Tag / Daisy Jones & The Six

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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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2023: The Year In Television

With less and less good productions airing on network and cable and moving to the various streaming platforms, that seems to have taken over as my main form of television watching. Now that I work from home full time, I have plenty of time to take in whatever they have to offer. 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 eight different platforms this year.

Black Mirror Season Six (Netflix)
The British anthology returns with a five-episode season that started strong, with one of the best episodes of the show’s run, but ended poorly.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 16 (Paramount+)
The BAU returns, minus a few key resources, to hunt down the most prolific serial killer they’ve ever faced.

Daisy Jones & The Six (Amazon Prime)
Based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, it is the tale of how a garage band from Pittsburgh morphed into the biggest band in the world, and then how it all blew up.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Seasons 6-7 (Netflix)
The Legends see their travels through time and space come to an end.

Dead to Me Season Three (Netflix)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini return for one last go-around.

Doctor Who Specials (Disney+)
David Tennant returns and helps Ncuti Gatwa usher in a new era for Doctor Who.

The Flash Season Nine (Netflix)
The show, and the CW’s Arrowverse, winds down with one final go-around.

The Flight Attendant Season Two (HBO Max)
Kaley Cuoco returns for another go-around as the alcoholic flight attendant who also works for the CIA.

Ginny & Georgia Seasons 1-2 (Netflix)
Imagine Gilmore Girls if Lorelai came from nothing and was somewhat amoral and Rory was bi-racial.

How I Met Your Father Season 2 (Hulu)
The second and final season leaves us hanging as to who the father would have been.

The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV+)
Jennifer Garner stars in the adaptation of the Laura Dave novel. Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors – 3 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 yeas, 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 20 authors I’ve read thrice, an increase of eight over the past two years.

Kevin J. Anderson

Last read in the 20th century, he’s responsible for three of the X-Files books on my shelf.

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman

This Swedish author has become a recent favorite, showing up once a year over the past three years, with more to come, I’m sure.

Adam Carolla

The former comedian and current right-wing nutjob managed to get me to read three of his podcast regurgitations.

Bill Carter

The former media reporter for the New York Times delivered three behind the scenes looks at the television industry, including the transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno and from Jay Leno to Conan O’Brien and back again.

Executive Order – Max Allan Collins

Max Allan Collins

Author of all entries of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Suzanne Collins

The woman behind a little trilogy about a young woman named Katniss who upends her entire world.

Keith R.A. DeCandido

Two Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels and a Spider-Man novel make up his works.

Alex Finlay

A DC lawyer writing under a penname, Finlay has placed three books in my hands over the past two years.

The Guest List – Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley

Another recent fave, Foley, a New York Times best seller, has shown up annually since 2021.

Megan Goldin

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

Paula Hawkins

Continue reading →

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Book 44 (of 52) – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Monique Grant, a junior magazine reporter is requested to interview the reclusive former movie star Evelyn Hugo, sha has no idea what she is getting into.  Rather than a feature about her recent charitable donations, Hugo wants to give her life story, a story of rising from a motherless young girl in Hell’s Kitchen to the darling of Hollywood.  They story behind her seven husbands and the true love of her life.  Even a shocking secret that will rock Monique to her core.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is now the fourth novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid that I’ve read in a little less than a year and a half.  Hugo, based in part on Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Rita Hayworth, is a complicated character, one forged by the lengths she had to go to in order to make it in Hollywood, was forced to hide her true self in order to become and stay famous, and one who used her privilege to her advantage with little regard as to who else it impacted.

This tale was also the start of the Reid’s interconnected universe, as husband number three. Mick Riva, would appear again in Daisy Jones and the Six and Malibu Rising, which itself introduced the star of Carrie Soto Is Back.  I’m not sure what is coming next, but I look forward to reading it.

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Book 4 (of 52) – Malibu Rising

Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid

One of the biggest stars in the world, Mick Riva is loved by everyone.  Everyone, that is, except for his children, who he abandoned and hasn’t seen for years.  After years of struggle, they have found successes of their own, leading to a yearly party that has grown along with their status in the enclave of Malibu.  1983 promises to be the biggest party yet, but with each child reaching a turning point in their lives, can the re-emergence of their father cast a pall over where they are going next?

I first became acquainted with the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid last year with Daisy Jones & The Six, which was one of, if not the best book I read all year.  Malibu Rising is the follow-up to that book and again brings us behind the scenes of the rich and famous, focusing on the family left behind when someone becomes a big star.  Reid has an ability to bring the past to life, whether it’s the underdeveloped Malibu of the 1950s and ’60s or the home of the rich and famous it would become by the early ’80s.  I definitely look forward to whatever is next from her.

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Book 20 (of 52) – Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Told as an oral history of the band responsible for one of the biggest albums of the 1970s, Daisy Jones & The Six covers the rise and spectacular fall of the collaboration known as Daisy Jones & The Six.  The Six were a traditional rock band, working their way towards success, with one album under their belt and another one on the way.  Daisy Jones was a precocious groupie-turned-singer, looking to make it on her own terms and nobody else’s.  When their shared label suggested they join forces for one song on the second album from The Six, it became the groups biggest hit and a successful tour, with Jones as the opening act.  The suggestion that she join the band leads to a commercial and critical smash hit, but at what cost?

It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as rock and roll.  A band rises to the top, egos get bigger and tensions flare, love affairs begin and end, and then *POOF*, just as quickly as it all began, it all comes crashing down.  Choosing to tell this tale as an oral history was a genius move by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  Instead of trying to create life on the road for a 70s rock band, something that would be difficult to do authentically for anyone who wasn’t part of that scene, she instead creates the book equivalent of the group’s Behind The Music episode, something we are all familiar with, and lets the reader fill in the details and the missing pieces in-between the memories of each band member.