From Blyton to Montogemery to Austen to Elliot to Christie to Holt to Grisham to whom?

Reading and books have always been a part of my life. I read my first Enid Blyton book when I was eight years old and haven't stopped since. But the amount I read has dropped drastically in the past couple of years. While I managed fine reading constantly throughout school, including through my O' levels and A' levels, books became too time consuming with the job and other commitments and then the first semester here was a bit too demanding and the school library isn't the best sticked in fiction.
I read fiction, it's my favourite type of read. I know it's nothing to be proud of but that's what I do. Books are my form of relaxation; no matter what sort of mood I'm in, a good book with a nice plot is all I need. It's a relief to know that therapy will always be cheap if I ever need it.

I've moved over several genres and authors over the years and I pretty much enjoy most writers except for whoever it was that decided to write the Sweet Valley series. They should seriously be shot in my opinion. I've read my fair share of SV books BUT only when I had no other choice. I used to be a fan of Nancy Drew but then thankfully I got past thirteen and discovered there were better mystery writers. I've been a HUGE Agatha Christie fan for years now. I'm about a dozen books away from owning all her books and it's accomplishing a long existing dream. She is one of the best mystery writers I've ever come across and I read (maybe) my 70th Agatha Christie yesterday and still marvelled at how good she was. I admit it wasn't one her best, I actually had a notion as to who the murderer might be, but I was amazed to find out how it was committed. She's good. That's all I can say and she knows how to tell a helluva twisted tale.

I also like Mary Higgins Clark (MCH). She's not as good as Agatha Christie, not even close but it's a good way to kill time and they're very interesting reads. Lots of suspense and I love that. Of course the story patterns are somewhat similar at times but I enjoy it nevertheless. I became a Victoria Holt fan thanks to my mother. She spent most of her pre marriage days in England and over time has purchase quite a few Victoria Holt. Despite the fact that she's not an author of my generation, I still enjoy reading her books. In a way, the period she writes in before telephones and what not were invented and sea voyages are involved is quite fascinating and simple. The tragic hero and the heroine who loves him despite his crime is most probably what helped grow the romantic sentimentalist in me. You can't read about ancient French Chateaus, old English Castles and the governess who falls in love with the Lord of the house who has a very shady past and several suspicious deaths in the family and not become a romantic. But I adore her books as they are and while buying a Victoria Holt isn't on the top of my list, borrowing it is always an option. Thanks to my parents I'm also a fan of Arthur Hailey, Robin Cook and John Grisham. They all have what it takes to make an amazingly thrilling read and while I don't always get hooked on their work, still love reading it. My last fancy (for the last two years or so) has been the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I got into epics because of the Lord of the Rings books and Robert Jordan was one the best there was. The characters are very developed and the plot is as intricate as an old tapestry embroidered by a lady from one of Holt's books. Unfortunately, the last of the series is the only one released so I don't have much to look forward to. I have to admit that I was also and still is a Harry Potter fan. Rowling is a good writer despite the fact that some people claim she isn't good at writing as she iscreating a story and I was among the millions who pre ordered Harry Potter books months in advance and considered it one of the most important days in my life when the book finally arrived. Needless to say, a little part of me died when the books finished because I wasn't ready to let go of Harry. When I was a kid, I had a vast collection of classics. My mom would bring dozens and dozens of classics whenever she came home from England and my aunt (who got me interested in reading in the first place) has always given me books for my birthdays and new years since I was eight. I've been a fan of Jane Austen, Dahpne Du Maurier and George Elliot for a long time and I still remember the first time I read the Mill on the Floss. I was thirteen and my aunt wasn't sure whether I could handle the huge unabridged version of it but I read it nevertheless and obviously fell in love with it. I used to read E. Nesbit, Louisa May Alcott, and a whole bunch of readers who fall inbetween and I loved the Anne books. They were my favourite as a kid and I still love re reading them.

The funny thing is however that I've always had new books to move on to every time I finished a particular author. Someone was always there to send me in a new direction or exploring the old book cupboard at my grandmother's house would always produce a new book or author that I would come to love. But now I've come to a point where my aunt (who is very much an old fashioned reader) can't find too many authors that I haven't read because I've read many of them thanks to her influence. While it's true she comes up with the occasional jewel of a book such "To Sir with Love" a really nice, homey, down to earth book, overall she stikc to money or asking me if I need any book in particular. Generally she contributed towards my Agatha Christie Collection but since I'm almost done with it, she's at a loss about what to get me (I'm assuming). None of my current peers have enough spare time to read a whole lot and even then, the fact that I tend to go through a book a day is a bit shocking. I've read several interesting books for my classes. a variety that ranges from Gabriel Garcia Marquez to African writers to Jon Karakauer and Mary Roach. I enjoyed almost all of them but none of them were purely fiction with no hassle what so ever. They require a certain level of understanding and for the most part, aren't "fun" reads.

So I was at the library on Sunday, I could take as many books as I wanted but I didn't know what to take. after picking out a couple of MCH and a single AC because thet didn't have anything else I hadn't read, a couple of Grisham's and a book by Hailey and also one by Holt. I picked out a few random authors that I hoped might be good. And so far I haven't enjoyed the one new author I've read so far. I grabbed a book by Nicholas Sparks because I really liked reading "A Message in a Bottle", and watching "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember" but overall I was at a loss about what to read. This has never happened before and now I'm in a dilemma. I came home, did some random wikapediaing and found a couple of books that I must read (and have wanted to read for a while) including "Mrs. Dalloway" but overall, I really don't know what to read next.