Comments on: Giving Up on a Book by a Favorite Author

By: Linda Miller

Linda Miller — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:49:54 +0000

It is so weird that this topic came up because I just finished Elizabeth Lowell’s Beautiful Sacrifice and I had to force myself to finish it albeit a lot of skimming. It just seemed too wordy or too descriptive or maybe I just was into the subject matter and I really like or used to like Lowell’s books. So sad, but I guess we all move on.

By: sylvia

sylvia — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 12:13:06 +0000

Well I guess I also fall into the once burned category, though I would give a favourite author a second try. Recently I tried Meredith Duran’s latest and could not get past the quarter book mark. I have enjoyed all her other books and they are all sitting on the shelf, this one, hum. Could not get my head around the strange relationship at all.
I have also tried authors that others seem to find brilliant and can’t get into them at all. I tried a Galen Foley – The Duke – and found my chin on the floor for most of it as it was so over the top and improbable. For me, I just could not pick up another of her books.
I also don’t follow authors into other genres. Quite a few have moved from historical romance to contemporary and I’m not that interested.
Thankfully there are old books now coming out in kindle so I am discovering new to me authors with hefty back lists. Some times you have to love technology! It would be great to get recommendations for older books now available in ebook formats. I will say that if you haven’t had the chance to read Edith Layton’s C series, they are very good and now out in kindle format I believe.

By: Linda Miller

Linda Miller — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:20:59 +0000

In the past, I also have purchased books by favorite authors, reviews unseen. However, now I skim a lot to at least finish off the plot line. I think it is not so much that I don’t want to give up on the author as I don’t want to abandon a favorite character. Sometimes what frustrates me is thinking “ws this book written by the same author I am used to?” The first author I experienced this with is Catherine Coulter, who used to be a favorite. Then I hit one book and thought well this is different, but after that I gave up on her books because there was something about the style that was different. Is it that common for authors to let different writers use their name?

By: Sandy C.

Sandy C. — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 04:17:19 +0000

I’m more willing to invest time in a book by a favorite author, but if it isn’t working (pick it up, put it down, leave it there for a few weeks then repeat!) I’ll finally give up. Nora Roberts’ “Chasing Fire” is the most recent example I can think of. I made it a third of the way, and then… nothing. I couldn’t care less about the characters, and as we all know, that’s the kiss of death.

After reading “Infamous” by Suzanne Brockmann, she’s also no longer an auto buy – especially not in hardback! Somehow I managed to finish “Infamous”, but that was another long slog that was more work than fun.

I don’t have the patience to force myself to finish books I’m not enjoying; this gets worse as I get older and less tolerant. I also find myself reading a book and thinking, “Oh, that plot was done much better in —-”, and then I go find that book and reread it!

By: Marianne McA

Marianne McA — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:16:12 +0000

I haven’t even bought Pirate King yet: I don’t know why, because I’ve auto-bought her for ages. I didn’t like the first of the books about Holmes’ son as much, but I did enjoy the concluding part of that story better.

Funnily enough I was reading her blog today & thinking that the next book sounded good, so I’d need to catch up on the series. And now I’m worried, because Jean is one of the reviewers whose taste matches mine…

(Mostly I slog through 3 books for an autobuy author – the book I don’t like, the book that confirms that book wasn’t just a fluke, and then the this-breaks-my-heart-but-I’m-leaving-you book.)

By: Cozyfun

Cozyfun — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 21:25:12 +0000

I find that in the case of favorite authors, I succumb to diagonal reading. I’ll sorta, kinda read it to the end, just to know what happens at the end.
It’s easier for me since I get most of my books from the library. This happened to Linda Howard’s last 1 or 2 books.

By: LinnieGayl

LinnieGayl — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 21:11:37 +0000

Wow! Thanks for all the comments, everyone. It sounds as if most of us are on the same page. While we may give our favorite authors a bit more time before setting a book aside, there’s only so much time we have for reading, and we want to make it count.

(And Jean, thanks for the affirmation on Pirate King!).

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:43:48 +0000

I’m certainly more disappointed to have a DNF from a trusted author. Once burnt though I tend to wait for reviews and positive recommendations before trying another one. Currently Linda Howard and Nora Roberts are in that category. _Angels Falls_ was the last Roberts book that I read and enjoyed and until she receives a high rating here or lots of positive praise, I’ll probably just reread her older books. Howard was one of my favorites but many of her recent books have not worked for me and so after _Burn_, which I detested, I won’t read her again without effective persuasion. I’m in the minority though in that I loved _Death Angel_.

By: Jean Wan

Jean Wan — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:09:25 +0000

“Pirate King” was a huuuuuuge disappointment for me. Huge.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:07:31 +0000

I was just thinking about this issue and wondering if anyone was feeling the same as me. Elizabeth Boyle, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Suzanne Brockman, Jo Beverley, Sophie Nash, Rachel Gibson, Mary Balogh and a few others are authors that I normally buy sight unseen. Not any longer, I go to my local library instead of the bookstore.
I liked MB’s “The Proposal” but I HATED the Huxtable series. All DNF except the last one about Constantine. SEH’s the best, but her last two, also DNF. I have to say that “Natural Born Charmer” is one of my all time fav SEH, especially the audiobook narrated by the late great Anna Fields. I also could care less about her new book. I will get it from the library if it looks better than I imagine.
The other authors I mentioned have recent books and I couldn’t get past the 3rd or 4th chapter on any of them. Very disappointing.
“Rescue Me” by RG was just awful. DNF.
EB’s “Along Came A Duke” DNF. I can usually count on her for a good laugh. This time, too ridiculous.
Nora Roberts has been disappointing me for almost a decade. “Witness” was surprisingly good, but I miss books like “Sea Swept”, “Born in Fire” and “Key Of Knowledge”. Boy Howdy, she sure could write good heroes.
The Jayne Ann Krentz franchise is becoming a bore.
Nalini Singh is good, but I don’t care so much for the wolves. I like the cats and Pys so I am doing a lot of skimming just to follow the plot thread.
Suzanne Brockman’s early “Trouble Shooters” was gold, but WTF!! paranormal Navy Seals!! Sheesh.
Elizabeth George’s “Careless in Red” was perfect. The last two, DNF.
Eloisa James Historicals are okay, she’s a good storyteller and I might like them more if they were Regency and not Georgian, but I don’t buy them. So when her Memoir “Paris in Love” came out I borrowed it from the library. After one chapter I knew I had to own a copy. It is a lovely, a funny wonderful book and I highly recommend it.
I’ve decided that in the future I will read before I buy.