Scanning the Backlist is a feature created by Julie over at Book Hooked Blog. Julie's gone through all of the authors she's reviewed in the past, and explored their backlist titles. Through this feature, she then highlights some of the backlisted books that she most wants to read.
I tagged along with this idea once before (post HERE), and today I'm excited to do it again! This time around, I reached way back in my Goodreads history for some authors whose books I favorited way back in the day, but then never got around to reading any more of their work.
With that said, I have 2 authors to highlight today:
Kim Edwards
Most people I talk to either loved or hated Edwards' 2004 release, The Memory Keeper's Daughter . I am in the LOVE camp for sure. Unique storyline, excellent characterization, and plenty of good twists along the way. However, after I read this one a couple of years after its release, I lost track of Edwards and have yet to seek out her other work.
Looks like she has two other books available: The Secrets of a Fire King (1997), which is a set of short stories, and The Lake of Dreams (2010), a novel about a woman who returns to her hometown (in upstate New York, WOOT WOOT) after her father's death and finds out lots of dark family secrets. Hmmm, sounds right up my alley! I may need to sift through my library's holdings and see if either of these are available.
(Bonus: her Goodreads page says Edwards is from Skaneateles, NY, not far from where my in-laws live. Neat! Also, big kudos if you know how to pronounce Skaneateles.)
Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005) is an absolutely fabulous novel that I read shortly before I started blogging. It makes me happy to see that he has a rather long backlist for me to choose from! I didn't know he is the author of The Remains of the Day (which I've heard of, but never read), as well as four other novels and a set of short stories. (I did see that he just released a new novel March 1 as well, The Buried Giant...hmm, must go hunt that down.) Each of their synopses seem rather unique...lots of interesting material to tackle here.
Whose backlist are YOU interested in perusing these days, reader friends?
Wow! I had no idea that Ishiguro wrote The Remains of the Day; that's wild, right? I've heard great things about When We Were Orphans, but I've not read it. Your mention of Kim Edwards definitely got me thinking, too...like, whatever happened to the author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter? Ha! I've never looked to see what else she's written! Very interesting and great post, Kelly; hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyGlad you liked it! Yes, I love this feature because there are SO many authors that I read once and never go back to, because I get distracted by other things. Many of them are not the one-hit wonders that I thought! :)
The excellent thing about Ishiguro is that each of his books (that I've read so far) is utterly distinct from all the others. There are commonalities in the way he writes, of course, but the premises and ideas he's playing with are so different. It's impressive.
ReplyThat's great to hear! I'm always impressed when an author can switch it up entirely between novels. I feel that way about Emma Donoghue.
I have read Nocturnes by Ishiguro but nothing else. I have The Memory Keeper's Daughter and have not read it yet. God only knows where it's at right now. Story of a bookish life, right?
ReplyI'd be interested to know what you think of Memory Keeper's Daughter. I've found that to be a very polarizing novel, people either love it or hate it!