I blame my sister

Well it had to be somebody and I've already blamed the Hubby before. Ok not for this but for something.

When I was home for Christmas my sister and I started talking books. She loves Robert B Parker. He does a couple of characters but the one I remember from TV is Spenser. Spenser for Hire was a show that I now remember little of, except for the fact that I liked it.

So when we got home I thought what the heck I will give him a try, but I did not go to the library. Then I read the author had passed away suddenly and thought how sad I will read one of his books out of respect for his passing.

When you find an author who is advanced in their career, in what order do you read the books? Do you go back and start where they started and read them in chronological order? Or do you pick the most recognizable title? Or do you just pick one at random.

I went through the same thing when I started reading Agatha Christie. I choose books based on what audio books the library had available. I picked at random, mostly. Once I researched the order in which they were written, I've been trying to stick to that. I don't really know why I do it that way, most of her books are not dependent on the previous books. Well that is not true, some of the books reference previous cases for the detectives. Since she is no longer a contemporary author it is not like I will be confused or missing out on current events story lines.

With Robert B Parker it is a different story, so to speak. He was a contemporary author. I'm not experienced with him enough to know if it is important to read them in the order they were written.

I did end up doing a combo book choice method. I picked the oldest audio title they had available, back story. It is very different from what I usually listen to, but I really like it.

Now I am faced with a different dilemma. Finding a great author later in their career is a double edged sword. Because you have access to so many it is easy to go into author hangover. You know like when you open a big bottle of wine. You think to yourself I'll just have a glass, then boom you've had the whole bottle and the world looks so lovely. But then the next day you don't remember anything specific about the night before except you think you enjoyed it.

New author overload works the same way you read a story and like it so you naturally move on to the next story and the next and the next. Then you start to realize you don't really remember anything about a specific book. You remember that you liked it but not why.

I think it is better to consume both wine and new found authors slowly. Savor them and enjoy them.