No
review this week as I wade through a couple of thickish books that are proving
a little viscous (coincidentally also a little vicious). Both are by authors
new to me and prompt some observations on the movement from new author, to
‘second book’ status, then ‘tried and trusted’, with some achieving ‘must
read’.
I
began the year with a need for tried and trusted, so headed for William Boyd
(now 8 read), David Nicholls (4), Ian Rankin (14), Kate Atkinson (6), and Ian
McEwan (4); as well as four other safe bets – Jo Nesbo, Hilary Mantel, Carlos
Ruiz Zafon, and Jim Crace – who moved to second book status. All were
predictably good.
As
for the newbies, they have been the expected mixed bag. The non-fiction choices
generally turn out well, but often they are one-off books by authors unlikely
to feature again. In fiction, of the five sampled two were a bit disappointing,
one was OK, with only JM Coetzee and Andrey Kurkov likely to move up the
rankings.
I
don’t think that is a bad strike rate, and reading the odd turkey is a price
worth playing to discover new favourites.
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