankin, i read 1 book by each author at a time then ill move on to another book, i like to read them chronologically too, i reckon that way its possible to see how the author has grown or progressed through time, i intend to move on to all the works of Jeffrey Archer too, i have read several of his books but i would like to read all his works!!

#31: bluesalamanders

I do reread some of them. And I do want to reread others in the future! But like littlebookworm, I do find that reading a new book by my favorite authors is a different kind of treat. =)

In # 39, scaifea said,

"I'm currently trying to work my way through all of the works of 2 authors: Stephen King and Agatha Christie."

I would like to see a comparison of these two authors over in the "Books Compared" group. One short, succinct, uses words sparingly. The other, long-winded, episodic, doesn't know when or how to end a story, leaving one feeling relieved that he doesn't have to pick up that humongous tome again. That's my comparison. I would like to see scaifea compare them when (s)he is through with his/her project.

#36 geneg: Well, I wouldn't hold your breath - I've got a long long long way to go before I'm done with either author, not to mention that one of them is still producing books quite regularly. Thus far I've read 21 Christie books and 25 of King's, and I'd say a comparison would be hard for me to come up with. They're such different writers with very different styles. I do disagree with you about King, though - I'm quite fond of his stuff, and his books seem to fly by for me, even the rather lengthy ones. If anything, I'd say Christie comes in second for me behind King, mostly because I think she cheats with her endings. I'd prefer to finish a mystery feeling awed at the ingenious plot twists that I couldn't figure out instead of feeling duped by them, if that makes sense.