Although I have read several novels by James Patterson, I
wouldn’t say I’m a die-hard fan. Since he
was cranking out so many novels in a short period of time, I began to wonder
how good they could actually be. So I
stopped reading his works. After reading
the article by Zaleski about Patterson, it seems his top priority is to be a
business man and secondly an author. It
looks like he has been sucked into the vortex of an author mill where he is the
cash cow. As I read further into the
article, I found out how it was possible for him to churn out so many novels in
a short span of time. He uses co-authors
and has the assistance of other writers.
When his co-writers are asked how much is Patterson’s work and how much
is the co-writer’s work, these authors are reluctant to answer. It makes me wonder if Patterson is contributing
just enough to these novels to have his name on it, but his main focus it
promoting the books and ensuring that they are entertaining. Who
knows maybe he is using ghost writers and taking credit for the work. It’s just my opinion, but I find this type of
behavior to be shady. How is this any
better than producing fake memoirs?
About Me
About Me
When I was teen, I was on a heavy Stephen King and Peter Straub reading jag. I couldn’t get enough of these authors. Today I still have my collection of these books residing on a shelf of my bookcase. Sometime in my early twenties I became less enamored with King’s readings. I don’t know if my taste just changed or I had burned out on his style. I have to say though that The Shining by King was the first novel I read of his and my favorite out of all his books.
I then started leaning more toward suspense and thrillers and less of horror. Some of the authors I followed were Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson. My favorite Patterson novels were The Beach House and When the Wind Blows. They were other suspense authors peppered into the mix, but this is the one genre where I mostly stuck to favorite authors.
When my children were in grade school, the Harry Potter craze was all the rage, and I was just as engrossed in reading the books as they were. I found out at that time how much I enjoyed fantasy and many young adult novels. It seemed that YA authors were more creative in many ways than most adult novel authors. My sister-in-law is a YA librarian at a high school, so she would advise or buy certain books for me to read. For young adult reads I didn’t really stick to one author, but would go off recommendations and reviews for great YA books. Yes I devoured the Twilight series, but I can’t say this was my favorite YA read. The best young adult novels I have read are Jellico Road by Melina Marchetta and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
I still enjoy reading suspense and thrillers as well as many young adult books, but in the last few years, I have also started reading many gentle reads that pull at the heart strings. Again there is no specific author that I stick to, but mostly go off recommendations and reviews to select reads from this genre. Some of my favorites in this category are: Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.
I am not much of a non-fiction reader unless I’m forced to read it. In addition, I a little romance goes a long way in a book, so I’m not a big romance novel reader.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
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I agree, it can be more than a little disheartening. Good prompt response, albeit a little on the short side.
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