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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

Here’s something for Valentine’s Day.
Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?


I think I've fallen out of love with Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who ... series. The earlier books are a lot of fun, and I found I wanted to spend time in Pickaxe, finding out what the characters had been up to. The murders were almost incidental, but that was okay. But I really didn't like her last book. It felt rushed, and wrong. The characters did things that were, well, out of character. And not in a good, story-moving way. I'll probably read the next one, because I have a weakness for Siamese cats, but I don't expect the same from the relationship.

Other than that ... the only other author I can think of, that I've fallen out of love with a little bit, is Marian Keyes. And she's nearly the only chick-lit author I read on a regular basis now. Her last Walsh sisters novel, Anybody Out There, was good, and sad; and it was nice to see Anna grown up, but I really didn't like what she did with Rachel (Rachel's Holiday) and Claire (Watermelon) who went from strong, funny women in their own stories to sidelined cliches.

That's all I can think of for now. Oh! James Patterson maybe. And Jeffrey Deaver a little bit.
That's really all.
I mean it this time.

7 comments:

heather (errantdreams) said...

I think if I were not so fickle a reader I would have a good answer to this meme. Sadly, however, I tend to flit from author to author far too often to settle on one!

Anonymous said...

I've never read Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who... series -- but it seems that when authors write an ongoing series, they sometimes get tired of their own fictional world!

Happy BTT and Happy Valentine's Day!

Maree said...

I'm a reading butterfly too, and it took me a moment to think of any authors!
Braun is 90, and in poor health. But she needs someone to say, this isn't good; let's fix it.

BookGal said...

The Cat Who books lost me when she wrote that strange one about space aliens. I have a friend who likes them so I just pass them right along to her.

Alix said...

Yes I agree about the last Marion keyes book - she needs some new characters.

Maree said...

BookGal: They don't get any better from there.
Alix: Yes! I agree; I'll be happy when the last Walsh sister novel is done.

Chrisbookarama said...

I have one of Braun's books somewhere. I can't remember which one though.