Judging books and accepting/rejecting them based on their first sentences eliminates this wasting of time on unworthy books. However, when I am stuck to find a quality read, I turn to my "Old Reliable" authors, familiar men and women who deliver their style, great content, and characters that never fail to entertain me. They always make me put aside any thoughts of other books, household chores, or even sleep.
My Old Reliables thankfully have written multiple books which feature the same characters I love with new adventures that lure me in like a comforting cup of hot chocolate on a rainy night.
As a kid, I enjoyed the Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan books, reading all 26 titles in the series, then starting them over again and then starting over again until my parents told me I had to read something else. Of course, the Hardy Boys and Chip Hilton fed my mystery and sports needs, while Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke made me dream of the future, space travel, and cool technology. As an adult, I have discovered other writers to turn to.
Below are some of my Old Reliable authors and the first books in their series along with the first sentences and the book jackets should you wish to judge by a cover. Maybe you can find something that will prevent your "nothing to read" blues or find a holiday present for some lucky reader.
Feel free to add your favorite Old Reliable authors in the Comments link below if you have a similar go-to relationship with certain authors and want to share.
Happy reading.
Feel free to add your favorite Old Reliable authors in the Comments link below if you have a similar go-to relationship with certain authors and want to share.
Happy reading.
Fred
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Ninety-eight -- Ninety-nine -- one hundred. Gloria withdrew her chubby little forearm from before her eyes and stood for a moment, wrinkling her nose and blinking in the sunlight. Then, trying to watch in all directions at once, she withdrew a few cautious steps from the tree against which she had been leaning.
- from "Robbie" short story in I, Robot
Description:
The fictionalized stories about the history of robots, from early personal nanny units to one that runs for president, but will not divulge whether he is a man or a robot - and what difference it might make. Great stories, great science, and plenty to challenge one's moral and sociological reasoning.
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"Yes," Dortmunder said. "You can reserve all this, for yourself and your family, for simply a ten-dollar deposit."
- from The Bank Shot (The first book, The Hot Rock was previously reviewed here)
Description:
Clever, humorous, complex, and totally satisfying reads about a small time group of criminals, planning and executing interesting crimes, and being thwarted along the way by unforeseen circumstances. Each caper is completely different and beguiling in its own way. Very, very funny and satisfying on every level.
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Slater wasn't my kind of cop. Even in the old days when we were both working the right side of the good-and-evil beat, I had been well able to take Mr. Slater or leave him alone.
- from Bookman's Wake (The first book, Booked to Die, was previously reviewed here)
Description:
Cliff Janeway, former cop turned rare book dealer after an altercation with his department, loves books - rare, pristine, and full of great words from the masters. Much of Dunning's mysteries explore the pre-Internet world of book dealing, searching for and discovering the perfect edition sitting on the two dollar shelf at a Goodwill or on the shelves of another collector. But there is a darker side to these books, one that pulls at a reluctant Janeway: murder. No graphic violence to speak of here, and the plots, writing, and characters are superb. And as a bonus there is much insider information about rare books, so who could want for more?
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Archibald Mealing was one of those golfers in whom desire outruns performance.
- from "Archibald's Benefit" in The Golf Omnibus
Description:
Wodehouse is one of my ideal writers (with Donald Westlake). Clever, always original, funny, and biting on a wide variety of topics. Whether poking fun at the idle wealthy via hapless Bertie Wooster and his highly competent servant Jeeves, or simply watching R. Psmith, Uncle Fred, or a host of other characters toddle through life, Wodehouse never fails to make me laugh and take a gleeful pleasure in the originality of his stories and wit.
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My name is Kinsey Millhone. I'm a private investigator licensed by the state of California. I'm thirty-two years old, twice divorced, no kids. The day before yesterday I killed someone and the fact weighs heavily on my mind.
- from A Is for Alibi
Description:
Small town private investigator Kinsey Millhone explores and solves local crimes. While this may sound trivial, the characters, writing and plots are very strong and compelling. Not sure what it is about these books, but they pull me in from the first pages and hold me right up to the end. Don't knock them until you've tried them.
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At a quarter to three the sun rose.
- from The Man on the Balcony (The first book, Roseanna was previously reviewed here)
Description:
Swedish husband and wife authors created this dark, 10-book police procedural series of Martin Beck and his Swedish homicide squad. Their characters are ordinary people, slowly, intelligently, unravelling murder cases using a methodical process that is gripping as it is original in content and writing.
During most of my adolescence -- specifically, between the time when I gave up wanting to be a brakeman on a freight train and the time when I definitely decided to become an English teacher -- I said, when asked what I was going to do with my life, that I was going to live alone in a cabin in the Maine woods and write.
It seemed to me that this was a romantic notion, and I was insufferably smug over the own originality.
- from We Took to the Woods
Description:
Author Rich cleverly, humorously, and engagingly tells stories of her life and family living in the backwoods of Maine, from preparing meals when snowed in for the winter, to keeping a pet skunk, to watching the ice break up and the timber log rushing down the river. Absolutely the best books to curl up with on a cold winter night.
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There were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmeremcy. We were sitting in my room smoking, and talking about how bad we were -- bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course.
- from Three Men in a Boat
Description:
These are wry, unbelievably hilarious novels of three men and one dog who set out to sail a small boat down the river in England. The fact that they have no previous boating experience, continually make cutting comments about each other, and generally are completely hapless in all aspects of water transportation (and life) adds to the fun.
My pioneer mother was wild for education. She fervently believed that young people given enough schooling and using the brains they were born with could rise above themselves as far as they wanted to go, the sky the limit. She herself, with no formal education of any kind, had managed to live a life characterized from end to end with vision and courage.
- from Nothing to Do But Stay
Description:
Quiet, honest, and warmly captivating true stories about life on the North Dakota plains by an intrepid woman trying to survive and hold onto her home alone with her children in the early 1900s. Lovely books written by the main character's daughter - these are great, great reads.
You know, your problem is that you're in denial.
No I'm not.
I rest my case.
- from Playing the Moldovans at Tennis. (His first book, Round Ireland with a Fridge was previously reviewed here)
Description:
I just love Hawks' ridiculousness, from hitch-hiking around Ireland toting a portable refrigerator to challenging the entire Maldovian national soccer team players to tennis matches, Hawks never fails to entertain and make me laugh.
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Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane -- a Cessna 406 -- a bush plane -- and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud that it ruined any chance for conversation. Not that he had much to say.
- from Hatchet
Description:
Although technically young adult fiction, I love the survival tales of Brian who finds himself stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness who must now survive by his own wits. Hatchet and Brian's Winter are my favorites and worthy gifts for any young person (or adult) to whom you can read these adventure stories or can read by themselves.
I was arrested in Eno's diner. At twelve o'clock. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch. I was wet and tired after a long walk in heavy rain.
- from The Killing Floor
Description:
OK, a secret vice of mine. Jack Reacher, ex-military MP, a tough guy's tough guy, drifts around the country with nothing but the clothes on his back, reluctantly being sucked into situations where he faces incredibly bad, violent people. He is a gripping figure, one who thinks and acts clearly and swiftly for the right cause. Not sure I want to actually be him, but I admire his confidence, skills, mental powers, and his commitment to see things through. Caution: each book contains some graphic violence.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
- from Pride and Prejudice
Description:
I admit to never having read a Jane Austen book, but I am eagerly looking forward to the day when I finally sit down with one of her magnificent books. Biting, wise, and off-beat looks at the lives and relationships of the wealthy and not so wealthy English landed gentry. True love wins out in the end despite delightful and unwitting obstacles. Definitely my next series to read.
