Eating books

    I've read a lot of very good books recently and have lengthened my wishlist considerably by adding to it other recommended titles by the authors I've been particularly enjoying. As so much of my reading time is already spoken for, I'm not often free to choose what I want to read, but even if I were I wouldn't necessarily gorge on an author after discovering a great book, I'd be more likely to opt for a mixed diet, trying other things and then coming back to the new favourite.

    How about you? Do you devour all the work of a new find (an author or series) in one go, or will you acquire it in more of a piecemeal fashion, and return to taste again over the coming weeks and months?

   

Comments

[Jennifer]

I try to swap back and forth, but sometimes I just go on a spree of the same author.

[Jodie]

I used to devour when I was younger, but as I've gotten on I've started to realise the pleasure of stringing out an authors works over many years. Where would I be without the prospect of a 'new' Jane Austen book to be read?

[Jennifer Dee]

I find if I over indulge myself on one author I get saturated overload, and it puts me off that author for a long time: so I tend to spread the reading of a particular favourite author, which works best for me.

[Dark Puss]

Dark Puss remembers from his teenage years an obsession with the novels of Colette. I tracked down and read (and indeed re-read) all that were published in translation. I don't think I have ever done that since with any other author, but I have read four novels by Murakami in less that two years; probably that is the closest I have got to "devouring" in recent times. Generally I wish to read books by authors new to me which guarentees that there will be little if any revisiting.

[anne]

It depends on how besotted I am by a new author and whether they have 3-4 others or dozens. When it's 3-4 I usually go on a binge; when they have more, I race through a few and then return to the others as to a great friend.

[Ruth M.]

A favorite author is like a box of favorite cookies you keep on a high pantry shelf out of sight and reach, and return to with delicious trepidation, each time hoping there's one more there.

[Simon T]

I used to read everything an author had written, then go onto the next, and in some ways that was really fun - but now there are so many authors/periods/topics I'm interested in, not to mention all my uni reading, so that luxury is no longer afforded me. Still, I look with fondness on my year of reading twenty books by AA Milne. I can boast three by Joyce Dennys this year!

[m]

I recently discovered Willa Cather and have devoured several in recent weeks - can't believe they're so brilliant and I've never read her before! - but maybe it's time to pace myself. How I wish I still had a 'new' Jane Austen... in fact, I came to Emma, for some reason, many years after the others and it was such a delight to read one for the first time as an adult. I'm a devourer by nature, though - no self-discipline!

[Sue]

I do wonder whether the genre of the book influences your reading habits. Having recently read Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", I could not wait to move onto his next book. Characters from the first book also appear in the second, so maybe that is an added pull.

I very much agree with Jodie, though; some authors are meant to be savoured over many years and the anticipation of another unread book is delightful.

[Darlene]

I agree with Sue about genre being a factor that influences my reading. A period in time or a topic of interest will start me off and then I seek other works along that vein. When I've had enough it's on to something else, I love the way my reading flows.

[Sarah Cuthbertson]

My reading generally flows like Darlene's. For the rime being, though, I'm immersed in one author - Patrick O'Brian and his Aubrey/Maturin novels which are really one 20-volume story, so it's hard not to start the next novel after finishing the current one. They're giving me so much pleasure I can't imagine ever tiring of them. I was the same with Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond novels a few years ago. Such characters, such world-building!

[Mr Cornflower]

Very interested to hear the comment about Patrick O'Brian, for I had exactly the same experience - all 20 read over a giddy two months. I think the clue is indeed that this is in effect one vast, protracted epic with a strong degree of narrative continuity.

[Constance]

When I was younger, I would go on an author spree but I found out this upset my mother. As a result, she wouldn't tell me about her all-time favorite author, Elswyth Thane, because she thought I would not appreciate Thane's novels fully if I zipped through them. I must have done something exceptionally good as a teen because one day I found Dawn's Early Light on my pillow. I dutifully make Thane's Williamsburg novels last as long as I could, and still love them and most of her other books dearly.

[Danielle]

Usually when I read a book by an author I've just discovered and really like I will Want to read more books by her (latest case Elizabeth Jenkins), but I almost always already have too many other reading commitments to squeeze in another book. I like the idea of being swept away by a series like the Patrick O'Brien or Dorothy Dunnett. Maybe I've not yet read either author (though have them on my shelves) for fear I'll do exactly that. And like others here I tend to read about a certain period--just lots of different authors.