Musing Monday...I Ain't Getting Any Younger Ya Know.

What could this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading possibly be?...

Are you currently collecting any authors? Why?
Do you have all of their books? If not, why not?
Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? Have you actually read all of the collection? If not, why not?

Well, collect might be the wrong word.
It implies a certain degree organization and planning that my reading lacks.
And collecting implies that I keep them and there are very few authors whose books I would keep all of. So many book...so little space.

Do I read all the books all the books by a certain author? Well, I will often read a bunch, but as I think about it, I probably rarely read them all. If I like a certain author after I read one of their books, usually I will shortly read a couple more. With most authors, honestly, that is enough. I get tired of them or the books are too much alike and I move on to something else.
Sadly, many successful authors seems to find a formula that sells and they keep it up and keep it and drive it into the ground. Even in a series, I want some change. I want the characters to grow, to have events that change them...even for some to unexpectedly die. I do not want a very obvious formula.

And I can think of another thing that made me give up on an author in the past. I was once a huge Dean Koontz fan. I read dozens of his books and I must give him credit for avoiding the formula trap. No, his books were all very different. But...he...his publisher...whoever, started reissuing his older books with new titles. I would see a "new" book of his, buy it and realize a few pages in that I had read this years ago. Second time that happen, I am sorry I moved on from the crazy, creepy books of Mr. Koontz.

And of course there are the authors who once I liked but who seem to have lost it. Most famous in that group is Patricia Cornwell. I thought her early books were very good, very entertaining, very well written. Then 10+ years ago her writing seem to go off a cliff..awful.After two awful ones that was the end of PC for me.
Another issue is sheer volume. You discover an author, read one book, and when you look for more, find out there are 10-15-20 earlier books in a series. Sorry, that is just to many to think about. A smaller series I would tackle, because if at all possible I like to read a series in order, but there is a limit to how many I will take on. I'm not getting any younger ya know.

Are there any authors I have read in total? Yes, a few. Three come to mind right away, Tess Gerritsen, Tolkien and Karin Slaughter. My that is an interesting group. With Gerritsen, I think I read her first Rizzoli and Iles book, loved it, and then went back and read the books she wrote before that series while waiting for the second  R&I to come out. I think if you are a Gerritsen fan you should go back and read those. No, as I have said before, I have not and will not be reading the romance books she first published. I have my limits. So my Gerritsen is not totally complete..but pretty Darn good.

Tolkien is another I think I have read all of. At least his fiction.I think he may have a bunch of scholarly books out there and no I have not read those. But his fiction I have read. Not just The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit but all the 'little' stuff. Tree and Leaf, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Silmarillion, Smith of Wootton Major and a few others little short works he wrote. But then everything he wrote was short compared to LoTR.
I think I have completed Tolkien.

The most recent time I set out to read all an author has written was with Karin Slaughter. I think, years ago, I read one of her books, in the middle of one of her series. That was a mistake because I think she is an author best read in order. Major things happen to characters, people died, major events happened and you have to follow that flow. Then, on that evil Barnes and Noble Nook, they was offering her first book, which I had not read...or read so long ago I forgot it...really cheap. I got it for the Nook and read it. I loved it, so I had to get the second to see what happened..then the third..and the fourth and within two weeks I had read them all. Darn that "way too easy to buy a book on" Nook. I even searched out a novella she wrote, Martin Misunderstood, and a book of short story by other writers that she edited.

Just waiting for her...and Ms. Gerritsen...to write their next one. I will read them.
Who knows. Maybe some day I will tire of them too. But not soon I think.
I guess I am done with Tolkien since I don't think will be writing anything else. 
Being dead and all.