Top Ten Tuesday–Which Authors Take Up The Most Space On Your Shelves?

July 29, 2014 by bookmammal 45 Comments

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new question or theme is presented. This week’s prompt is:

The Top Ten Authors With The Most Books On Your Bookshelves

This was a fun list to put together! I had some ideas of who would end up on this list, but it gave me an excuse to wander around my bookcases and actually count books! Here are the authors who have the most books in my home. Some of them even have entire shelves!

Bob Greene (19 books) —Bob Greene was a Chicago newspaper human-interest columnist for years. He published many books of collections of his columns, plus books about historical events and characters, a few memoirs, and even a novel. He left his newspaper gig about ten years ago after some controversy, but he’s still writing. I may have issues with how he conducts his personal life, but the man can write. I have a whole shelf devoted to his books.

 

Ernest Hemingway (15 books) —OK, this one is a bit of a cheat. I have 9 books BY Hemingway, and 6 books ABOUT him. But it’s my list and my rules, so I’m counting them as one big batch! 🙂  I read The Sun Also Rises in high school and it started me on a serious Hemingway obsession that lasted for years. His short stories are second to none, and A Moveable Feast is simply wonderful.

 

 

Agatha Christie (13 books) –I read my first Agatha Christie mystery in junior high school after I saw her play The Mousetrap. I still have all the paperbacks I collected back then. Agatha Christie is proof that you don’t need a lot of explicit violence or gore to tell a great tale of suspense!

 

 

Jodi Picoult (12 books) —I don’t own all the Picoult books I’ve read, but I do have a lot of them. Her books have been a bit hit-and-miss for me over the past few years, but I still automatically put myself on the hold list at the library whenever she has a new book coming out. The first Picoult book I read was The Pact and it made me a fan for life.

 

 

Katherine Hall Page (12 books) —I love to read, I love to cook, and I love a good mystery. Katherine Hall Page’s Faith Fairchild mystery series satisfies me on all three levels! These are good mysteries with well-developed characters and a bit of humor mixed in. They’re not heavy reading, but they’re great for pure escape.

 

 

Studs Terkel (11 books) —Oh, I do miss Studs Terkel! He was truly a Chicago icon, and when he died in his 90s a few years ago he left a wonderful legacy of oral histories that celebrate the “regular” people who make up our country. He had the wonderful gift of being able to encourage everyday people to open up and share their experiences about so many topics—their experiences during WWII, how they felt about their jobs, their thoughts on race,  their lives during the Great Depression, and many, many other topics. He was truly the father of the oral history genre. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at a book signing near the end of his life and I’ll never forget it. I have one big shelf of his books in a prominent spot on my favorite bookcase.

Sue Grafton (10 books) —I haven’t read any Kinsey Mallone books in quite awhile, but I used to love it when a new one was released. I can’t quite bring myself to get rid of these—I read them in my mid-twenties and they’re a really nice reminder of a good, happy period of my life.

 

 

Anne Lamott (10 books) —I really like Lamott’s novels, but I am crazy about her nonfiction! Bird By Bird is one of my favorite books about the craft of writing, and her collections of essays on faith and spirituality are books that I re-read again and again. Is she a little bit out there? Sure–but I’ve rarely read another author who is as honest as Lamott.

 

 

John Feinstein (9 books) —I don’t actually “do” any sports, but I love reading about sports and athletes. Feinstein is my go-to author here. I especially enjoy his behind the scenes books on basketball. You can practically hear the shoes squeaking on the court when you read his books!

 

 

Anna Quindlen (9 books) —Quindlen’s novels are a little uneven for me (although Every Last One is one of the best books I’ve read in ages) but I absolutely LOVE her columns. When I read her nonfiction I feel as though she’s inside my head.

 

 

How about you? Do you have books by any of these authors on your shelves? Which authors take up the most space on your bookcases? Please share!