Authors that Are Like Crack to You

[Elyanna]

You know those authors who keep you up til 4 in the morning even though you have to get up at a decent hour. Those books that, when you've finished one, half an hour later you're shaking and wanting another dose?

I have been captured by some Authors Who is Like Crack to Me.

One is Meg Cabot. You might have heard of her; she wrote The Princess Diaries, and the Mediator series, among others. I do not know why she is my Crack. I'm not exactly in her target audience. The covers of the Princess Diaries are nauseatingly pink and purple. The protagonists are both spastic teenage girls who often annoy the crap out of me (much like real teenage girls).

Nonetheless, she is addicting. I just finished the fourth mediator book. I should give up my Literary Snob license.

Another is Terry Pratchett. Sitting in front of me is one of the few Pratchett books I haven't yet read (A Hat Full of Sky). I burned through the others in a few months. I don't want to run out of books, but I'm also dying for some Discworld.

Do you have any authors you compulsively read?

[Radical Edward]

Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams, J.K. Rowling, and Neil Gaiman. Can't get enough, and when new books don't come out, I just go back and read the old ones over and over. (If graphic novels count, I've read all of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z a thousand times over, and watched the series.* I'm saving up to buy anything else by Akira Toriyama that may have been translated into English.)

*And read all the fanfiction, too. Even the wacky stuff like Cell X Mirai Trunks X Yajirobe X a goat. ALL OF IT. Unless it was just posted this week, I've probably read it.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

S.M. Stirling, the guy who wrote the Dies the Fire books where all electricity/combustion engines/modern technology stopped working and the whole world is plunged into the middle ages. Could also be called Triumph of the Ren Faire.

I'm struggling with the idea of re-reading the entire series, because if I pick it up, I will lose momentum on anything else I am doing. My laundry will pile up, the dishes will be dirty, I myself will go unwashed. It will be awful. Just like the middle ages.

[blank]

John Irving, Jeffrey Eugenides, Dan Simmons, Bernard Cornwell. I used to like Sherri S. Tepper until she got all feminazi. I read a lot of Paulo Coelho but I do need to take a breather between books and while some are absolutely amazing (Veronica Decides to Die, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept) some are complete gank (The Pilgrimage).

on the other side of the coin- Chuck Palucanucanucanuc. Words can't begin to describe what a dire, shitty writer this guy is.

[braids]

If one reads the same novel over thirty times, does that count as addicted? If so, then I'll throw in Joseph Heller. Catch-22...I never stop reading it.

[Jay Tea]

Originally Posted by braids

If one reads the same novel over thirty times, does that count as addicted? If so, then I'll throw in Joseph Heller. Catch-22...I never stop reading it.

I read about a guy who served a few years in prison, and stated that whilst doing his time he read Catch 22 in a continuous loop. Why? I asked myself. Can you shed any light on it braids?

I've read the novel, quite enjoyed it, but like most books i've read, i'm unlikely to re-read it.

As for the OP, i'm not compelled by too may authors, certainly not addicted, though I have blitz-read an author's entire works from time to time. I've nearly polished off Alastair Reynolds, for example, and I read everything Martim Amis wrote to that point in a few weeks, but it's like Indian food - I crave it and eat it day in day out, then I don't want to see it again

[Dosipede]

Christopher Moore. I'm in the middle of Fool at the moment. Ever since some random family member picked up Island of the Sequined Love Nun from who-knows-where, the lot of us have been hooked.

Others have included Douglas Adams, Hunter Thompson (like a lot of folks, I went through a HST phase in my late teens), and I can read Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee today with the same enjoyment I had when i first read it in fourth grade.

[WednesdayAddams]

David Sedaris

[Underdog]

I adore Anne Tyler. I'm so thrilled that she has a new novel coming out in September! Boo that it will be too late for me beach trip.

[Carolia]

Isabel Allende--I got behind in my addicition when little Miss Thing was born, but now that she's older and I get time to think occasionally, I'm catching back up. I'm in the midst of Zorro now. I've read several of them in both English and Spanish.

[Fenris]

Terry Pratchett, Robert Heinlein, Lawrence Watt-Evans, F. Paul Wilson

[Sgt. Max Fightmaster]

Someday in the future there will be a large bus-ad depicting two photographs of me, a year or two apart. In the first, I will be a football player, gleefully beating up dorks and committing date rape; the second, an emaciated pretentious twat, a collection of large books in my arms, rotten teeth smiling behind chapped lips.

The captions will read as follows: "Before Pynchon," "After Pynchon."

Don't let it happen to your kids.

[Solfy]

I've seen several of my favs here, but will add Diana Gabaldon to the list. It is not right to read a 900+ page book in one sitting.
The next one comes out in September.

[Khampelf]

Robert B. Parker. There are currently four of his I haven't read yet. He's got three established series going, and has branched out into westerns. Fucker puts out like six books a year.

[rhythmonly]

Phillip K. Dick.

[Doyle]

Ken Follett, Larry McMurtry, Edward Rutherfurd, Dean Koontz

[Control-Z]

Isasc Asimov

[braids]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

I read about a guy who served a few years in prison, and stated that whilst doing his time he read Catch 22 in a continuous loop. Why? I asked myself. Can you shed any light on it braids?

I can try.

The word plays in that book, they never get old. The satire is seamless and the way Heller juxtaposes hilarity with horror grows more poignant with age and with each re-reading.

I have a bumper sticker that says Yossarian lives . And I'd say I don't want him to ever die, so I keep him alive by reliving his travails on the island of Pianosa again and again. It's an amazing piece of work.

[braids]

Originally Posted by Control-Z

Isasc Asimov

I actually cried when I ran out of Asimov.

I did. Really.

[Roo]

I like series, so I have a few authors that have series that I like.

The first is Jennifer Chiaverini. Her series on the Elm Creek Quilters is oddly addictive.

A popular favorite is Janet Evanovich with her numbered Stephanie Plum series.

I also like Elliott Roosevelt who has a cozy mystery series with his mom, Eleanor Roosevelt as the detective.

And then there's Harry Kemelman and the Rabbi series. Very cute.

And Philip Gulley's Harmony series is quite endearing, and funny.

[AuntiePam]

Guess I'd better turn in my Literary Snob License too: Stephen King. Can't really call him "crack" though, because even though I buy everything as soon as it's out, sometimes the book sits on the shelf for a few years. And sometimes it's baking soda (Lisey's Story).

[Muskrat Love]

Larry Niven used to be like crack for me, but lately his output has slowed down, and when new Niven comes out, it's usually co-written with somebody I've never heard of and the writing style seems totally different, so I think he's just providing story ideas to other authors.

[pbbth]

Stephen King and Nora Roberts. I know, I know, but they are so easy to read and they still make books in the normal paperback size instead of those crappy, slightly taller paperbacks that cost $6 more. Beyond that, they are always a fun read.

[timbicile]

I don't want to hijack but (sorry) Badtz Maru is your avatar a dogs ass?

On closer view maybe Jesus.

I am so going to hell.

[Muskrat Love]

Originally Posted by timbicile

I don't want to hijack but (sorry) Badtz Maru is your avatar a dogs ass?

On closer view maybe Jesus.

I am so going to hell.

It's like those images of Jesus in a tortilla. Yes, it is a tortilla, but it is also a miraculous image of Jesus. Kinda like a dog butt version of communion wafer, it is physically a dog butt but has the spiritual essence of Jesus imparted on it.

[ivylass]

Originally Posted by Solfy

I've seen several of my favs here, but will add Diana Gabaldon to the list. It is not right to read a 900+ page book in one sitting.
The next one comes out in September.

An Echo in the Bone, baby! Sept 22! It's circled on my calendar in red.

Add to Mrs. Gabaldon Stephen King and Colleen McCullough. Jean Auel used to be there, but I tried rereading the Earth Children series again and had to give up halfway through Plains of Passage. Ayla is the quintessential Mary Sue and her books are just not that well-written.

And I have stayed up late and muffling my screaming laughter into my pillow while reading James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small, etc.)

[threnody]

Off the top of my head:

Hunter S Thompson
Neil Gaiman
Clive Barker
John Irving (Even his really crap book Until I Find You)
Alice Sebold
Douglas Adams
Grant Naylor (the co-authors as opposed to the last one, which only one of them wrote)
Audrey Niffenegger (I have read The Time Traveler's Wife many many many times)
Tim Winton
Margaret Atwell


There's manymore,

[Random Precision]

Heinlein, Niven, Asimov, Zelazny, Pohl. A few others - less well known - R.A Lafferty, Eric Frank Russell, Fredric Brown, Joe Haldeman. Sadly, most of them are dead and write far less often. I may have to break in a few new authors. Who is this Pratchett person?

[schnuckiputzi]

S.M. Stirling, George R.R. Martin, Pratchett, Dick Francis, Harry Turtledove, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, and Shirley Damsgaard. And that's only after about three minutes' thought. My problem is that I have way too many, and my bookshelves overfloweth.

[Elyanna]

Originally Posted by Random Precision

Who is this Pratchett person?

Terry Pratchett is a British comic fantasy writer, best known for his Discworld series of books. Most Discworld books are parodies of some subject, such as religion, philosophy, Ancient Greece, bureaucracy, and the postal service. There are nearly 40 novels.

They are my crack.

[Khampelf]

I can echo the re-readability of 'Catch-22'. When I'm at a loss, I'll pick it up, open to a random page and just start reading.

I can do that with 'The Illuminatus Trilogy', too.

I've been through Hunter S. Thompson's bibliography, with no desire to re-read any of it. It was excellent at the time (early 20s).

I would eagerly read more Joe Haldemon, if it came my way, though his early stuff was nowhere near as good as 'The Forever War.'

Raymond Chandler is another author I read again and again and again.

[Zombies!]

Authors who are like crack? Alastair Reynolds is my big one. If there's a new Reynolds book out, I will buy it even if it means I go without lunch at work that week. I've read and re-read Chasm City so many times that I can quote it just about verbatim, and I'm wholly in love with the whole Revelation Space series.

Not a particular author, but a series of books.

Recently I've started reading the "Black Library" Warhammer 40k Tie-In fictions. I'm ashamed to admit that since picking up my first one about a month ago, suddenly I'm already up to 12. I've just bought all 6 of the "Horus Heresy" tie-in novels in one go.

[The DLuxN8R]

Off the top of my head, and listed in alphabetical order because every one of them is my very favorite writer in the world, at least some of the time:

Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, Dennis Cooper,
Robert Cormier, Philip K. Dick, Jim Dodge,
James Ellroy, Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson,
Denis Johnson, Jack Kerouac, Jack Ketchum,
Joe R. Lansdale, Bentley Little, Cormac McCarthy,
Michael McDowell, PJ O'Rourke, John Rechy,
David J. Schow, John Shirley, Michael Slade,
Denton Welch, Irvine Welsh and Charles Willeford.

Do graphic novelists count? If they do, I have to expand my list to include these guys too: Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarrello, Frank Miller, Steve Niles, and Brian K. Vaughn.

[DeadlyAccurate]

Lately it's been Lilith Saintcrow, with her Dante Valentine series. We were replacing our back fence a couple weeks ago, and I was reading with one hand and holding fence posts up with the other. I walked around with the book in hand wherever I went.


Also, Rick Riordan (his Percy Jackson middle grade series is fantastic), and Janet Evanovich (though only the Stephanie Plum books; I have no interest in the NASCAR books).

[DogMom]

Jim Butcher! Top of the list, no contest. Both his Dresden Files series and the Codex Alera series.
Followed in short order by Mercedes Lackey, Peter Tremayne, and now Bill Willingham.

[WildStrawberry]

Jim Butcher tops my list too.

Then, Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Georgette Heyer, Nora Roberts (but only her trilogies) JD Robb (Nora writing her Eve and Roarke mysteries), PC and Kristen Cast (House of Night books)...the list goes on and on and on...

[teela brown]

There are many, but at the moment it's Patrick O'Brian. I just started on my third re-read of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series and I had forgotten what a scream the dialogue between the two characters is. I won't be able to put them down until I read all twenty-one books.

[Seeker of Truth & Beauty]

Originally Posted by Khampelf

Robert B. Parker. There are currently four of his I haven't read yet. He's got three established series going, and has branched out into westerns. Fucker puts out like six books a year.

Odd. I was under the impression he died years ago.

[Darmund]

Originally Posted by teela brown

There are many, but at the moment it's Patrick O'Brian. I just started on my third re-read of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series and I had forgotten what a scream the dialogue between the two characters is. I won't be able to put them down until I read all twenty-one books.

I came in to post this. I can read those over and over. Hilarious.

I also wish Vernor Vinge would write a lot more than he does.

[Khampelf]

Originally Posted by Seeker of Truth & Beauty

Odd. I was under the impression he died years ago.

He signed a book for me only two years ago, and I've seen a new release from him only this year. Neither one means he's not dead, but I really don't think so.

[eleanorigby]

Literary ones:

All of Austen, which puts me in the mood for Bronte (but only Charlotte), which puts me in the mood for Thackeray (Vanity Fair), which ends my predilection for Regency+ England (except for see below). Wodehouse--Jeeves and Bertie books. Trollope (Anthony), the Barchester series.


Non Literary (but still good):

Georgette Heyer (read them one after the other--another "take" on Regency England. She's the only Regency romance author I can read) and then her Golden Age mysteries. Agatha Christie (prefer Miss Marple; don't much like Tommy and Tuppence), all of Josephine Tey, all of Ruth Rendell, all of Elizabeth George (except her next to last 2--I stop reading when you know who dies), Deanna Raybourne's Victorian mysteries, Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (like her romance/suspense books, too), Joanna Trollope and Jennifer Crusie, and yes, Harry Potter*. Now, I won't stay up until 0400 to finish any of these books, but once started, I must read them in order and I must read them all.

Yeah, I've probably got some OCD.


* I only reread these when a film is about to come out.

[saturday's child]

The Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books inevitably keep me up way too late. The Pendergast series especially. Quick, clever, compulsive reads.

[FrozenBananas]

Tom Robbins, Tom Wolfe, John Irving, Jack Kerouac, Wally Lamb, Chaim Potok, Isaac Bashevis Singer, JRR Tolkien, Rod Serling, Stephen King, CS Lewis, and Mary Stewart

[KidVermicious]

Originally Posted by Control-Z

Isasc Asimov

Tad Williams.

[Yorikke]

Used to be Clive Cussler. Now, he only collaborates, and the books don't pop for me like they used to. Now it's Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I love their series books, and their solo projects are excellent, if formulaic, science/medical/tech thrillers.

Joe

[DfrntBreign]

If by "like crack" you mean an author who I will buy on sight, then (in no particular order):

Tom Robbins
Terry Pratchett
Christopher Moore
Tim Dorsey
G.M. Ford
Neal Barrett, Jr.
George P. Pelecanos
Richard K. Morgan
Bradley Denton
A. Lee Martinez
Robert Ferrigno
Harlan Coben

If Berkley Breathed, Aaron McGruder or Bill Watterson ever publish anything again, I'll probably buy that, too.

There are many, many others that have all but quit writing that deserve to be listed, but I've already read everything I could find. Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, Zelazny, Hunter Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut were long-time faves, but seldom publish any more.

[Seeker of Truth & Beauty]

Originally Posted by DfrntBreign

There are many, many others that have all but quit writing that deserve to be listed, but I've already read everything I could find. Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, Zelazny, Hunter Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut were long-time faves, but seldom publish any more.

Is this a whoosh?

[DfrntBreign]

Originally Posted by Seeker of Truth & Beauty

Is this a whoosh?

Maybe a little. More properly, a weak attempt at humor. I'm easily amused.

[Seeker of Truth & Beauty]

Okay. I was a little confused, because one of the guys on your list published something last year.

[Elyanna]

Originally Posted by Seeker of Truth & Beauty

Is this a whoosh?

I found Asimov's recent work Brrraains and Robots to be quite compelling, if a decline in quality from his living work. Not as well written as Heinlein's Brraains in Space, however.