Tag / Pretty Girls

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Streaking Authors

Every other year or so, we take a fresh look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  I thought it would be interesting to mix it up a bit and, instead of looking at the overall total, to instead look at the authors I have read continuously for the longest period of time.  So, without further ado, it’s time to take a look at which authors have the longest streak of consecutive years read.

Ten

Jeffery Deaver – Thanks mostly to his Lincoln Rhyme series, Deaver put together a streak of ten years with at least one book read by me starting in 2015 with The Vanished Man and ending in 2024 with Fatal Intrusion, his first collaboration with Isabella Maldonado.  After a one-year absence, corresponding with my completing the Rhyme series, he returned in 2026 to hopefully start a new streak.

Nine

Riley Sager – Sager burst onto the scene in 2017 with his first novel, Final Girls.  Every year since, he has put out a new book and I have read it, continuing through last year’s With a Vengeance.  He can extend his streak and tie Deaver for the longest if the library can deliver his latest in the next two months or so.

Karin Slaughter – Another current streak, Slaughter first came across my notice in 2018 thanks to Pretty Girls.  Due in part to her Will Trent and Grant County series, she has showed up at least once every year since, including Girl, Forgotten, which I completed earlier this year.

Eight

Richard Castle – The ghost writer for Richard Castle, the character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in Castle, made appearances in eight straight years, thanks to the novels that were supposedly written in the show, starting in 2010 with Heat Wave and culminating in 2017 with A Bloody Storm.

Six

Sarah Pekkanen – Starting in 2020, with her writing partner Green Hendricks, Pekkanen started her streak with The Wife Between Us.  Her streak outlived the partnership, continuing through last year with The Locked Ward.

Five

Nancy Holder – Thanks to her television show tie-in work, Nancy Holder was able to string together a streak of five years, starting in 1998 with Halloween Rain, based on the adventures of Bully the Vampire Slayer, and finishing in 2002 with The Burning, a collaboration with Jeff Mariotte.

Stephen King – My history with King is long but contains many frequent breaks.  His longest streak, which is current through the end of the year, started in 2021 with Later and runs through last year, when I completed his latest, Never Flinch.

Mary Kubica – The local author first came to my attention in 2015 with The Good Girl.  She appeared at least once annually through 2019, when I completed When the Lights Go Out.

Rebecca Forster – Forster was a constant presence as I worked through her Witness series, beginning in 2021 with Silent Witness and completing last year with Lost Witness.

Alex Finlay – Finlay first landed on my Kindle in 2022, thanks to Every Last Fear.  His streak continues on, thank to this year’s The Anniversary.

Richard Osman – His Thursday Murder Club series has helped him put together a streak of five years, starting in 2022 with The Thursday Murder Club and continuing through 2026 with The Impossible Fortune.

Elin Hilderbrand – We wrap up with Hilderbrand, who also has a current five-year streak going into 2027.  She started in 2022 with The Hotel Nantucket and continued this year with Winter in Paradise.

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Prolific Authors – 19 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 1xx 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 lone author I’ve read 19 times, starting in 2018.

Karin Slaughter

In March of 2018, I was flying to Las Vegas for the IBM Think conference and I clicked open Pretty Girls, a standalone work by Karin Slaughter, which had been on the Kindle for a while. Little did I know that I would average close to three books per year for the next seven years.

After That Night – Karin Slaughter

The following year, I jumped into her Will Trent series, accidentally starting with the eighth entry The Kept Woman.  I worked my way through that series, becoming current in 2023.  That summer, I went back to her older Grant County series, having some familiarity with characters who had crossed over.  Earlier this year, I knocked off Pieces of Her, which was adapted by Netflix for a show in 2022 and has a sequel waiting for me.  On top of all that, she has a new series which started in August.  I imagine she may take the top spot next time I run through this list.

 

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Prolific Authors – 12 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 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.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read twelve times, even with two years ago.

Christopher Golden

The prolific author first entered my bookshelf in 1998, thanks to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in.  Eleven more of those over the following seven years leave him here.

The Kept Woman – Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter

A New York Times best seller, Slaughter first crossed my radar in 2018 with the standalone novel Pretty Girls.  I followed that up with The Kept Woman, which, unbeknownst to me, was the eighth entry in the Will Trent series.  Since then, I’ve quickly caught up on that series while also starting her previous Grant County series.

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Book 9 (of 52) – Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls – Karin Slaughter

This one had been sitting on the Kindle for a while, and the flight to Las Vegas seemed like a perfect time to start it.  In Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter tells the story of Claire, the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire.  When her husband is killed, Claire starts to learn the truth about him, including the connection he has to her sister’s death years before.

I don’t even know how I ended up buying this book, but I’m glad I did.  It was a good introduction to Slaughter and her work, and I hope I come across more in the future.