As much as I dislike the fact that I was denied the joy of reading as a child, the small consolation such a situation brings is that I know – and have therefore been able to list – pretty much every single book I’ve ever read. With that knowledge at my fingertips, I was curious to take a look and see which authors I had most read. Below is what I discovered. (If you are curious, I’ve finished a total of 472 books in my life so far.)
1. Jim Butcher – 17 Books
All of these books are in the ‘Dresden Files‘ series, all of which I have devoured on audiobook, because all of them are narrated by the fantastic James Marsters. For the unfamiliar, it’s urban fantasy (wizards and vampires, but set in our world. Chicago, to be precise). And I cannot praise them enough. Probably the fact that I’ve read so many tells you how much I love them.
A Favourite Author: Yes. Planning to Read More: Double yes!
2. Malorie Blackman – 13 Books
Malorie’s ‘Noughts and Crosses’ series were some of the first books I’ve ever read. She is my OG favourite author, for sure. Aside from her series, I’ve checked out a couple of her children’s books (for very, very young children, because they’re awesome and I have no shame. Noughts and Crosses is Young Adult, for context). I’ve also read ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ by her, as well as a gender-bent YA Othello retelling (‘Chasing the Stars’) and a collection of short stories on slavery she edited (and had one of her own stories included in).
Will I read more by her? Most definitely. I’m actually planning to re-read all of the N&C books again soon.
3. Ben Aaronovitch – 11 Books
All eleven of these books fall into the ‘Rivers of London’ series which, again, is something I have enjoyed on audiobook. I wouldn’t call Ben one of my all-time favourite authors, but I do plan to continue on with the series.
4. John Green – 8(ish)
I was about to say these were all standalone novels, but the ‘ish’ part accounts for the fact that a couple of those listings were in fact short stories, and one of them was a book he wrote with two other people. Is he a favourite author? Yes. Will I read more by him? Of course!
5. (Joint) Claire Allan – 8 Books
Ah, Claire. My Twitter buddy. I honestly love this woman. Both being from Northern Ireland, we ended up in vaguely the same writing circle, which is how I heard about her thrillers. At the time of writing, she’s had four of those published, but there are more coming out all the time. On top of that, she also has a backlist of ‘women’s fiction’ that I’m working my way through. (Just waiting for the libraries to re-open so I can borrow the last couple again.)
5. (Joint) C.J. Archer – 8 Books
As you’ll have noticed, there is a definite trend with this list. Yes, it’s another series. And yes, I did get them all on audio. The ‘Glass and Steele’ books are kind of hard to define. There’s magic, there’s romance, action, and historical elements too.
Is C.J. a favourite author? Not quite. But I do plan to continue listening.
7. (Joint) Jen Campbell – 7 Books
I first came across Jen on YouTube (she has an excellent channel). That was maybe… six years ago? Since then I’ve read her three non-fiction books (Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, and The Bookshop Book), her short story collection, her first two children’s picture books and her poetry pamphlet. I still have to get to her full poetry collection, but I will. One of my favourite authors? Yes. I love writers who work in lots of different genres. They are my heroes.
7. (Joint) J.K. Rowling – 7 Books
The Harry Potter books. Probably enough said.
9. Jane Austen – 6 Books
I’ve read five of Jane Austen’s six novels (still have to get to ‘Mansfield Park’), as well as a bind-up of ‘Lady Susan’ and ‘The Watsons.’
I have a tiny copy of ‘The Beautiful Cassandra’ on my shelf waiting to be read but then, alas, I’m deeply sad that’s it. If there were more, I would most definitely read more. A Favourite Author: certainly.
10. Stephanie Meyer – 5 (and a bit) Books
Here’s an author that will, sooner or later, drop off the end of this list. Because no, I will not be reading anything else by Stephanie. As well as the four main ‘Twilight’ books, I read her novella in the series. I tried to read her gender-bent retelling of book one but just couldn’t get through it. I’ve grown up since I first read the series and, alas, they have not aged well. (Though I will caveat that by saying this is just my opinion. If you still like the books, you’ll find no condemnation here.)
This post was inspired by this YouTube video.
