OF MOST READ AUTHORS AND LOOKING AHEAD TO MY FAVORITES LISTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR

Favorite novels, each representing a different author. Not all the authors mentioned below are repre-sented here, nor are all the authors of above books mentioned below. List of titles and authors below.

 It's been a couple of years since I updated my list of most read fiction authors. Well, I found the list I started two years ago (which is one reason I didn't update it), so I'll do that.Allow me, though, to mention one of my favorite lists and how it's progressing. I'm speaking of my favorite songs list, which was the top 15 (in my opinion) the first year I did it ('22), and 20 each the following three years. Both last year and now this year, I have been setting aside new songs I like, and then trim it down. As of this moment, do you know how many songs are on that list? 22. So it will be a fun challenge putting it together. (BTW, I mentioned that I'm going to start cutting off the entries the beginning of December.)

Back to the novels. I currently have 36 authors on that list, and there's a few that I haven't tracked yet. But in the past two years, you know how many I have read books by? Twelve. True, I may have read multiple books by some authors - one jumped up nine spots, for example. But several seem to have hit a spot and stayed there. 

One factor is that I read a lot of Love Inspired Suspense, or more accurately, a few of the authors. This includes the multi-author K-9 series, so there's a group of authors who are basically guaranteed moving up a spot each year. One author, though, who moved up for the first time... oh, you'll hear about it soon. 

I'm debating raising the minimum on the lists from 5 to 10. Currently, I have 26 authors that have passed the 5 mark. But I only have 10 over 10, so I'll keep up what I'm doing. (In perspective, ten years ago, there were only 9 that hit the minimum of 5 and 5 of those had at least 10.) If there's much movement, I might raise it next year. We'll see.

One last comment. You may have noticed that I seem to read more women writers than men. True. Out of the 36 writers on my list, the ladies outnumber the gentlemen by 2 to 1 (24 compared to 12). But I learned in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction" by Ron Benrey that the vast majority of writers and readers of Christian Fiction are female.  

Okay, now with the list. I debated started at the top, because there are more suprises at the bottom, but I'll make it a countdown nontheless. So, you ready?

Tied for 22nd, 5 novels read: Maggie Black, Valarie Hansen, Dana Mentink, Frank Peretti, and Amy Wallace. The last two mentioned have been there a while, but Dana joined this group last year and Maggie and Valarie this year.

Tied for 17th, 6 novels read: Jackie Castle, Julianna Deering, Sandra Orchard, Ellery Queen, and Laura Scott. Laura is new to this spot, the others have been there awhile.

Tied for 14th, 7 novels read: John Otte, Janet Sketchley, and Jill Williamson. All these haven't moved.

Tied for 11th, 8 novels read: Sharon Dunn, Stephen King, and Terri Reed. This summer will mark the 40th year since I've read any King. 

10th, 11 novels read: Ian Fleming. The last Fleming novel I read was probably in '76 or so, until last year when I read "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." 

9th, 13 novels read: James Blish. I read a couple of his short stories a couple of years ago, but no new complete books, which consists of the first Star Trek novel and 12 collections of TOS novelizations.

Tied for 7th, 14 novels read: Kerry Nietz and Randy Singer. This tie will be broken this year.

Tied for 5th, 15 novels read: Allistair MacLean and Jessica Patch. MacLean, Blish, and Singer have all been in this 13-15 territory, with MacLean being the first to hit 15 in 2017. 

In 4th place with 19 novels read is Jodie Bailey. I discovered her in 2019, and she's been racing up the list.

3rd place? Nancy Mehl, with 21 novels read. 

And in 1st place? Agatha Christie, with 23 novels read. She has been towards the top for decades, hitting first place around 2011, where she sat at the pinnacle...

Except she's currently in a tie for 1st place. Dame Agatha is sharing the spot with another mystery author: Donna Fletcher Crow has reached the same goal. Now the question is if Donna's going to continue being at the top, or if I'll go on a Christie reading binge, as has happened a few times in my life.

Let me close by giving you the list of the novels on my shelf above, left to write:

• "The Clocks" by Agatha Christie. 
• "Where Eagles Dare" by Allistair MacLean. 
• "Ransomed Dreams" by Amy Wallace.
• "An Unholy Communion" by Donna Fletcher Crow.
• "Missing Mabel" by Nancy Mehl.
• "Undercover Colorado Conspiracy" by Jodie Bailey.
• "Dangerous Obsession" by Jessica R. Patch.
• "The Judge" (formerly titled "The Cross-Examination of Oliver Finney") by Randy Singer.
• "Judge" by R. J. Larson (pen-name for Kacy Barnett-Gramckow)
• "Amish Vampires in Space" by Kerry Nietz.
• "Numb" by John Otte (pronounced Ah-tee).
• "The Methuselah Project" by Rick Barry.
• "Daughter of Light" by Morgan L. Busse (pronounced Bus-see).
• "Ablaze" by Jackie Castle.
• "Burn" by J.M. Hackman.
• "The New Recruit" by Jill Williamson.
• "Heaven's Prey" by Janet Sketchley.
• "Big Bluff" by Jackie Zack.
• "Seeking the Truth" by Terri Reed..
• "Wilderness Defender" by Maggie K. Black. 

You know, I might do a series of my favorite authors, and maybe follow that with my favorite musicians. If I'm really bored, I might go to favorite actors/actresses, favorite athletes, and favorite politicians... okay, I won't go that far.

WHICH NOVELISTS HAVE I READ THE MOST NOVELS BY? AND IS THAT LIST CHANGING?

Courtesy of ereaderlove.com via Sharon Kirk Clifton

I have been comparing how my list of authors I've read the most have changed over the years. 

NOTE - I did not say my favorite authors. I may have read more novels by an author I really like than one I absolutely love, for various reasons - primarily, because the one I like has written more novels than the one I love.

Let me start with 1978, when I left Cottonwood and started Bible College. At that point, the novelists I read the most looked like this:

1. James Blish - 11 books. 
2. Ian Fleming - 10.
3. Agatha Christie - 5.
4. Ellery Queen - 5.
5. John R. Cooper - 4. 

What did that list tell about me? Well, for one, I got in binges. My interest in Baseball got me hooked on John R. Cooper's Mel Martin YA series. After seeing James Bond movies, I read Ian Fleming. Following the '74 version of "Murder On The Orient Express," I started reading Agatha Christie (and Ellery Queen benefitted from that interest in mysteries). Most of the books I've read by Blish were his novelizations of the episodes of Star Trek The Original Series; the only Blish novel I read was titled "Spock Must Die" (the first ST novel).

Now, let me fast forward twenty plus years to '00. This period of time had two phases - a lot of novels read between '81 and '86, and not much reading done afterwards. Here's what my list looked like at that point:

1. James Blish - 13.
   
2. Agatha Christie - 12
3. Ian Fleming - 10
4. Stephen King - 8
5. Allistair MacLean - 7

I debated on leaving it with the top 5, or including those who I've read more than five novels by, and I decided at this phase to do the former. I did read a 6th Ellery Queen novel, which left him in 6th place.  You'll notice Agatha Christie jumped up on the list, as well as the entrance of Stephen King and Allistair MacLean. 

I previously mentioned comparing the lists of '86 and '00 (which is the one I'm using). There are only two differences. First, in '86 MacLean would have been tied for fifth with Queen at six novels apiece. A co-worker brought in an audio version of a MacLean novel, and I'm counting that on my list. The other was that in '00, my two favorite authors would be MacLean and Frank Peretti, who was lower on the list because I didn't read as many of his novels.

Three items of note took place by '10: I started reading more books (fiction and non-fiction), I started writing my novel, and I discovered Amazon and learned of new authors that way. As a result, here's how the list changed:

1. James Blish -13
2. Agatha Christie - 12
3. Allistair MacLean - 11
4. Ian Fleming - 10
5. Stephen King - 8
6. Randy Singer - 8

You may notice that the top five names were the same, with MacLean jumping up two spots from 5th to 3rd. Likewise, you'll see that MacLean was the only one of the five to increase, giving you a hint that some writers I used to read a lot of I wasn't reading as much. (One of them would have a resurgance - you can guess which one if you wish.)

But then in sixth place (technically, tied for fifth) is a new name. Randy Singer took over Peretti's place as my favorite author (MacLean remained in second). I also started reading more books by women. Amy Wallace had a trilogy I absolutely loved.

I mentioned I had wrote my novel. You may know that I attempted to self-publish and the company went belly-up in spectacular fashion (it's collapse was on the front page of the Indianapolis Star and reported on the TV broadcasts). This led me to get involved with the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), which not only helped in my writing but also got me hooked on more authors. 

In 2013, I took part of a challenge from author Janalyn Voigt, set a goal to read 20 books (both fiction and non-fiction) and succeeded. The next year, I went on a rampage and read 29 novels (not counting non-fiction books). I haven't matched that since, though I do read about 25 novels a year. 

Previously, I've done looks at every ten years - this time, I'll only move ahead five years to 2015. And presto:

1. Agatha Christie 17
2. James Blish 13
3. Allistair MacLean 13
4. Randy Singer 13
5. Ian Fleming 10

Not very over-whelming, is it? True, Agatha Christie and Randy Singer added five books each to their total. 

However, I've been adding other authors to the list. At that time, I considered five novels to be the Hall of Fame pre-requisite. At 2015, besides Stephen King and Ellery Queen were Frank Peretti and Amy Wallace. But other authors were knocking at the door, with Donna Fletcher Crow, Julianna Deering (aka DeAnna Dodson), and Nancy Mehl joining in the list. 

So let me expand past the top five on the list at this moment in 2021:

1. Agatha Christie - 23
2. Donna Fletcher Crow - 15
3. Allistair MacLean - 15
4. Nancy Mehl - 15
5. Randy Singer - 14
6. James Blish - 13
7. Ian Fleming - 10
8. Kerry Nietz - 9
9. Stephen King - 8
10. Jill Williamson - 7

Tied for 11th place at 6 each: Jackie Castle, Julianna Deering, Sandra Orchard, John Otte, and Ellery Queen.

Tied for 16th place at 5 each: Jodie Bailey, Frank Peretti, and Amy Wallace.  

Again, does this mean that Agatha Christie is my favorite author? No. I could pick on several authors on this list (and some not on the list, such as J.P. Leck), but I'll choose John Otte. I like John Otte better than Agatha Christie. But John Otte's bibliography is half of the Miss Marple series, which is a third of the Hercule Poirot collection. (And yes, Christie has a lot of stories that are neither Marple or Poirot.) Otte needs to go on a tear for me to read as many of his books to catch up with Dame Agatha.

Which authors have you read the most by? Are the authors you read the most by the same as your favorite authors?

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 3 OF 3 - THE ADVOCATE

Previously, I posted reviews on Randy Singer's non-fiction book The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ and its companion release The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney. However, this novel has more in common with the non-fiction book published eight years earlier. Both The Advocate and The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ not onlydeal with Christ's trial by Pilate, but also mention the Pharisees and Herodians asking Jesus about the tax and the woman caught in adultery, and additionally mention the treason trials in Rome at that time.

Returning my focus to The Advocate, this book is unique among Randy Singer's novels on several levels:

1. It's his first historical novel; all his others are contemporary. (Thus, don't expect characters from his previous stories to pop up here as they frequently do -- none of them had been born at this point.)
2. I would consider this to be more of a political thriller than a legal thriller. Yes, the main character is a lawyer as Singer's main characters are (with the possible exception of "The Judge"), and yes, Singer does touch on politics and political issues, but 1st century politics has more of an emphasis than the legal side.
3. This is not a simple, typical story. Not only does it span years, but it's more of a pseudo-biography than a typical novel. There isn't a typical villain -- yes, Caligula and Nero could be called villains in this story as they were in history, but most stories have a main villain who's part of the story from the beginning; not so here. Likewise, it's more episodic, with some threads reaching through the story, but not the typical plot arc.

Another item different for Singer is a list of characters before the book. The characters have four designations: historical, fictitious, historical but little known about, and historical but no name given (the only one in the fourth category is the Centaurian at the Crucifixion). The main character, Theophilus, is in the third category. Thus, realize this is a novel, not history.

One thing that's not typical in novels but not new to Singer is the changing Points of View. This is his third novel told from the first person (though the first where that character is male), but as in his second first person story, there are sections where the first person character isn't present that is told from a third person. The final section (the 101 short chapters are divided into nine parts) is also third person, but indicates the previous eight were Theophilus' memoirs.

This is not an author's first novel. It's written by someone who knows what he's doing, enough to journey outside the norm and pull it off, which he does in this novel. The Advocate can fit in the genres of historical, suspense, and political thriller (it's not quite a legal thriller in my opinion), but I could make an argument of it fitting in the literary genre as well.

Again, this isn't typical Randy Singer -- you may love his previous work yet not get into this one as much. In my opinion, this is a well put together piece of literature. 

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 2 OF 3 - THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF OLIVER FINNEY

 

In 2006, Randy Singer released two books in connection with each other: one fiction and one non-fiction. Yesterday, I reviewed the non-fiction book, The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ. Both dealt with the issue of apologetics, but in different way. In the Non-fiction book, Singer focused on who Jesus is. This one deals more with comparative religions.  

The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney was Singer's sixth, and the next to the last to be published by Waterbrook Press. When he switched to Tyndale, his first seven were re-released with the new publisher. While six of them retained their original titles, this one was renamed The Judge.

This book was published before I started writing my novel (which is now finished and in the process of finding a publisher), but I have just read it. I found it interesting because there are some similarities: both this book and my novel are mysteries and both deal with the field of apologetics. Both also have a lot of speaking by the characters in the process of the story, with most of the speaking in both cases "edited out" by the author. That is where the similarities end -- we took completely different tracks on how we dealt with apologetics.

How did this novel fare on both accounts? I might subjectively say that Singer could have been stronger on apologetics but I think he accomplished his point -- please read this to make up your own mind. As far as being a mystery, this is superb, a story that will keep you guessing. I thought I had figured part of it out, and was wrong -- and Singer gave enough hints for me to feel one could figure it out.

As usual, Singer has memorable characters. Singer has hints of being a fan of reality TV (which is also hinted at in his fourth novel, "Self-Incrimination) and of solving ciphers.

I highly recommend this book. Since it's my favorite book by my favorite author ... you bet I recommend it!

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 1 OF 3 - THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF JESUS CHRIST

 

I will swear to tell the truth and the whole truth: Attorney, Minister, and Novelist Randy Singer is my favorite author. I have read all 14 of his novels (and craving #15 - he hasn't had a new release since 2017). He also has written some non-fiction.

I will be doing a three part series focusing on three of his books. The two fiction books don't have  a lot in common. In fact, one of them was one of his two novels where he doesn't bring back a character from a former story (not counting, of course, his debut). The non-fiction, on the other hand, ties in to the novels.

Maybe sometime I'll do a blog looking at Singer as an author. Or I might review some of his other books. Or both. But until then...

The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ is a rare non-fiction book by Christian attorney and legal suspense author Randy Singer. This book was released in 2006 at the same time he released his 6th novel, The Cross-Examination of Oliver Finney (later re-released as The Judge). There are similarities, but there may be more in Singer's 2014 release, The Advocate, Singer's venture into historical suspense (or, more accurately, historical legal suspense).

The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ's first and last chapter is a fictionalized account of Christ's trial by Pilate and Crucifixion, told in the second person so the reader identifies more with the main character. Singer revists that in the 1st person narrative in The Advocate.

The remaining eight chapters look at eight confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees, pointing out that it's possible we're more like the Pharisees than we want to believer. It deals with issues like fasting, the Deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and politics, among other things. (He also gives a good defense for a public defender representing a party that obviously is guilty.)

If knowing Singer's a lawyer and a novelist isn't enough hints that he's a good story teller, then reading this book will convince you. Besides the two fictionalized chapters, Singer tells a variety of tales from the Bible, history, current events, the courtroom, personal experience and even some hypothetical situations.

I recommend this book.

WHEN MY 20 FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS GOT TOGETHER FOR DINNER.

 

Above is a picture of my twenty favorite fictional characters, who got together in my fictional world Chrysostom. We chose that place because the atmosphere kills off COVID-19 germs so they didn't have to wear masks.

Unfortunately, photography doesn't exist on Chrysostom, so I had to draw the characters, which is hampered by my  drawing skill. So if the characters look more like my impressions of them than what the author intended, my apologies. 

Allow me to introduce you to them, front row first, left to right:

Arvandus the Gryphon from the Firebrand Chronicles by J. M. Hackman. A voice of wisdom to the main character.

Drew Farthering and Nick Dennison from the Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering. Set in Depression Era England, these two friends do a great job solving the crimes, and I love how they relate to each other. By the way, both married American ladies.

Dorann the Tracker from Tales of Faeraven by Janalyn Voigt. Some characters capture me without having a reason, and Dorann is an example.

Mortuary Beautician Hilde Higgins from the Curl Up And Dye Mysteries by Nancy Mehl. Hilde also has a pug named Watson, a fish named Sherlock, a love for cooking with Spam, and a phobia of clowns. Her boyfriend, by the way, does charity work where he dresses up as a ... oh, you know already?

Hercule Poirot. Considering that 19 of the 23 Agatha Christie novels I read features him, as well as the first two novels where Sophie Hannah picked up rather recently, no question why he's on my list.

Felix McClintock, a.k.a. The Zealot, from The Merely Mortal by J. P. Leck. His path is a little more ... what shall I call it? Intense? ... than other characters, this Christian can hold his own against evil spiritual forces and their earthly incarnations.

Arianna Sloan from the Teen Mission Series by Jill Williamson. Considering the fact that she's the same age as main character Spencer Garmond, she has a major spot in this series.

Debuggers ThreadBare and BullHammer from The Darktrench Shadow series by Kerry Nietz. Threadbare is one of the characters I can really relate to, but I also enjoy when his buddy BullHammer shows up.

Back row:

George Sullivan, director of the Office of Joint Liasions (OJL) from The Fast Track Thrillers by Suzanne Hartmann.

Brennan Caldwell from the Firebird Trilogy by Kathy Tyers. He gave one of my all time favorite quotes - "Don't think like a wasteling."

Tanner Calhoun from the Serena Jones Mysteries by Sandra Orchard. A FBI Agent with a sense of humor.

Blix, the peaceable Vythian warrior from Space Drifters by Paul Regnier.

Father Antony Sherwood from the Monastery Murders by Donna Fletcher Crow. My all time favorite character, who I also relate to.

Fightmaster Loretus from the two latter books of the Books Of The Infinite by R. J. Larson. My second favorite character. One of those who manages to be both tormentor and friend at the same time.

Ryland Montgomery, Duke of Marshington and spy, from An Honorable Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter. Yes, those familiar with the book will wonder why a historical romance shows up on my list. But when Kristi and I were in the same critique group, I looked forward to her contribution each week.

Wilder Flynn - who loves to tell stories and is obsessed with his hair - from Dangerous Obsession by Jessica Patch. This story is the third part of the Security Specialists triology, and Wilder is the director. Considering we're talking Love Inspired Suspense here, my hunch is he's more of a supporting cast member in the first two books.

Attorney Wyatt Jackson from Rule Of Law by Randy Singer. Jackson has a dog named Clients. When someone calls for him, his assistant tells them he's with Clients. He also calls his mobile home Court.

Crusader the Assassin from Numb by John Otte. He served the overly religious government known as the Ministrix to maintain order, helped by the job that he was without feeling, either physically or emotionally. But then, something happens.

Have you had the honor of reading the adventures of these characters? How would you like to join this group for dinner? What kinds of conversations can you imagine between this group?

INTERESTING COINCIDENCES?

In 2006, I discovered two Christian legal suspense authors who had four or five books out each. 

The first I read was Randy Singer's debut novel, Directed Verdict, which included praise on the back cover from fellow attorney Jay Sekulow. It started out with a single, unsaved, male attorney successfully defending a person charged for blocking access to an abortion clinic. That client then referred a friend, and that case became the major emphasis of the plot.

Immediately after that, I read Craig Parshall's debut novel, The Resurrection File, which included praise on the back cover from fellow attorney Jay Sekulow. It started out with a single, unsaved, male attorney successfully defending a person charged for blocking access to an abortion clinic. That client then referred a friend, and that case became the major emphasis of the plot.

Two things to point out.

1. The two novels went completely different directions after that point and had little similarity to each other. In fact, I enjoyed one much more than the other.
2. I wouldn't be surprised if the authors' mutual friend Jay Sekulow suggested the above opening and see how different authors do completely different things with the same starting point.

Years later, in an ACFW class on point of view, a Romantic Suspense writer told of a novel that used four Point of View characters. After reading that novel, I picked up another novel by a different author - this one being pure suspense. Out of curiosity I checked out the number of POV characters. Yes, it was once again four. Not only that, but the female leads had different spellings of the same name (one with a C and the other with a K), and they both ended up shooting the villain, but not fatally in either case.

A few years later, I read a cozy mystery about a female character who had a struggle with her mother about career choices and had a phobia of clowns. Next novel I read was a romantic suspense by a different author. In this one, the female character had a struggle with her mother about career choices and had nightmares of being chased by a clown.

Okay, again there was nothing else in common. The daughters had completely different careers. The reason for their fear of clowns were both from childhood but for completely different reasons. Still, the similarities amused me.

Of course, there's only so much you can do in a genre. Except for fantasy. In these worlds, you will find each novel has a completely unique world and situations. Right?

I read in a short span four different fantasy series (one being a Sci-fi Stars Warsish fantasy) where one of the minor characters was in love with the female lead but knew her heart was with the male lead, so he decided not to create a triangle and let the other guy win. The funny thing? I haven't seen that work that way in any other genre I read!

Then, there's the king that marries someone that scandalizes the country - I saw several of those. Then, there's when either the male or female lead dies but doesn't stay that way.

The most recent case? Two novels I read close together (in this case, I read one in between the two) happened to have the same last name for the villain. Pure coincidence. Villain #1 was introduced in the first chapter, and you realized he was the villain in the first chapter. Villain #2 was introduced later in the book and you didn't know he was the bad guy until the climax.

Any chance they were brothers? Maybe, and if so, Villain #2 would have been scared by Villain #1. Or it would seem that way. You see, villain #2 already has planned how he's going to kill his brother.

Have you read novels close together that had coincidental similarities?