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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Good Reads - Forgotten Authors

My house is in turmoil - good turmoil.  Today front closet doors are being hung.  Isn't it amazing how renovations can languish for years?  You forget your first impression on seeing the house  - "great place but closet doors would be nice."

In the chaos of life, the obvious is forgotten.

Kind of like great books I have read.  I've been caught a few times reading the books of one author and enjoying each one and then, for some inexplicable reason, moving on.  It's not a conscious decision, just something that happens.  The other day I rediscovered an author I hadn't read in years.  It was a back-issue of one of her books and I loved it the second time around just as I had the first time.   I'd read a number of her books and then stopped.  The result,  I'd lost her over the years.

Why?

Was there a break in her writing?  Were new books no longer appearing magically on the shelves reminding me?  That is a heartbreaking truth - even I am caught on that - the ease of grabbing those authors that are on the premium shelves of any bookstore.  It takes an adventurous reader to find the gems that don't make those shelves.

But that isn't all of the reason.  If I like an author I will hunt for the next book even if that means crawling to the bottom shelf in the back of the bookstore or getting it online in e-format.  No these authors are falling through the cracks after I've discovered them.  

Lost authors.  How did this happen?  And it wasn't just her - there were a few authors that I had just stopped reading and moved on.  Maybe it's my taste as a reader.  I love historical romance but not a steady diet of it.  I love suspense but the same goes there.  Horror - small doses here and there although there was a time that horror was my genre of choice.  Instead of a feast of one genre I prefer a smorgasbord of books.  But the risk of that is a good author gets lost in the shuffle.

Maybe, as a reader, I'm just easily distracted.  Or maybe it's the flooded state of today's market.  There is only so much time and more books than there's ever been before.  Books slather the landscape in all their good and bad versions.  And there's always another author with a new book to tempt a reader.  Are good reads and old faves getting lost in the crowd? 

I'm not sure of the answer but what I do know is that I'm going to be resurrecting more of those "forgotten" authors and see what's new in their queue.  Maybe I'll even find the answer to that question I have yet to answer.  For sure I'll know I'll discover another gem or two.

Stumble on any long forgotten gems lately?


Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

2 comments:

Lisa said...

Great Post! This is why I have a keeper shelf...and drawer...and closet...and another shelf. But with SO many books, I forget about a book or series, but delight in re-discovering a stash at the back. And then it's like Christmas morning, and I re-read the whole set....Lisa

Ryshia Kennie said...

Lisa I love the comparison - like Christmas morning. Discovering a forgotten author is like that, this wonderful surprise that you get to unwrap and be surprised and thrilled by their words not once but twice.