TOP TEN TUESDAY
August 11, 2015

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s topic was Top Ten Authors I’ve Read the Most

This was a really interesting topic! I knew off the top of my head there are a few authors who have very lengthy series like Janet Evanovich who would immediately be included — so far I’ve read 17 of her books so that’s quite a bit! — but I wasn’t sure how my “read”  list stacked up in comparison with some of my favorite authors. Naturally, I consulted Goodreads to help me out.

So a bit of a story… once I saw VC Andrews on my list, I realized that there were several other series from my childhood (yes, I read VC Andrews when I was kid… I was like 11 or 12) that weren’t on my list so therefore that count just wasn’t accurate. I then spent (too much) time adding The Baby-Sitter’s Club, American Girl books and Fear Street books to my list since I really did binge-read those books as kid!

But then my numbers became a bit TOO skewed towards all those series that I read when I was younger (my tastes were not eclectic and when you have hundreds of BSC books and nearly as many VC Andrews and Fear Street books, you tend to just keep reading your favorites). I finally decided to split this TTT into two parts: Books from my childhood and books from my teen years into adulthood!

MOST-READ AUTHORS: CHILDHOOD

1. V.C. ANDREWS (16) | VARIOUS SERIES: V.C. Andrews was totally one of my favorite authors when I was younger. My friends got me into her books and then I couldn’t stop reading them… even though I was an 11-year-old not even quite understanding what was going on. And we carried them around Catholic school… I bet the teachers weren’t happy about us carrying romance novels around but that was the fad! Hey, we went to Catholic school. We had to get our sex education somehow, right? Better that be through books.
2. VALERIE TRIPP (15), JANET BEELER SHAW (6), CONNIE ROSE PORTER (6) | THE AMERICAN GIRL BOOKS: Don’t recognize these authors? They’re the women who wrote the American Girl books! I was totally obsessed (Kirsten was my favorite since we had the same color hair and eyes) and I read the whole series until I outgrew them. American Girl will always be special to my heart in a different way because I bought my very own American Girl doll with my own money. I had to have been around 9 or 10 and spending $88 dollars was a very big deal! But it’s a lesson that taught me about  money very early on.
3. ANN M. MARTIN (13+) | BABY-SITTER’S CLUB, BABY-SITTER’S LITTLE SISTER (13+): I tried to go through these books and add them to Goodreads but I essentially just read all of these books whenever and however. I have no idea if I read them in order, if I skipped around, if I’ve read them all… so I know I’ve read some BSC, some Little Sister, and a couple other Ann M. Martin books throughout my childhood.
4. J.K. ROWLING (12) | HARRY POTTER, HOGWARTS LIBRARY: I included JK with childhood although I didn’t really get into the series until I was in my teens. We read the book aloud in class in 4th grade right when the series was first gaining popularity but I um… thought it was a kid’s book and didn’t want to read it haha! I started them again when my sister bought the paperbacks and I think they’re the books on my shelves that I’ve owned the longest, believe it or not. I never used to keep books (and look at me now). So I started really reading the series maybe as a pre-teen, fell in love as a teenager, and continued re-reading many many times and will continue to throughout my adult life!
5. R.L. STINE (7+) | FEAR STREET: Fear Street is another series I don’t really know that I read as a series. I know I read all of 99 Fear Street (that gave me nightmares) and I know I read some of the cheerleader series (also gave me nightmares) but outside of that, I’m not sure if I really read the other books “in order”. It’s all a blur!

MOST-READ AUTHORS: ADULTHOOD

1. JANET EVANOVICH (21) | STEPHANIE PLUM: I started Stephanie Plum about four years ago and I just loved the comedy/mystery combination. The stories have gotten a bit silly throughout the series but I’m still reading them! They’re perfect when I want to mix it up outside of YA and when I need something totally easy and light. I’ve read through novel #17 but also all the “Between the Numbers” so that totals 21 so far!
2. MEG CABOT (14) | ADULT SERIES, PRINCESS DIARIES: Meg Cabot’s adult books were what really got me back into reading in college. I’ve read almost all of her adult books and just  the one Princess Diaries book so far but plan to keep on reading!
3. BRANDON SANDERSON (13) | MISTBORN, THE RECKONERS, VARIOUS NOVELLAS: Sanderson is a relatively new addition to my shelves but I fell in love with his books! I got hooked on Mistborn and can’t stop reading!
4. RICHELLE MEAD (11) | VAMPIRE ACADEMY, BLOODLINES, GAMEBOARD OF THE GODS: I started Vampire Academy before I was even blogging and it was another book that opened the doors of YA. Bloodlines wasn’t AS exciting for me but I really enjoyed the first two books in her Gameboard of the Gods series (adult).
5. MARISSA MEYER (9) | THE LUNAR CHRONICLES + NOVELLAS: Naturally, I read anything and everything that Marissa Meyer publishes so the count is up to nine so far with the full-length Lunar Chronicles books and the novellas that go with them.
6. LEIGH BARDUGO (9) | THE GRISHA TRILOGY, SIX OF CROWS, NOVELLAS: Same for Leigh. I will read her books until the end of time. I’ve read all of the Grisha books and novellas and the count is up to nine now having read SIX OF CROWS!
7. SARAH J. MAAS (9) | THRONE OF GLASS + NOVELLAS, A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES: Sarah J. Maas is another soooort of new addition. I binge-read the first three Throne of Glass books last year and really fell in love!
8. J.D. ROBB (9) | IN DEATH SERIES: J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) writes some pretty fun mysteries in the near-future. I really want to get back into this series but have been stuck in YA for so long! If only they had the audios at my library…
9. JOANNE FLUKE (8) | HANNAH SWENSEN MYSTERIES: Joanne Fluke was a biggie for my in my cozy mystery days. I eventually gave up the series because there was a SERIOUS love triangle going on and it got very annoying. I can handle some triangles but she was literally dating two guys at once and from what I researched, she doesn’t pick anyone anytime shortly after book 8…
10. GAYLE FORMAN (7) | IF I STAY, JUST ONE DAY, SISTERS IN SANITY, I WAS HERE: So happy to have Gayle Forman closing out the list! I just adore her books and really have read every bit of fiction she’s written.
    

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    Do we have any of the same most-read authors? Which of these do you have on YOUR list?