Cue the “anal retentive librarian” stereotypes…
I’ve kept a list of every book I’ve read since 1996. I was recently thinking about who my favourite authors are and instead of just picking the first names that came to mind, I thought it would be interesting to sort that list by author then record everybody whose name appears more than once.
You can probably assume that this technique gives a pretty good indication that there’s something about the author that I enjoy – whether its their writing style, the topics they write about or whatever. Of course, it’s also embarrassing that there are a lot of great authors who, for whatever reason, I’ve only read one of their books – at least in that time frame. (I admit I was tempted to slip in a few of their names to give me more “cool” cachet but hey, what’s a blog for if not stupid levels of personal revelation?)
If you don’t know an author on this list, you can do a quick Google search on the name to find out a bit more about them – although, in 90% of the cases, I warn you that it will probably just lead to somebody writing about one of my not-so-guilty pleasures (the Beatles) or one of my guilty ones (professional wrestling.)
Here you go…
Al Franken
Alex Garland
Anthony Bourdain
Art Slade
Ben Elton
Bill Bryson
Bret Hart
Carl Sagan
Christopher Sandford
Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Palahniuk
Clifford Stoll
Dave Barry
Dave Bidini
Dave Margoshes
David Carpenter
Dean Koontz
Douglas Coupland
Douglas Rushkoff
Eric Hansen
Eric Schlosser
Frank McCourt
Fred Stenson
George Tremlett
Gore Vidal
Hal Niedzviecki
Helene Hanff
Howard Stern
Hunter Davies
Hunter S. Thompson
Ian MacDonald
Irvine Welsh
James Mitchener
Jay Ingram
Jerry Spinelli
JK Rowling
John Allen Paulos
John Rocco
Kevin Taft
Kurt Vonnegut
Malcolm Gladwell
Marcello di Cintio
Mark Lisac
Martin Amis
Michael Crichton
Michael Moore
Mick Foley
Molly Ivins
Naomi Klein
Oliver Sacks
Pete Best
Pete Shotton
Philip Norman
Ray Coleman
Richard Dawkins
Robert Fulghum
Robert Harris
Roddy Doyle
Scott Adams
Scott Keith
Stephen King
Steven Michael Berenzky (Mick Burrs)
Thomas Wharton
Tim Sandlin
Timothy Findley
Will Ferguson
Yoko Ono
Themes? Lots of popular culture and bestselling authors. More non-fiction than fiction. Not a lot of literature (I started this list *after* I finished my undergrad degree unfortunately or it’d be a *lot* longer!) A few Canadian authors but honestly, not as many as I suspected I’d have. I think, having worked in publishing and with writers, there are a lot of authors who I’ve read one of their books but rarely went on to read a second work because there was always the next new author to try.
What would be really interesting would be to have a list like this going back to the time that you began reading – so you’d have everybody from Dr. Seuss to Franklin W. Dixon.
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