Tag / John Grisham

by admin

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

Book 7 (of 52) – The Testament

The Testament - John Grisham

The Testament – John Grisham

As I mentioned last year when I read The Runaway Jury, it had been quite a while since I had read any John Grisham novels.  That didn’t necessarily stop me from buying them, though, as, judging by the embossed message on the front, this edition was the first time that the book had seen print in paperback.  That means that the book has been sitting in my to-read drawer for about 13 years or so.

The Testament revolves around the late Troy Phelan, the 10th-richest man in America, and the legal fight of his children as they fight over the inheritance that has been denied them and instead left to their mysterious half-sister, who has dropped out of sight and is a missionary in South America.  As the excluded heirs fight for what they believe is due to them, a disgraced attorney fights to first find, and then protect the interests of the true heir.

I enjoyed the book, but not as much as I enjoyed The Runaway Jury last year.  I’m starting to see how I could have gotten burned out on Grisham’s work 15 years ago or so.  I did like the parts in the South American jungle more than the standard legal parts.  The Pantanal seems like a wondrous place to visit, even if you do have to worry about malaria or dengue fever.  I might need to take a longer break before my next look in on Grisham’s work, but I will most likely take that look.

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 →

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Book 22 (of 52) – The Runaway Jury

The_Runaway_Jury_John_Grisham

The Runaway Jury – John Grisham

In the early 1990s, John Grisham was at the top of the bestsellers lists and I was along for the ride.  Starting with The Firm in 1993 and continuing through The Rainmaker in 1996, I had plowed through four* of his first six novels in four years time.  But then, for some reason, I stopped.  The Runaway Jury was book number seven for Grisham, and, by all accounts, it has been sitting in my To Read drawer for quite some time.  Some 16 years after its release, it was time to give it a chance.

*Although my records indicate otherwise, I’m pretty sure that I read The Client too.  That would put me at five out of six in the same four year time period.

My time away from Grisham seems to have done me well, as I was thouroughly engrossed by this book, the tale of a tobacco trial, the defense operatives trying to ensure a verdict through any means necessary, and the jury led by a man who has a hidden agenda.  Grisham tells an interesting tale of deceit and lawlessness in showing how the tobacco industry will go to any lengths necessary to keep all judgments on their side.  One has to wonder how much of this is truly fiction and if the judicial process can be so easily manipulated.

The Runaway Jury was a fun read and I’ve already moved the movie adaptation to the top of my Netflix queue so I can revisit this story and its characters soon.  I have a strong feeling that it will not be another 16 years before I pick up a John Grisham book again.

by admin

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 →

by jim

Upfronts Day 0

NBC jumped the gun and released their schedule for the upcoming fall season a day early.  Chuck returns for a 13 episode final season, moving to Friday nights.  30 Rock gets bumped to mid-season due to Tina Fey’s pregnancy.  Harry’s Law gets a surprise renewal and moves to Wednesdays. 

New dramas in the fall include Prime Suspect, starring Maria Bello as a homicide detective fighting her way through the boys club.  The Playboy Club tries to follow in the footsteps of Mad Men and goes back to the 60s at the legendary Chicago club.  Grimm tries to follow in the footsteps (notice a pattern here?) of Supernatural, following a group of hunters going after the creatures from the Grimm fairy tales.  Awake (finally a somewhat new premise) is a drama about a man who wakes up from an accident to find out he is living in two parallel worlds, one where his wife died in the accident and one where his son died.

On the comedy front, Whitney is a starring vehicle for roast sensation Whitney Cummings.  Up All Night is “a modern take on parenthood.”  Free Agents is based on a cult UK comedy and returns Anthony Head, TVs Giles, to America’s shores.  Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea is inspired by the book from late night host Chelsea Handler and stars Laura Prepon.  Best Friends Forever looks at best friends who promise to support each other.  Bent is about a couple who are attracted to each other despite not having much in common.

Continue reading →