Tag / Scott Adams

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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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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.

by admin

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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Prolific Authors 2019

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013, 2015, and 2017), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 48 books from 50 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. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 70 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

 

Author Name Current Total 2017 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 16 15 1

Nancy Holder adds 1 new book over the past 2 years to maintain her lead.

Richard Castle 15 14 1

The writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle sees a slight increase, despite the show being off the air for well over 3 years now.

Stephen King 13 12 1
Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Brad Meltzer 12 11 1

Very little movement in the next tier the past 2 years.

Jeffery Deaver 11 8 3

We round out the double digits with Deaver, who will be going up again soon, as I’m currently reading one of his books. Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2017

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013 and 2015), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 47 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. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 54 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2015 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 15 13 2

A new leader in the clubhouse, as Nancy Holder adds 2 new additions over the past 2 years to put her out front.

Richard Castle 14 9 5

The second largest increase (or largest for someone I had read before) goes to the writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle.  I’m guessing this total will stay pretty static, with the show off the air for over a year now.

Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Stephen King 12 12 0

These three round out the top 5 with absolutely no movement over the past 2 years.

Brad Meltzer 11 9 2
Jeffery Deaver 8 5 3

Slight increases for both of these authors, with more to come.  Meltzer’s next book is already pre-ordered, while there are a few unread Deaver works on my Kindle. Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2015

bookshelfWay back in December of 2011 and again in December of 2013, we took a look back at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 51 books from 42 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.  Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 54 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2013 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 13 13 0
Greg Rucka 13 12 1

Greg Rucka moves into a tie for my most-prolific author, thanks to his latest which I read last year.  Assuming he stays on the same schedule, he should take the lead by himself sometime next year.

Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Stephen King 12 10 2

After years of being ignored, Stephen King adds 2 new titles to his total over the past 2 years.

Richard Castle 9 5 4
Brad Meltzer 9 8 1

The top 5 rounds out with Brad Meltzer and Richard Castle, who put up the largest increase in the last 2 years. Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2013

bookshelfWay back in December of 2011, I took our first look back at the authors I have read the most dating back to high school.  Since that time, I’ve read 34 books from 31 different authors.  I don’t think there is going to be much movement since then, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time.  Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 47 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2011 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0

No change to these two, who owe their totals mostly to Buffy and Angel tie-in novels.

Greg Rucka 12 11 1
Stephen King 10 9 1

Both of these long time favorites increased their total by one book.  Rucka’s newest is due out next summer and is already pre-ordered.

Michael Jan Friedman 8 8 0
Brad Meltzer 8 7 1

Brad Meltzer pulls into a tie for the top 5 with another author of tie-in novels, mostly Star Trek: TNG and Lois & Clark. Continue reading →

by jim

The Year In Books

With the year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the books I’ve read this year, 24 in total and 18 if you exclude the graphic novels.  Of those 24, 6 were graphic novels, another 6 were non-fiction, and 3 were TV show tie-ins.  Overall, I did a good job of clearing out the “to-read” drawer, as 9 of the 18 books came from there.

The 8 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Eliot Asinof
Hugh Delehanty
James Patterson
Len Berman
Marcos Breton
Phil Jackson
Ray Bradbury
Sammy Sosa

Amber Benson, Brian K. Vaughan, and Pia Guerra were the only authors I read multiple times in 2012.

Greg Rucka’s Alpha and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl were the only books released in 2012 that I read in 2012.

I revisited the work of 5 authors that I had not read since the previous century:
Stephen King 1993
John Grisham 1996
Scott Adams 1997
Ketih R.A. DeCandido 1999
Mel Odom 1999

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Being off for most of December certainly helped pad the total a tad bit. Continue reading →

by jim

Book 21 (of 52) – The Joy Of Work

The Joy Of Work: Dilbert’s Guide To Finding Happiness At The Expense Of Your Co-Workers – Scott Adams

The Joy Of Work is Scott Adams’s fourth business/humor book trading on his experiences in corporate America that became fodder for his daily Dilbert strip.  In this book, Adams comes up with funny ways to amuse yourself at work by harassing co-workers and avoiding work.  He also details how to make humor, and the different types of criticism one may come upon while trying to be successful at creating humor.

This book came out in 1998, when Dilbert, and Adams, were at the top of their game.  I’ve likely had it since then (the sticker on the back says I bought it at Crown Books, which went out of business in 2001), but just never got around the reading it until now.  Some of the clever tricks to avoid work will likely still work, but some stick out now as having been taken down by technology.  One obvious example of this is the suggestion to use a white board to avoid anyone tracking what was written.  Today, there are white boards which automatically upload to computers.  For those that don’t, cell phone cameras have become the norm in documenting what is written on the white board.

Dilbert is not the cultural phenomenon it was over a decade ago, and I’m not as big a fan as I was at the time.  That said, this book still had some charms and I’m glad I pulled it out from the bottom of the to-read drawer.

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Prolific Authors

Since I haven’t finished a book in a while (although I should get one done soon), I thought I would take a look back at the authors I have read the most.  Since I started keeping track, I have read books by 181 different authors, but we will only be looking at those whom I have read more than once.

Author Name Total
Nancy Holder 13
Christopher Golden 12

Most, if not all of these are due to Buffy and Angel tie-in novels.

Greg Rucka 11
Stephen King 9

Strange that these two are bunched together, as I have read all of Rucka’s non-tie-in work, and I haven’t read anything by King in years. That may change next year, though. Continue reading →