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Top Ten Authors I Used to Love, But Haven't Checked In With Recently

- in alphabetical order -  

1. Piers Anthony—I went through a brief sci-fi/fantasy phase in high school in a futile attempt to impress a boy. SFF has never been my favorite genre, but I did fall in love with Anthony's Incarnation of Immortality series. It's been years since I've read it and occasionally I get the hankering to revisit it just for nostalgia's sake. Now in his late 80s, Anthony is still publishing books. He's had a remarkable career, even if I haven't kept up with it.

2. Mary Higgins Clark—My dad introduced me to Clark's clean, compelling murder mysteries when I was in junior high school and I quickly became a rabid fan. In the ten or so years before Clark's death in 2020, my enthusiasm for her books started to wane. They just didn't hold my attention like they had in the past. Still, I'll always love Clark for those many nights her books kept me up way past my bedtime racing through the pages, desperate to see what was going to happen next. 

3. John Grisham—Like Clark, Grisham's books from the 1990s kept me absolutely spellbound. His newer titles just haven't had the same spark for me. I did tackle The Reckoning a couple years ago, but that one was such a disappointment that I haven't picked up a Grisham book since and don't plan to do so again.

4. Stephen King—When I was a teenager, horror was the only genre it was acceptable to be seen reading in public. Horror was cool, so I read a lot of it. King was my go-to guy for spooky stories long after high school. Apparently, I've gotten much wimpier with age because I can't handle his books now. They're just too gory and too disturbing for this old lady with her delicate constitution!

5. Dean Koontz—Like King, Koontz is an author whose books I devoured back in the day. I'm still a fan, even though I haven't read anything of his since Odd Thomas a number of years ago. I really should pick up the next book in the series one of these days. 

6. Jodi Picoult—Up until about House Rules in 2010, I inhaled everything Picoult wrote. Her stories sucked me in, kept me turning pages, and made me think. I tuned out about the time she started writing YA novels with her daughter since those didn't interest me. She's published a handful of novels since then that I probably should check out eventually. I'm not rushing, though, which is weird since I used to be such a devoted fan.

7. Christopher Pike—Pike is another author for whom I went absolutely crazy in the 1990s. He was my hands-down favorite, even though he never did answer any of the fan letters I sent him as a teenager! As of a few years ago, he was still writing scary books for teens. I wonder what I would think of his creepy tales now?

8. Ann Rule—I used to read a lot of true crime back in the day. Rule's books are well-researched and interesting, so I flew through a number of them in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These days, I just can't stomach the genre, which is ironic since it's gotten so crazy-popular!

9. John Saul—This is another author I adored during my horror-reading phase. His last novel was published in 2009, but I haven't read him since high school (which was a looonnnggg time ago).

10. Adriana Trigiani—I've long loved Trigiani's warm, Italian-themed women's novels. For some reason, though, I haven't picked up anything by her in about a decade. I really need to check out her newer books as I'm sure I've missed out on some good ones.  

There you have it, ten authors I've loved in the past but haven't really kept up with in the present. Have you read any of them? Which authors fit this category for you? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. Please note that I will be out of town from tomorrow until Saturday, so you won't see comments from me until I return. Thanks for your patience.

Happy TTT!