Sunday, August 09, 2009

Sunday Book Coveting... Auto-Buys


Friday I finished Fire by Kristin Cashore. The review will be following on Tuesday. Anyway, I am in love! I considered Graceling one of my favourite reads so far this year, but you can consider Fire on that list now, too! I read an ARC of the book, but I have to mail it back to its owner. That's okay, though, because I have had Fire pre-ordered for a while now! So, you know that I am not very impatient for book three, right? It's torture that I have to wait until next year sometime! It is tentatively called Bitterblue. I am so looking forward to it!

Obviously, Kristin Cashore is now on my 'auto-buy' list. My list has had a great year, I must say. I discovered Carrie Ryan this year with The Forest of Hands and Teeth, so you know that I will be getting a copy of the companion book as soon as possible next year. I also read Fables for the first time this year and I already have the next two releases pre-ordered.

It makes me think about my other 'auto-buys'. Alice Hoffman and Anita Shreve used to be on that list, but I don't buy them anymore. Some authors have been on my list for a long time: Isabel Allende, Douglas Coupland, David Adams Richards, Carol Shields (now deceased), Madeleine L'Engle (now deceased), etc. When those authors have new books out, I am there! I am big on Canadian authors. I buy Lori Lansens, Mary Lawson, Donna Morrissey, and a few more automatically. They are not as prolific as the ones I mentioned before, but they are really coming into their craft.

Then, there are the authors that I always plan to have on my auto-buy list, but they take a while to come out with a new book. Audrey Niffenegger is an example of that. I consider her first book one of my favourite reads of all time, so I am excited about her new book. My problem is I am really excited about a new book by an author that I love, but then it takes me forever to read them! Wally Lamb and Keith Donohue are two examples. I have their new books sitting on my TBR pile, but I enjoyed their first books so much, maybe I am worried about not enjoying these ones as much? It's different with a series. You buy the book wanting to know what happens next, but with standalone books it is a totally different experience that you are not really sure what to expect. Just because an author is on my auto-buy list doesn't mean I have loved everything that they have written, but I still hate for that to happen. I try to wait until my expectations are a bit low and then read the book. If I read it right away, I am too excited and then it might not live up to it. Does that make sense?

Then, there is my beloved fantasy... Patricia Briggs is a must-read, but she is actually relatively new on my radar. You would never know it considering how much I go on about her. There are a lot of fantasy authors that I buy when they have a new book, but that doesn't mean I am actually caught up with them: Robin Hobb, Terry Goodkind, Jack Whyte, etc. I figure that the books will be there when I am ready for them. It makes me feel better knowing that I have complete sets, I guess. Then, there are trilogies or series that I am caught up in and am impatiently waiting for the new book. Sara Douglass is an example of this. I still have plenty of books by her to read, but I want to read the last book in her most recent trilogy and it is not out until next year! Oh, and publishers, I have the pretty hardcovers of the previous two books and they MATCH, so you better not change the style. That drives me crazy! Take Maria Snyder for example. She is an auto-buy. I have her first two books in matching hardcovers, but then the third book was only released in paperback. So, her new trilogy (so far) matches the last book in her first trilogy, but it doesn't match the first two books. That drives me crazy. You want to change the covers? Great, but wait until there is a matching set first. I am not buying them again because I know that is what you want me to do...

These are just the authors that come to mind. James Rollins is the author I consider my 'guilty pleasure'. He's a bit out of my normal range, but I love his books. I consider Amazonia to be one of my favourite books of all time. Why? I have no idea because he is not the best writer ever and he does romance terrible, but I love him anyway...

So, this is a lot longer than I planned and there are still authors not mentioned that I could mention... I tell you, I don't really buy books anymore. I just buy my auto-buys... Some years, that's actually quite a bit!

How about you? What are your auto-buys? (Because, you know, I totally need more...)

17 comments:

  1. There used to be several authors I would rush out to buy their new releases for on that very first release day. Now I tend to wait, sometimes even for the paperback copies. I've been slowing down especially since I haven't read many of those author's last books yet.

    Some of my auto-buys include Jim Butcher, J.A. Jance, Karen E. Olson and Charlaine Harris.

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  2. So glad to hear it was as good as the first. I've just started Graceling so am looking forward to buying Fire when it comes out.

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  3. Kim Harrison is my auto-buy, which is frustrating because her books are all released in hard cover right now. She's the only one I'll auto buy in hard cover.

    JD Robb is another - but I wait for those in pb. Since there's a new one every 6 months I'm ok with that. haha!

    I will be buying Fire in hard cover as well, because I have Graceling in HC and well, my series have to match!

    I think KH and JDR are my only real autobuys. Hmm.

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  4. My longest-standing auto-buy is Patricia McKillip. Doesn't matter what it is, short stories, novels... she could write ad copy and I'd buy whatever the ad was printed on.

    I've recently added Bryan Lee O'Malley to the list. Robin McKinley is pretty close to an auto-buy, although she has written things I'm not quite as excited about in the past. Lately though I've purchased rather than waited for the library.

    Other than that, I tend to be pretty picky about what I buy. Thanks to student loans and all that.

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  5. (Glad you loved Fire!)

    Shannon Hale. Anything by her is automatically in my house. I also really want to get Hunger Games and Catching Fire -- lacking an ability to get an ARC, I think I'm going to have to actually cave and buy the book!

    I do try to buy books I've liked from first time authors... I feel a need to support them in their new endeavor. :-)

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  6. I don't buy a lot of books, and usually when things become auto-buys they are part of a specific series, not from a specific author. However, I'd buy just about anything from Scott Westerfeld, and I'm getting that way with Deb Caletti, too. That's about all, though.

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  7. I don't have many auto-buy authors these days. Anne Rice used to be on the list, but she's now very firmly in, "borrow from the library and buy in paperback" territory. I think my only current auto-buys are Scott Lynch, (oh, how I'm lusting after his next book!), Ysabeau S. Wilce, (ditto), and Sarah Monette, (tritto). Robin Hobb and Jacqueline Carey would be on there, but I hate hauling hardcover chunksters around with me and so am content to wait for their work to come out in paperback. And I think I may be adding Megan Whalen Turner to that list, depending on how A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS is, but I won't be able to say for sure until I've read the book.

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  8. I am envious that you got to read Fire already!! I loved Graceling too!

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  9. *ahem* did you change your site? I missed it the change....I'm sorry....I had to scroll down to your name and double-checked, is this Kailana...I love it!

    As for the auto-buys - ha! I love that title. I just bought the latest Linda Barnes and Margaret Marons (Carlotta Carlyle and Deborah Knott series), Ian Rankin is automatic, as is Fred Vargas, Janet Evanovich, Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley, Robin HObb (behind in these books though), Jan Burke....heck, there are so many! I don't have a problem, uh-uh, not me! I'm fine! lol

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  10. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett might be my only auto-buys. Then there are authors like Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula Le Guin, Douglas Coupland, etc that are auto-want-to-buys, but I feel bad buying their new books when I have unread ones on my shelves. So I refrain most of the time :P

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  11. I can't remember a single author that I automatically buy, off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are plenty. I'm just too tired to think.

    This week, I discovered my library had Graceling in the "new books" section downstairs (downstairs is kids and YA) so I grabbed Graceling. I haven't had time to read it, yet, but I thought my 17-year-old might like it, so I used a little reverse psychology on him. I walked up behind him, read the inside cover description to myself and said, "Oh, you wouldn't like this." Slap. Closed the book.

    He immediately paused his video game and said, "Hand it to me." I handed the book to Kiddo, he read the blurb and then he told me to put the book on his bed, please -- his way of saying, "I'm going to start reading this book tonight." Sure enough, the bookmark was right smack in the middle, this morning. He stayed up and read half the book. He said it's all kinds of awesome, so thanks for your glowing comments about Katsa and Po. I have a terrible time finding books for Kiddo at our library.

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  12. I'm just not an auto-buy person. I wait for many people to read the book, tell me how it was, try to borrow a copy to read myself, and only if I love it so much that I can't bear to return the book, I buy it. This entire process takes nearly 6 months! I think it's because I see my dad making impulse buys which just languish on the shelf later.

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  13. This is a great post! Again, can I point out that I can't believe you are a Canadian fantasy fan and haven't read any Guy Gavriel Kay? Seriously, Kelly... he better be in your next Library Loot, with Song for Arbonne or Lions of Al-Rassan!

    I don't necessarily buy an author's new book the moment it comes out. But there are definitely some that I almost always buy. Mostly, it's fantasy series that I'll purchase the next book in. Or any in Lindsey Davis's Falco series. (Or probably anything by her as she's branching away from Ancient Rome now.) And now, probably anything by Sally Gardner. And Diana Wynne Jones. And Kate Grenville. Oh, dear...

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  14. I buy very few books anymore, that aren't sewing reference books, but Patricia Briggs is one I will always buy. I might by Charlaine Harris, if the library isn't getting around to it. I used to buy JD Robb, but got behind so now I can wait for paperback. Most books I get from paperbackswap.com or the library, so I don't buy a lot.

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  15. Patrica Briggs (though I'm waiting for the paperback of the new MT so that they 'match') and Terry Pratchett. I'd include Robin Hobb but for the amount of her books I have waiting to be read, so I'm missing several of hers.

    I must read some James Rollins. My husband had one of his on his library pile (Excavation) and I meant to read it, but he took it back before I remembered to ask him to keep it. 'duh'

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  17. I'm not really an auto-buy person. I do buy lots of books by the same author; for example, Nora Roberts, Neil Gaiman, and a few others. If I embark on a series, I tend to buy the entire set...

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