Tag / Gillian Flynn

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Prolific Authors – Four Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today with the fourteen authors I’ve read two times, up four from two years ago.

Scott Adams

The now-cancelled creator of Dilbert, who can’t seem to help himself from spouting racist takes on Twitter, Adams used his famous character to write a number of humorous business books, the most recent of which I read in 2012.

Suzanne Collins

A return to the world of the Hunger Games brought Collins back to my reading list in 2024.

James Ellroy

The author of the L.A. Quartet, which I finished off with The Big Nowhere in 2014.

Gillian Flynn

The former Entertainment Weekly writer turned into one of my favorite authors, though she still hasn’t written a new full-length work since 2012’s Gone Girl.

The Book of Lost and Found – Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley

A recent favorite, Foley, a New York Times best seller, has shown up annually since 2021 until this year, although there are still five months to go.

Diana G. Gallagher

The author, who passed away in 2021, can credit the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for all four of her entries, the most recent of which I read in 2011.

Lee Goldberg

A writer for the Monk television series who went on to pen a series of tie-in novels about the show.

Megan Goldin

The former Reuters correspondent first appeared on my radar in 2021 with her debut, The Escape Room.

The Blue Hour – Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins

The best-selling author of The Girl on the Train, her latest novel was released last year and read in early 2025.

Greer Hendricks

After spending two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster, she has teamed up with Sarah Pekkanen for four novels, which I’ve read one annually starting in 2020 until this year.

Grady Hendrix

Winner of a 2018 Bram Stoker Award, the horror novelist debuted on my reading list with The Final Girl Support Group in 2021.

Carrie Soto Is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins-Reid

I first came her work thanks to her smash Daisy Jones & The Six.  Her latest is currently on my waitlist at the library, so she will continue to move up this list.

Minka Kent

Two new reads in 2024, The Stillwater Girls and Unmissing, push her up this list.

John Vornholt

Three fourths of his works that I’ve read come from the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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Book 4 (of 52) – Good Me Bad Me

Good Me Bad Me – Ali Land

After turning in her mother for murdering a young boy, Mille goes to live with a therapist and his family to prepare for the trial.  The fresh start is not all it seems, as her new foster sister has made it her mission to make Millie’s life miserable.  As Millie tries to adjust to her new life, she hears her mother’s voice calling to her.  Can she make a clean break?  Or will her upbringing and training come back stronger?

A few years back, I came across an article listing a number of works by female authors that were described as descendants of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.  Ali Land’s debut, Good Me Bad Me, is the final one that I had saved to read later.  I liked most of this tale, but the end kind of fizzled out for me.  It looks like Land hasn’t published anything since this, so this may be a one and done.

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Book 31 (of 52) – Scorched Grace

Scorched Grace – Margot Douaihy

A heavily tattooed nun investigates when a fire breaks out at her school, killing a janitor and injuring two students.  As more fires break out, she finds multiple clues that point towards someone trying to frame her for the crimes.  A chance sighting during a court hearing for one of her students leads her to the surprising culprit.

Scorched Grace, by Margot Douaihy, is the first release from Gillian Flynn’s new imprint.  It is a tight mystery with a somewhat over-the-top protagonist.  A sequel has already been released, and I’m interested to see where the story goes, as there does not seem to be more to credulously occur in the halls of a Catholic school.

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Book 26 (of 52) – One Of The Good Guys

One of the Good Guys – Araminta Hall

After his marriage fell apart, Cole moved to the countryside to try and rebuild his life and figure out what went wrong.  He supported his wife, gave her everything she wanted or needed, and he truly doesn’t understand why she paints him as the bad guy.  When he meets Lennie, the two appear to have an easy connection.  All is not as it seems, however.  Is Cole truly the good guy that he envisions himself to be?  Or does he use the trappings of being a good guy to coerce and force women to give in to his every whim and desire?

Araminta Hall’s latest, One of the Good Guys, takes a look at gender, power, and fear, and how, despite most men claiming to be good, most women are still afraid to walk home alone in the dark.  This does seem to be something of a recurring theme in Hall’s work, as she claimed the last novel of hers I read stemmed from “the continued injustices perpetuated against woman in our so-called civil society.”  One of the first books published under Gillian Flynn’s new imprint, it was an interesting read, although you could see the turn against Cole coming from a mile away.  But maybe that was part of the point.  These guys hide in plain sight and don’t exactly survive the smell test once you scratch beyond the surface.

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Prolific Authors – 4 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since I’ve far surpassed my “normal” reading output the last three years, I thought it would be nice to once again take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through the start of October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the ten authors I’ve read four times, an increase of four over the past two years.

Scott Adams

The now-cancelled creator of Dilbert, who can’t seem to help himself from spouting racist takes on Twitter, Adams used his famous character to write a number of humorous business books, the most recent of which I read in 2012.

The Big Nowhere – James Ellroy

James Ellroy

The author of the L.A. Quartet, which I finished off with The Big Nowhere in 2014.

Gillian Flynn

The former Entertainment Weekly writer turned in to one of my favorite authors, though she hasn’t written a new full length work since 2012’s Gone Girl.

Rebecca Forster

One of my first Kindle finds, I’ve read the first four entries in her Witness series.

Diana G. Gallagher

The author, who passed away in 2021, can credit the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for all four of her entries, the most recent of which I read in 2011.

You Are Not Alone – Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Greer Hendricks

After spending two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster, she has teamed up with Sarah Pekkanen for four novels, which I’ve read one annually starting in 2020.

Grady Hendrix

Winner of a 2018 Bram Stoker Award, the horror novelist debuts thanks to the four novels I’ve read over the past three years, starting with The Final Girl Support Group in 2021.

Kimberly McCreight – Reconstructing Amelia

Kimberly McCreight

A New York Times bestselling author thanks to her debut novel, Reconstructing Amelia, she has been a steady presence since 2013.

Sarah Pekkanen

She has teamed up with Greer Hendricks for four novels, one of which I’ve read one annually since 2020.

John Vornholt

Three fourths of his works that I’ve read come from the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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Book 27 (of 52) – My Lovely Wife

My Lovely Wife – Samantha Downing

A husband and wife have an odd way to keep their marriage interesting: kidnapping and murdering innocent women.  But when their latest abduction takes some unexpected turns, and starts impacting their children’s psyches, the husband starts to question if he truly knows his wife and how much of their extracurricular activities are truly down to her.

This summer will be ten years since Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl was published and took the world by storm.  In the years since, there have been many novels that have been dubbed the “next” Gone Girl, and this novel, My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, came to my attention via an article placing it as a descendent.  There is some shared DNA, the crazed woman driven to act by their husband’s infidelity, but this entry is missing some of the, I don’t know, heart? of its predecessor?  Not that it wasn’t an enjoyable read, but it didn’t really hold up to the comparison.  Which, after ten years, maybe its time to stop looking for the next Gone Girl and instead start looking for the next Gone Girl.

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Prolific Authors – 4 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the 6 authors I’ve read 4 times.

Scott Adams

The creator of Dilbert and all around internet crank, Adams has used his famous character to write a number of humorous business books, the most recent of which I read in 2012.

Angels & Demons – Dan Brown

Dan Brown

One of the most successful authors of all time, I’ve read four of his five Robert Langdon novels.

James Ellroy

The author of the L.A. Quartet, which I finished off with The Big Nowhere in 2014.

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn

The former Entertainment Weekly writer turned in to one of my favorite authors, though she hasn’t written a new full length work since 2012’s Gone Girl.

Diana G. Gallagher

All four of her entries are based in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

John Vornholt

Three fourths of his works that I’ve read come from the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #4

6 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 artists in my iTunes library.  Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact and expanded the count down to the Top 200..  It’s been 3 years, so I figured it was time to take yet another look at my Top 200 artists, based on the number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2021.

Widely known for his stand-up performances and his role as Spence Olchin The King Of Queens, Patton Oswalt checks in today at #4.  Oswalt began performing stand up comedy in 1988, eventually moving from Virginia to San Francisco and then Los Angeles, where he became part of the comedy scene.

 

 

#4: Patton Oswalt
iTunes stats: 1278 plays
Previous ranking: #6

A new album or two from funnyman Patton Oswalt adds 38 new tracks to the collection, which helped him to a 174% increase and a 2 spot jump in the rankings, moving into the top 5.  In addition to the 7 comedy albums, I’ve also read his book and, in 2018, saw him do a talk, moderated by author Gillian Flynn, about his wife’s book, about the search for the Golden State Killer.  Little did he, or anyone, know, the next day Sacramento police announced that they had made an arrest in the case.

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Post Mortem – Utopia

Developed by Gillian Flynn and David Fincher and based off a UK series of the same name, Utopia debuted on Amazon’s Prime Video service in September.  It was cancelled in November when Amazon declined to order a second season.

The show was seemingly right up my alley, about a group of online comic fans who come together at a comic con and find themselves under fire for having seen a new graphic novel, that contains clues to a global pandemic.

I can see why the subject matter may not have been the best thing to attract viewers in the middle of an actual pandemic, but I think Amazon may have missed the boat here by giving up on the show so soon.

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2020: The Year In Television

Last year was a bit disjointed when it comes to television shows.  The corona virus shut down most productions along with the rest of the world back in March, leaving the 2019-2020 season to end abruptly and causing the 2020-2021 season to roll out late, if at all.  On the other hand, it also caused me to be home full time since March, giving me plenty of time to catch up on streaming shows I may have missed or that were newly released.  Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 23 seasons of shows I streamed on various platforms this year.

Away Season 1 (Netflix)
Hillary Swank plays an astronaut who leaves her family behind on Earth to captain the first manned mission to Mars.

Blindspot Seasons 4 & 5 (Hulu)
I had fallen a bit behind on this NBC show that wrapped up last summer so I combined what episodes I still had on the DVR with Hulu to burn through the final two seasons.

Bosch Season 1 (Amazon Prime)
Based on the book series by Michael Connelly, I watched the first of six seasons last fall.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Part 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the darker interpretation of Archie Comics character is probably the only show I had watched pre-pandemic.

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow Season 5 (Netflix)
I had only watched the first episode of the season pre-pandemic, which was the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, as it aired, so I combined what was on my DVR with Netflix to burn through the season quickly.

Dead To Me Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini get entwined in each other’s lives after killing each other’s husbands.

The Flash Season 6 (Netflix)
Like most of the DC shows, I hit pause after the Crisis crossover and before the season ended early, using my DVR and Netflix to catch up.

The Flight Attendant Season 1 (HBO Max)
Kaley Cuoco returns as a flight attendant with drinking issues who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Lost In Space Season 1 (Netflix)
The remake of the 60s classic came out a few years back, but I never got to it until my December vacation.

Never Have I Ever Season 1 (Netflix)
A comedy about a high school aged Indian girl fighting against her traditional family while wanting to be a “normal” teen.

Ozark Season 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the money laundering family in Missouri and their dealings with the Mexican drug cartels. Continue reading →