Monday, July 27, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Authors that I have read at least 10 books by





Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a Freebie, and we can come up with our own topic. I am actually returning to an earlier topic, Authors I've Read the Most Books By. My version will be my Top Ten Authors that I have read at least 10 books by. Keep in mind that I only have records for the last 19 years. But that works fine because these are my current top ten authors, and tastes change over time.
And here's my list:

Rex Stout (54 - 47 Nero Wolfe books plus 3 Tecumseh Fox books plus 4 standalone mysteries)

The Nero Wolfe series began in 1934 with Fer-de-Lance; the last book in the series, A Family Affair, was published in 1975, shortly before Stout's death. I have reread every book in the series several times over the decades.

Nero Wolfe is a lover of orchids and fine food, who supports himself as a private detective, charging exorbitant fees. Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the stories, is both his assistant and a private investigator, and he does most of the legwork. The series combines a genius armchair detective with a hard-boiled detective, and you get the best of both worlds.



Agatha Christie (28 plus)

I love both of Agatha Christie's main sleuths: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Originally I was irritated by Poirot's self-importance and conceit, but now I find him very charming. And I especially enjoy the books that Hastings narrates. I have other favorite characters that show up in more than one book (Colonel Race, Inspector Japp, Superintendent Battle). And all of the standalone books that I have read so far have been very good.



Emma Lathen (23 plus 4 as R.B. Dominic)

John Putnam Thatcher, senior vice president and director of the trust department of Sloan Guaranty Trust on Wall Street, is the protagonist of Lathen's 24 book series. Banking on Death (1961) is the first in the series, and I reread it in 2017 because the story is set around Christmas. Most of the books are focused on one type of business that is using the services of the Sloan, and the story shares many facts about the running of the specific types of businesses, and the financial relationships. Emma Lathen is the pen name for two American authors: Martha Henissart and Mary Jane Latsis.



Margery Allingham (18)

I think I have only read books from the Albert Campion series. Allingham has a beautiful way of telling a story and creating interesting characters. Albert Campion is a wonderful character, of course, but there is also Albert's manservant, Magersfontein Lugg, a former burglar who has done prison time and has criminal contacts. Campion ages as the series goes on and the character changes over time. And the female characters are well done, intelligent, strong, and independent.




Len Deighton (15)

Now we get to one of my favorite spy fiction authors. I have read all nine of the Bernard Samson series, plus Winter, a historical novel which features characters from the Samson series. He is probably best known for his Nameless Spy series. I have read four of those and I like them, but they are not my favorites of his books. And the great thing about him is I still have at least ten books of his to read.




Jill McGown - 13

Jill McGown wrote 13 novels in the Chief Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill series, plus five standalone novels. I have only read the books in the series, and I read them all in 2007. The books do not follow a formula. Lloyd and Hill, and their ongoing relationship, are the mainstays of the series, but each book takes a different approach to telling the story.



S. J. Rozan - 12

I was very excited when S.J. Rozan published the 12th book in the Lydia Chin / Bill Smith mystery series last year. That is one my favorite contemporary mystery series and the previous book was published in 2011. Bill Smith is a white private investigator in his forties who lives in Manhattan; Lydia Chin is an American-born Chinese private investigator in her late twenties who lives in New York’s Chinatown with her mother.  They are not partners but they often work together on cases. The element that I have always liked about this series is that the narrator of the books alternates. The first book was narrated by Lydia; the second book was narrated by Bill; and so on. With that approach, each book reveals more about the personality and the backstory of the two protagonists.


Olen Steinhauer - 11

Another of my favorite spy fiction authors. Steinhauer has written twelve full-length novels and I have read all but one of them. His first five novels were historical novels (the Yalta Boulevard series set in a fictional Eastern bloc country) and not strictly spy fiction but there were some espionage elements. After that he began the Milo Weaver series. Weaver is in the CIA; in the first book he is in the "Tourist" division, a group that does dirty work for the CIA.



Peter Dickinson - 10

Peter Dickinson has written over fifty books for adults and children. Many of his books for adults are mysteries. My favorite book by Dickinson is King & Joker, an alternate history set in an England where George V's elder brother did not die but lived to become King Victor I, and is later succeeded by his grandson, King Victor II. I am also very fond of his unusual mystery series featuring Superintendent Jimmy Pibble. 



Charles McCarry - 10

I discovered the spy novels by Charles McCarry in 2009 and read them all in a few months (including the two political thrillers that are only peripherally related). Most of the novels written by Charles McCarry are about Paul Christopher, an intelligence agent for the CIA (called "the Outfit" in his books). Some of them go back and forth between events around the World War II years and the 1960's, exploring Christopher's youth and family history. Those nine books were written between 1971 and 2007. McCarry also published The Shanghai Factor in 2013 and The Mulberry Bush in 2015.



Other authors I have read a good number of books by...

Bill Pronzini - 25
Ruth Rendell - 25
Jane Haddam - 24
Robert Barnard - 22
Patricia Moyes - 19
Ngaio Marsh - 16
P. D. James - 16

39 comments:

ichlese said...

Great tally!!! The only one I can keep up with are books by Agatha Christie!

Here is my TTT: https://ichlese.blog/2020/07/28/top-ten-tuesday-my-favorite-seasonal-book-movie-sustenance-pairings/.

Read with Stefani said...

Mine would be Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson i think :D

Here's my TTT if you want to have a look https://readwithstefani.com/10-books-i-want-to-read-by-the-end-of-2020/ Hav a good day ahead!

Lydia said...

Rex Stout's books sound interesting!

My TTT .

Marg said...

I smiled about your comment about "only" having 19 years worth of records. That's impressive.

iloveheartlandX said...

54 books by the same author, that is a lot!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/top-ten-tuesday-274/

pattinase (abbott) said...

This is fun. I have to do it too.

carol said...

I love Christie too and have read several of Allingham's.
My Tiop Ten Tuesday.

Kay said...

The only author on your list that I've voraciously is Agatha Christie. I think I've read almost everything she's written, many more than once or even twice. I have meant to read S.J. Rozan for years and years, but never have. Perhaps this is the year I should try that series.

Rick Robinson said...

Ah. So, much spy fiction. Though I'm not surprised, I am impressed by the extent of it; the volume. I won't get started on the "what? why no (insert name)?" thing, but I do wonder, however why you chose some of what you did when there were those other authors of whoms' books you read more? There are several books here that I've not read at all, and of Lathen, for instance, I have read only two or maybe three. I remember one about the auto industry and another about fast food (chicken?).

Of course the Nero Wolfe books are tops, as are Allingham (though not to everyone's taste) and I have read a few of the McGown. Would you believe I've yet to read anything by Rozan? I have several on the shelf.

If I did such a list, Bill Pronzini, Agathe Christe, Rex Stout, Sherlock Holmes (by Doyle and others), Raymond Chandler, Patricia Moyes, William Kent Krueger, Louise Penny, and others would be on it, though the last two not as much for the number of but that I'd read them all.

Margot Kinberg said...

I really like your choices, Tracy. I have to say I sort of expected Stout, Deighton, and Christie. And you've reminded me that I absolutely must read more of Jill McGown's series as I find the books. I'm glad for the nudge!

TracyK said...

ich lese, Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed your topic of seasonal book/movie pairings.

TracyK said...

Stefani, I enjoyed your Top Ten books I want to read by the end of 2020. I have only read a couple of books by Gaiman, and plan to read more. Brian Sanderson is new to me.

Astilbe said...

I love Agatha Christie's stories!

Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

Rick Robinson said...

Tracy, Sanderson is high fantasy.

TracyK said...

Rick, I am a sucker for spy fiction. Don't know why but it's true. Le Carre is a favorite too but I haven't read that many of his books. I have a lot of them on my TBR stacks.

I chose the ones I did because they are my current favorites and ones I reread. Some of the others with high numbers I have read a lot by I am not still reading that much. And a lot of my favorite authors haven't written more than 10 or 15 books. If I had done 12 favorites I would have included Patricia Moyes and Robert Barnard.

I don't know why I did not include Bill Pronzini on the list at the end because I have read 25 of his books. I have added him now and I plan to continue to read the Nameless books... which is easy because Glen has them all. He just isn't in my top ten. Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald would be favorites, but I have only read two by each of them. Someday I hope to have read all of their books. Same for William Kent Krueger and Louise Penny.

TracyK said...

Rick, re Sanderson, have you read any of his books? If I understand the difference between high and low fantasy, I probably like low fantasy better, but maybe that is because I have been exposed to more of it.

Katrina said...

There are several authors there that I haven't read and feel that I really should, especially Peter Dickinson and the espionage books.

Lectrice Vorace said...

Great idea for a topic! Here's my TTT list this week.

TracyK said...

Marg, I wish I had records since I was in my twenties. I know I read Rex Stout, and Agatha Christie, and Erle Stanley Gardner, but how many and which ones, and what other authors. Oh, well, too late now.

TracyK said...

It is fun, Patti. The problem is, I am not normally good with lists, so it takes me a long time. But I enjoyed it.

TracyK said...

Carol, I just figured out that if I have read 28 books by Christie (a guesstimate), I have about 40 or 50 to go. Don't know if I have enough time to finish those. I am now rereading the Campion books by Allingham, and should try some of the standalone books.

TracyK said...

Katrina, Peter Dickinson's books are unusual but I love them. Definitely worth a try. I like all the espionage authors I mentioned, but can't say if they would suit you.

TracyK said...

Lydia, if you ever run into a Nero Wolfe book by Rex Stout, give it a try. They are not for everyone, but worth trying once.

TracyK said...

IloveheartlandX, 54 books by Rex Stout is a lot, but they are on the short side and I read them over decades, and then started reading them again.

TracyK said...

Kay, I heartily recommend S.J. Rozan's books, at least the series. The series started in 1994 but I did not start reading them until 2007 or later, and I read them in order. They are not all set in New York's China Town but mostly they are, so that was a plus.

I am way behind on reading all the Agatha Christie novels. But I would like to do that.

TracyK said...

Lectrice Vorace, thanks for stopping by and commenting, and I enjoyed visiting your blog.

TracyK said...

Astilbe, I am a big fan of Agatha Christie novels, and hope to read many more.

I enjoyed visiting Long and Short Reviews, and while I was there I saw the review of The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman, which I am going to read soon.

Cath said...

I keep saying it but I really must read something by Margery Allingham, I know I would love her Albert Campion books.

Susan said...

Other than Agatha Christie, I haven't read or even heard of any of these authors. Yikes! I love mysteries, so I'll definitely have to try out some of these authors.

Happy TTT!

Susan
www.blogginboutbooks.com

TracyK said...

Cath, I agree, you should try the Albert Campion books. He is similar to Peter Wimsey but different enough to be interesting, and the series changes over time. But, like Rick says, not to everyone's taste.

TracyK said...

Susan, That is what I like about Top Ten Tuesday, seeing new authors (even though I already have too many books).

Rick Robinson said...

Tracy, first, Sanderson, whom I have not read, is often compared to Robert Jordan, who wrote the mammoth Wheel of Time series.

I would add to my own list, were I making one, Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters". I've read all of the Brother Cadfael books, some more than once.

Aj @ Read All The Things! said...

Wow, you’re great at keeping records. I think my records only go back to 2014 or something. I know my most-read authors are Stephen King and Margaret Atwood.

Aj @ Read All The Things!

TracyK said...

Rick, Thanks for letting me know about Sanderson.

Interesting to know that you have read all the Brother Cadfael books. I have only read the first one, and I liked that one a lot. I will be continuing on with the series.

TracyK said...

Aj, both Stephen King and Margaret Atwood are good authors. I have only read a few books by King and one by Atwood. I may try more books by Atwood.

Nan said...

Oh, I so love this post!!! I am with you on the first two authors. My time spent with Archie and Wolfe are some of my happiest reading days. And I am a huge, huge AC fan. I haven't read them all, but many (most?) of her books.
I shall look into your other authors.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Nan. I have many more Agatha Christie books to read, and I am glad of that. And I find it interesting that Rex Stout and Agatha Christie were writing during the same time period, yet there books were so different.

col2910 said...

Great post, Tracy. One which got me thinking about mine. Initially I didn't think there were many, but the more I thought about it the more I remembered. Maybe I'll do a similar copycat post.

TracyK said...

Thank, Col. I would love to see you do this type of post at your blog. I was amazed at how many I came up with also.