What author will you nevah, evah read? [Archive]

rosie_one

06-09-2005, 12:17 PM

Yup, DS is on my list too. Uch.

Tom Clancy comes to mind too. I don't have enough testosterone maybe?

Ann Coulter... I'm a moderate, politically, not a raging liberal, but she's just so smug. Turns me off completely.

I used to think Stephen King was in this camp, but my Dad pointed out that he writes more than just horror. I'm actually wanting to read his book about writing.

sneezles

06-09-2005, 12:39 PM

I, too, thought of Danielle Steele!! :p

Goin' Coastal

06-09-2005, 12:50 PM

Originally posted by sneezles
I, too, thought of Danielle Steele!! :p

Seems to be almost unanimous!

muriel3002

06-09-2005, 12:56 PM

Any of those Harlequin romance authors, to name a few. I don't even know if those books are still around.

Also on my list:

W. Somerset Maugham (I just can't get into him)
Janet Oke (Christian fiction writer - horrible)
Terry Brooks (after awhile all the fantasy stuff is all the same...., with exception to J.R.R. Tolkein)

Wendy w

06-09-2005, 01:01 PM

I voted Danielle Steele before I even opened this thread and it looks like we need a round of barf bags. :p Add to that, any writer of those "bodice ripping" romance novels, nor Arianna Huffington, Ann Coulter, Tom Clancy, and Ann Rice.

Gilgamesh37

06-09-2005, 01:09 PM

You can add another hatch mark to the Danielle Steele column for me. Pretty much any and all romance novels, actually. Also:

Originally posted by rosie_one
Ann Coulter... I'm a moderate, politically, not a raging liberal, but she's just so smug. Turns me off completely.

I went to high school with Ann Coulter. The mere sound of her voice makes my head explode. I read Scott Raab's (whom I went to grad school with, making for a weird Worlds-Collide moment) Esquire interview with her, and that alone exceeded my quota of Ann stuff that I intend to read in this lifetime. Ugh.

Also, no more Nicholas Sparks. Diabetes in book form.

CompassRose

06-09-2005, 01:35 PM

Unfortunately, I am so addicted to reading that I can never say never; I've read all kinds of things when I've been stranded in doctors' offices or cottages with nothing better around. Even fifties Harlequins.

Mind you, that's all the better, because then I can speak disparagingly of them with cause.

BeachBum

06-09-2005, 02:35 PM

Dean Koontz! I just hate his overly descriptive style.

kima

06-09-2005, 02:41 PM

Stephen King.

jtoepfert100

06-09-2005, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by CompassRose
Unfortunately, I am so addicted to reading that I can never say never; I've read all kinds of things when I've been stranded in doctors' offices or cottages with nothing better around. Even fifties Harlequins.

Mind you, that's all the better, because then I can speak disparagingly of them with cause.

Ditto. Heck, I spent a summer as a switchboard operator for IBM where mindless reading was definitely in order and I was averaging a book a day. I think I read every Danielle Steele book written to that point (there were copies left by past operators). I'll even read DH's Stuff and FHM magazines when I'm desperate.:o

gertdog

06-09-2005, 03:39 PM

I can't think of an author who I wouldn't read on principle, but I can think of several who I've read one or two of their books and wouldn't read them again for various reasons.

Jonathan Kellerman
James Patterson

and there are probably a few more. I don't find Kellerman's subject matter enjoyable (his mysteries often focus on psychologically troubled children). Kiss The Girls was the first and last James Patterson book I read, and I found some of the sexual torture passages to be just too much.

Xtina_in_WI

06-09-2005, 03:40 PM

I'm a reading addict too! When I was younger, my dad would give me the car manual to read in the car on long trips...(sad, I know)

If I don't have something to read when I'm bored, I start to go slightly insane...

Having said that, I do refuse to read anything Harlequin Romance-esque. My mom made me read Janette Oak (Christian Romance) when I was younger, and that, too, made me ill.

Anything else, I'll prolly give it a go. I might not like it, but it helps pass the time :rolleyes:

06-09-2005, 03:51 PM

No doubt about it! Shakespeare (followed closely by any other historical British literature) is out of the question.

Jazzmatazz49

06-09-2005, 03:56 PM

Jan Karon (I tried, and made it about 75 pages)

It's a lot easier to say who I'll never read again, since it's hard to hate an author if you don't read them.

Never read again:

William Faulkner (take that, Oprah:D )
David Sedaris
Any harlequin book
Gregory Maguire
Anne Rice (unless she writes another book in the witches series)

Beth

06-09-2005, 04:16 PM

Originally posted by Xtina_in_WI
If I don't have something to read when I'm bored, I start to go slightly insane...

Um, bored? What's that? ;) :D Maybe this explains why I haven't gotten to the library in time to pick up my last 3 holds and return some books before I've finished reading them. We have come to a point of having to view reasonable late fees as a way to support our local library rather than cause for shame. :p

doggerham

06-09-2005, 04:44 PM

Originally posted by Beth

We have come to a point of having to view reasonable late fees as a way to support our local library rather than cause for shame. :p

Glad to see I'm not the only way to come to this justification -- um, conclusion.

I will say that signing up for the library's e-mail notices has helped me considerably. Heck, I think my current balance due is only $1.00! And, I've also been known to return books unread -- I can always order them again.

SusanMac

06-09-2005, 06:03 PM

This author I avoid so much I've forgotten his name. Who's the guy who used to be a lawyer, and now cranks out a book once a year with the same plot that immediately goes to #1 and gets made into a movie with either Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise??? I have read one of his books, though, which wasn't horrible, I just immediately knew that I didn't need to read the others.

I absolutely adore David Sedaris...mentioned above...but can see how some people wouldn't enjoy that type/style. DH can't figure out why he makes me laugh so hard.

SusanMac

06-09-2005, 06:07 PM

P.S. I just read the library late fine comment. That's so me! It drives DH insane. I see it as a donation (heck, these days it probably saves gas, too, not to make that extra trip) I don't let it get over $2, though....guess I'm tight :-)

Jewel

06-09-2005, 06:31 PM

.........but I like Danielle Steele! :o I admit her plots can get sort of repetitive, but I like the writing style. My favorite author of that genre is Nora Roberts, but I'll read DS without a wrapper on the cover in the lunchroom! :D:D:D

I refuse to read anything that features Fabio on the cover, and has any mention of quivering thighs or heaving bosoms. :rolleyes: I have to draw the line somewhere you know!

;)

kima

06-09-2005, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by SusanMac
This author I avoid so much I've forgotten his name. Who's the guy who used to be a lawyer, and now cranks out a book once a year with the same plot that immediately goes to #1 and gets made into a movie with either Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise??? I have read one of his books, though, which wasn't horrible, I just immediately knew that I didn't need to read the others.

.

John Grisham.

Kayaksoup

06-09-2005, 08:33 PM

Originally posted by tamawrite
Hemingway. Alas, I have tried, but his work just doesn't appeal.

I tried too and just found him too... I don't know... self-conciously masculine??

jjsooner73

06-09-2005, 11:29 PM

Originally posted by gertdog
Jonathan Kellerman
James Patterson

and there are probably a few more. I don't find Kellerman's subject matter enjoyable (his mysteries often focus on psychologically troubled children). Kiss The Girls was the first and last James Patterson book I read, and I found some of the sexual torture passages to be just too much.

I've read several books of both authors. I guess I like the creepy, mind numbing stuff they can put out. However, I have to be in the mood for these two.

I am a reading addict myself, and will generally read anything that is there. However, one must draw the line somewhere!

I had a DS phase in college and am fine with never touching another one of hers.

Another vote for Jane Austen. I really did try..
Harlequin romances--gag!

CompassRose

06-10-2005, 04:29 AM

Originally posted by Kayaksoup

I tried too and just found him too... I don't know... self-conciously masculine??
"The" Hemingways are all like that, true. I always thought "eyeroll, Mr. Hemingway, what are you trying to prove?"

Then I read A Moveable Feast. It's an autobiography of his Paris years, and it is hi-larious. Hemingway, bitching and catting about all his "friends" like a high school girl!

Heh.

HejazSunKat

06-10-2005, 04:44 AM

I'm with you all on many of these especially Danielle Steele (her books are fill in the blanks formulas now), Stephen King (whom my DH loves and I just don't get), Tolkein (read every excruciating page of The Hobbit and gave up on the first book of the LOTR series - whatever it was called). One I got really disillusioned with was Patricia Cornwell. Her books started out great and I was so happy to have discovered such a great writer then I think she got famous, it went to her head and she started phoning it in. The Scarpetta series took a nose dive into the weird, implausible and, worst sin of all, boring.

Pretty sick of ole Maeve Binchy too.

CompassRose

06-10-2005, 05:54 AM

I have to admit, I would probably need to be pretty desperate before I'd dig into any of the Left Behind books. I'd take the Harlequins first... Ayn Rand too. I don't need to get that testy over my reading material.

leebee

06-10-2005, 06:25 AM

Raold Dahl. He creeps me out. DH just read DS a couple of them, and I can't even be in the same room.

Other than that, I'll try anything. I have to confess to an almost compulsive need to read "Regency Romances" when I'm pregnant (it happened both times). I don't really care for them any other time. Weird. I also tend to read things that irritate me on purpose, like Ann Coulter. I figure to be well prepared is a good thing. Don't like a lot of authors, but I usually finish a book once I start.

hlao23

06-10-2005, 06:46 AM

Originally posted by leebee
Raold Dahl. He creeps me out. DH just read DS a couple of them, and I can't even be in the same room.

His books are a bit odd. Sometimes I wonder if children should be reading them.

I don't have any authors I haven't read that I avoid. I got really sick of V.C. Andrews after the first 2 series.

I've wanted to read "The Turn of the Screw" but I understand that Henry James is awfully hard to read.

cniles

06-10-2005, 06:47 AM

Originally posted by HejazSunKat
One I got really disillusioned with was Patricia Cornwell. Her books started out great and I was so happy to have discovered such a great writer then I think she got famous, it went to her head and she started phoning it in. The Scarpetta series took a nose dive into the weird, implausible and, worst sin of all, boring.

Me too Linda!!! I finished her 4th? book in the Scarpetta series and just said - no more.

Gil - Anne Coulter caused a major brew ha ha at our Harrisburg airport in the spring when she ripped into a screener, had a major hissy fit/tirade about how celebrities should get special treatment. The poor airport worker was just doing her job.:rolleyes:

Varaile

06-10-2005, 08:20 AM

In no particular order:

Stephen King (bascially any horror, but he tops the list)
V.C. Andrews
Laura K. Hamilton
Sheri Tepper
any "Harlequin" or "Regency" romance novel

Louisa May Alcott (The Little Women books...bleh)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie books...double bleh)

I always find it interesting what folks like and don't like - I chuckled to see several folks who didn't care for Hemingway. I love his books! :cool: I don't know how many times I've read The Sun Also Rises.

Facinating thread!

:D

stacy7272

06-10-2005, 11:52 AM

Originally posted by hlao23
His books are a bit odd. Sometimes I wonder if children should be reading them.
Re: Roald Dahl, I agree! I read poor 4 year old DS Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!! He got scared! In the movie they don't show you how they fix Mike Teevee when he shrinks. They put him on a stretching machine! The picture in the book shows a long and lanky Mike Teevee. That part scared DS.

Originally posted by Varaile
I always find it interesting what folks like and don't like - I chuckled to see several folks who didn't care for Hemingway. I love his books! :cool: I don't know how many times I've read The Sun Also Rises.

I can't tell you how many times I tried to read that book!:o :D

Gilgamesh37

06-10-2005, 12:25 PM

Roald Dahl---well, I loved all the books as a kid--there was something so satisfying just when the Giant Peach rolled over and killed the two terrible aunties. But I could see that you might feel it was too weird or gruesome for kids.

Of course, his adult fiction is even darker. Is it Kiss Kiss, where the wife beats her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, and then defrosts and serves the murder weapon to the investigating officers?

hlao23

06-10-2005, 12:33 PM

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37
Is it Kiss Kiss, where the wife beats her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, and then defrosts and serves the murder weapon to the investigating officers?

I remember seeing that as a Twilight Zone episode! I didn't know it was him!

AvrilH

06-10-2005, 12:40 PM

John Updike. I don't really want to know it if men actually think like that. Yuck.

Fantasy/Sci fi/Horror: I just don't like the genre. Pure imagination is not what I am looking for. Literary fiction that verges on polemic philosophy (verges - not over the top i.e. some of John Irving's stuff) I tend to get more out of.

Danielle Steele - it truly concerns me that so many people on this list share my contempt for this style of writing, yet my own mother eats it up with a spoon and probably has never even heard the authors I do read. Sigh.

bobmark226

06-10-2005, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by muriel3002
(after awhile all the fantasy stuff is all the same...., with exception to J.R.R. Tolkein)

:eek:

Discovering the depth and breadth of this genre was a real eye-opener for me.

Take a trip to the library and borrow one of Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's annual Best of Fantasy & Horror collections which they've been doing for something like 18 years now. Just read their introduction to the genre which classifies them and discusses authors. Fantasy certainly isn't all those wildly popular teen boy favorites you're probably thinking of.

Giving you just one prominent example: read some of the great
A.S. Byatt's exquisite short stories, most of which are fantasy, and some of the most spectacular writing you'll find out there today. Or pick up one of Datlow & Windling's many collections of adult fairy tales, also fantasy, to see just how much is being done in the field.

Bob

Lighthouselover

06-10-2005, 12:51 PM

I will not read DS either, ditto with Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts,Mary Higgins Clark, and any Harlequin novels.

I also do not care for Westerns. I used to like Robin Cook but his books became too predictable.

Do you find you will like an author only to have the author become stale and predictable?

tamawrite

06-10-2005, 12:51 PM

Slflyt

06-10-2005, 01:20 PM

I used to like Patricia Cornwall, but her last two books were, in my opinion, just plain boring.

I don't like Stephen King either.

Worst book I've ever read is James Agee's "A Death in the Family" - any book that spends two pages writing about someone trying to start a car is just "bore me to tears" horrendous.

Schmee

06-10-2005, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by leebee
Raold Dahl. He creeps me out. DH just read DS a couple of them, and I can't even be in the same room.
Love Roald Dahl! When I was a kid I thought he was so weird and great.

My big one is Nicholas Sparks . I was in a book club once with some work friends and my boss picked a book by him. It was pure hell, plus I could not be candid about how much I hated it because my boss loved him and he was her favorite author. Everyone else was totally groveling and *ss-kissing about how much they loved it. Suck-ups!

Meganator

06-10-2005, 02:14 PM

I have to say I'd probably read almost any author at least once...I did read one Danielle Steele when I was a teenager and I've read one Nicholas Sparks, but I wouldn't read those AGAIN. Gag.

AdGirl

06-10-2005, 06:45 PM

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37
Roald Dahl---well, I loved all the books as a kid--there was something so satisfying just when the Giant Peach rolled over and killed the two terrible aunties. But I could see that you might feel it was too weird or gruesome for kids.

Of course, his adult fiction is even darker. Is it Kiss Kiss, where the wife beats her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, and then defrosts and serves the murder weapon to the investigating officers?

actually that short story was "Lamb to the Slaughter" -- loved that one!

but my fav is "Parson's Pleasure", which is about a money grubbing antique dealer who finds this absolutely priceless antique piece of furniture. it's owned by some low-ish class people who are completely oblivious to the piece's value. the dealer poses as a parson looking for furniture donations for the poor (or something like that) and convinces them to part with it for a really small amount of money. they can't get it to fit in the truck and when he steps away for a moment, the sellers decide to chop off the bottom of the legs to get it to fit, figuring the poor won't notice (but of course this completely devalues the piece). ultimate karma :D

one of my all-time favorite books is "The Witches" by Roald Dahl. i must have been 8-9 when i first read it, and although it was gruesome at times, i think i turned out ok...

to answer the original question, i think faulkner is probably one of the few authors i can't stomach. i felt like i was reading about paint drying when i attempted "as i lay daying". mother is a fish, my butt :)

badunnin

06-10-2005, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37

Of course, his adult fiction is even darker. Is it Kiss Kiss, where the wife beats her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, and then defrosts and serves the murder weapon to the investigating officers?

The HS German classes read that one in 4th year German (translated, of course)

CompassRose

06-10-2005, 07:25 PM

Originally posted by bobmark226

:eek:

Discovering the depth and breadth of this genre was a real eye-opener for me.

Take a trip to the library and borrow one of Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's annual Best of Fantasy & Horror collections which they've been doing for something like 18 years now. Just read their introduction to the genre which classifies them and discusses authors. Fantasy certainly isn't all those wildly popular teen boy favorites you're probably thinking of.
It most certainly is not. That's a sort of ghetto of fantasy, sometimes mockingly described as Fat Fantasy (e.g. the execrable and most damnably long Robert Jordan Wheel of Tedium).

For Avril H, fantasy and science fiction -- the stuff by serious authors, not people brewing together a smelly gumbo of Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons -- is in my opinion where some of the best thought experiments (if you will) in fiction as philosophy are happening. Ursula Le Guin, for instance; some of Mary Gentle and Connie Willis; Neal Stephenson -- they are all giving deep consideration to things, and setting up places in which they can play with troublesome ideas and ideologies at length.

Xtina_in_WI

06-10-2005, 08:06 PM

Take a trip to the library and borrow one of Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's annual Best of Fantasy & Horror collections which they've been doing for something like 18 years now. Just read their introduction to the genre which classifies them and discusses authors. Fantasy certainly isn't all those wildly popular teen boy favorites you're probably thinking of.

I interned last summer for the publisher that puts the Year's Best in Fantasy and Horror annuals out every year. Fabulous! The guy's a bit off his rocker (read: real loony toon!), but he really opened my eyes to a genre that I thought was all Dungeons and Dragons (which my DBF still plays as an RPG w/ his cronies...*sigh*).

To add to my previously-mentioned "will not read" list, I've gotta say Tom Robbins. I tried and tried, but can't make myself finish a book. I'm now editing a book for a guy that writes a LOT like Robbins, and it's painful, to say the least.

This is such a fun thread! Brilliant idea :)

GabrielleD

06-10-2005, 08:55 PM

Thomas Hardy - I tried, but it got too depressing.

ChristieinMB

06-10-2005, 11:02 PM

.Worst book I've ever read is James Agee's [i]"A Death in the Family" - any book that spends two pages writing about someone trying to start a car is just "bore me to tears" horrendous. [/B]
You must not have read The Bridges of Madison County, it was my worst, I'll never understand why everyone loved that book. It was plain silly.
Christie

stefania4

06-11-2005, 06:22 AM

Originally posted by Lighthouselover

Do you find you will like an author only to have the author become stale and predictable? Sigh... yes. I used to love Anne Tyler - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant in particular. But eventually the bulk of her books were about quirky Baltimoreans and not much else. I liked "Peachtree Road" and "Outer Banks" by Anne Rivers Siddons, and not a single other thing she has written - she even recycles the names she gives her characters.

I would prefer not to read Lauren Winner again, but her latest book has been selected for my book club. Girl Meets God just wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm about 100 pages into Real Sex and I'm thinking "Good grief, she even makes sex boring!"

Chalk me up for having zero interest in the Left Behind series and Anne Rice. I can't imagine being desperate enough to read Rush Limbaugh, either.

Snickers

06-11-2005, 09:26 AM

I, for one, enjoyed "Bridges of Madison County". I also enjoy Danielle Steel, Nicholas Sparks, James Michael Pratt.

I read to be entertained, not to have to think about what I am reading. I will not read Shakespeare, Stephen King, V. C Andrews.

IMHO, horror and fear are not entertaining.

Gail

06-11-2005, 09:53 PM

Did Robin Cook ever learn to write? I read two of his books when he first started out. The first (Coma) was okay; the second was about as well-written as those old Nancy Drews... :rolleyes:

Chefzhat

06-12-2005, 05:06 AM

Originally posted by Gail
Did Robin Cook ever learn to write? :rolleyes:
Sadly, no. :cool:

I thought I was the only person on the planet that hadn't read the Left Behind series. Glad I'm not alone.

colleency

06-12-2005, 10:24 AM

Where to start?

Hemmingway. Uck. Here, let me summarize For Whom the Bell Tolls..."It was raining." :D

I could not get into Sense an Sensibility, so I'm trying Pride and Prejudice. If that doesn't work, I'm probably giving up on Austen.

I agree with the others about how diverse Fantasy is. There is no comparing a Terry Brooks novel with a Terry Pratchett or a Connie Willis or a Lois McMaster Bujold or Neil Gaimin or ...

And some of the art you get on the covers of fantasy books are outstanding. Michael Whelan and Bob Eggleton covers are fantastic!

I like to try to read the Hugo award nominees each year, because some years I vote for them, and I want to be fair.

PAMMELA

06-12-2005, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by BeachBum
Dean Koontz! I just hate his overly descriptive style.

He's my favorite author! :eek:

HejazSunKat

06-13-2005, 05:19 AM

Originally posted by Chefzhat
I thought I was the only person on the planet that hadn't read the Left Behind series. Glad I'm not alone.

Oh dear God Debie, I wouldn't touch those if they were 'left behind' after a Rapture and I had nobody left to talk to and nothing to do! :D

(Especially since I heard an interview with one of the authors who is of the opinion that Catholicism isn't a 'real' religion.) :rolleyes:

CompassRose

06-13-2005, 07:49 AM

Originally posted by HejazSunKat

Oh dear God Debie, I wouldn't touch those if they were 'left behind' after a Rapture and I had nobody left to talk to and nothing to do!
*snort* heheheh!

EsteemSamurai

06-13-2005, 11:44 AM

This is a fabulous thread. Love it. I don't know if there any authors that I'd refuse to read, but as someone else already said, there are definitely authors I wouldn't read any more of...

I cannot stand Vernor Vinge or Neal Stephanson. DH reads them religiously, and I promise, I tried, but I couldn't get into it. This isn't to say I don't like fantasy - Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite comedic writers ever. I loved Gregory Maguire's adult spin on fairy tales. C.S. Lewis' fantasy interpretation of Christanity is amazing, and Swift's satiric Gulliver's Travels is a must. And of course, the infamous J.K. Rowling. Through the Looking Glass is my favorite though.

I went through a DS period, but I can't look at them any more. It's all too samey. I never got into those other serial (popularity contest) writers - Dean Koontz, John Grisham, Steven King and so on, although I've read one or two of each to see if I could. Same deal -just got bored. In general, I'm not a fan of westerns, although some of the old stuff (e.g. Bret Harte's the 'Outcasts of Poker Flat') was okay...

I think the worst for me, though, are some of the classic writers that are forced upon us all through HS/college. Hemingway nearly killed me with 'Old Man and the Sea'. Let the darn fish go. Laurence Sterne's 'Life and Times of Tristram Shandy' would have finished the job if I'd let it. Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is so done by the time you get to read it that its torture. And (I know I'll be unpopular here), I could not STAND Catch-22 or Catcher in the Rye. I couldn't even bear to finish the former, and while I finished the latter, it was only because it was so short.

:)

Commence the tomato-throwing.

rubychan

06-13-2005, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by SusanMac

I absolutely adore David Sedaris...mentioned above...but can see how some people wouldn't enjoy that type/style. DH can't figure out why he makes me laugh so hard. [/B]

I have to absolutely agree with you SusanMac...I LOVE David Sedaris... I am reading "Dress your Family in Corduroy" right now and laughed so hard last night I had to wipe tears out of my eyes!! He cracks me up! I love his style! Soooooooo funny!!
Cheers to David Sedaris!
C

Chefzhat

06-13-2005, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by HejazSunKat

Oh dear God Debie, I wouldn't touch those if they were 'left behind' after a Rapture and I had nobody left to talk to and nothing to do! :D :rolleyes:

Girl, get out of my head!!!!! :)

rburganmckinley

06-14-2005, 06:32 AM

Steven King. I tried reading It when I was in high school and just couldn't get into it. One of less than a dozen books I've started and never finished 'cause they just weren't interesting enough.

Shakespeare. Please, fall in love, get married and kill yourself over a slain lover all in 3 days? I don't think so.

Jane Austen. Just quite boring.

I may have to check out some of those fantasy authors mentioned. I haven't read much fantasy since high school. I mostly stick to entertaining easy reading mysteries (not horrors any more, bad dreams!).