Two books min – One author

Two books minimun – One author

Reading more than one book by an author can be quite revealing. At the end of Stephen King’s On Writing, he has a list of some of the books he’d read over a four-year period. The first name on the list, Peter Abrahams, featured quite a bit – I was intrigued. Other names featured at least a couple of times. Either he really liked these authors, or he was seeing whether the other book(s) were any different in outlook, tone or style.

I happened, at the time to have read two Agatha Christie books almost simultaneously – Giant’s Bread which was initially published under the name of Mary Westmacott and Miss Marple’s Last Cases. The style and tone were quite different. She was clearly writing for different audiences. While I enjoyed watching Miss Marple (specifically the series featuring Joan Hickson), I can’t say Last Cases grabbed me. It was a quick read and the cases cleverly crafted – each was pared down like a short story. Giant’s Bread, intricately crafted took me on a journey with twists and turns. It was a far more sophisticated read.

John Samson, Robbie Cheadle, Keith Howard and Beatrice Holloway, like others write in different styles, mostly the difference between fiction and non-fiction although John Samson’s are all fiction. Beatrice Holloway,’s adult novels are also different in tone. Doris Lessing, whom I’ve written about previously wrote in many varied styles.

I’m looking forward to reading another Stephen King, a novel. I haven’ t been taken with the films of his novels but am hopeful his writing of fiction won’t disappoint. Watch this space…

And before you write an author off based on one book, it might be worth trying another by them, providing they have written more than one.