I used to be a voracious reader...

[susandennis]

I started out with Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames and the Hardy Boys and then I went on to fatter books. During my high school years, I read junk novels instead of studying. Once a year I read Gone with the Wind and then six months later, I'd read or re-read Desiree. Once I got out of school, there was no stopping me. I'd read a book a day if I wanted to.

In my late 20's, my friend Cindy noted that she'd never seen anyone who read as much as I did, avoid mysteries as studiously as I did. I guess I got my fill with Nancy. And then... in the late 80's, I had just moved to Rochester, MN and their library was not doing it for me. One morning I heard Sara Paretsky on NPR and then read one of her books, then the other two and then I went to the bookstore and studied the mystery section.

I found A is for Alibi and there was B is for and C is for and I'm thinking... now, this has promise... And it did. For many years I only read mystery novels by women. It kept me in books for a long time. Paretsky and Grafton remained my favorites and I'd scarf up their latest before the ink dried.

When I lived in Northern California, Sue Grafton came to read and talk at the Sunnyvale library one Sunday afternoon. I was so excited until I was actually in the car and on the way. Suddenly it dawned on me... at that time we were only on G... what if she turned out to be someone I didn't like? Was I willing to sacrifice the rest of the entire alphabet??? I almost turned around. But, I didn't and she wasn't.

One time, years later, I helped host a reception for her at a bookstore where I worked part time. I showed her where the bathroom was and noted the stall she used and made a plaque for it. Wonder if it's still there?

Along about P or Q, I fell out. There was a particular plot point that just pissed me off and the entire book revolved around a point of view that I vehemently disagreed with and I never read another. (Interestingly the same thing happened with Sara Paretsky's main character/book series. I'm a loyal reader but only to a point.)

But, regardless, I'm still very grateful to Sue Grafton who died the other day having written the series through Y. That she didn't get to the last book is kind of a nice touch, I think.

Comments

[fauxklore]

I am somewhere around Q, but no real reason I stopped, beyond too much else to read. In the same vein, I also like Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series. And I got hooked on Laura Lippman for her sense of place (a Baltimore setting).

[susandennis]

I enjoyed all their books, too. So much to read... so little time, right?

[maju01.livejournal.com]

If you like English writers you might like Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford murder mysteries if you haven't already read them. In my opinion they're best read in chronological order as the main characters progress through their lives, but each works perfectly well on its own.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I've never read any of hers but there is a fan at work I've been getting them in for.
I read loads of the Lindsey Davis Marcus Didius Falco Roman detective books until there was a boring one about the banking world and I've never read once since