Reading List (Authors) & Reading Habits

Billy (over at Spirits Doings asked me a question yesterday about what types of books I tend to read. That is the inspiration for this post. One easy way to flesh out my reading habits I thought, would be to list a few "trade" authors... the typical paperback writer authors that I have been enjoying lately. These are not "high brow" heavyweights.... they are just run-of-the-mill, fun reads.

Robin Cook - his mysteries all revolve around some form of science and/or medical treachery that results in mysterious drama. An excellent writer, albeit his dialogue can sometimes ring as a bit "stilted". His grasp of science and medicine and how he weaves them into his stories are excellent... he happens to be a medical doctor (retired).

Michael Palmer - like Robin Cook (above), Palmer's stories tend toward mysteries that are science and/or medical in background and scope... leading to some sort of treachery. Palmer had interesting ideas and I enjoy his books, but sometimes I feel slighted by his minimal development of even the major characters in his books.... and while R. Cook has trouble having his characters sometimes sound rather stilted, Palmer's issue with dialogue is that sometimes his dialogue is rather hokey and therefore rings untrue.

Michael Connelly - his Harry Boesch novels are well crafted and engrossing in every way. My favorite thus far is "The Lone Wolf". His genre is in the detective/police/crime arena... but he takes a psychological outlook to his writing that is very pleasing. He has a very good grasp on the dialogue... it all feels very authentic.

Lawrence Sanders - his "Deadly Sins" series of books are wonderful, as have been "Caper" and "The Secrets of Lucy Bending". He also is a detective/police/crime novelist. Unfortuantely, Sanders has died, so now further work from him. I suggest avoiding the later "McNalley" series of books by him and continued by a substitute author as well... they are VERY cheesy and basically obnoxious.

Those represent the general reading NOVELS I focus on lately. I also enjoy biographies a great deal (not about idiot pop celebrities, but those about historically relevant people.... such as Hemingway, Pasteur, Darwin, Steinbeck, etc.) Please do not get me wrong, I read a helluva lot of other things as well (a lot for my research and teaching, several newspapers, and more classic literature as well at times), but the above represents my current FUN reading material. In my past I have had other general fiction fads as well. For a long time I loved Westerns, but I haven't found any recent ones that have captured my attention. The same is true for my prior love of science fiction... I have not been able to find a more current science fiction writer who grabs my mind in quite a while.

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