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?

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 think this is a GREAT idea, because I review tons of new-to-me authors, and swear that I am going to read everything that they ever wrote, but then I...don't.  Because I get distracted by shiny things and never actually make it to those backlisted books.  So perhaps this feature will remind me of all this good reading I have waiting for me!

Today, I have 2 authors to highlight:

Emma Donoghue

I read Donoghue's Room pre-blogging days, and was instantly captivated.  I finally got around to reading another of her novels, Landing , a couple of years ago.  Even though I didn't love that one as much, I was extremely surprised by how different these two novels were--if I hadn't read the covers, I would have never guessed they were created by the same author.  Not just because of the subjects, but even the writing style had a different feel.  Donoghue has a lengthy backlist beyond Room and Landing, and they all seem just as varied in scope as the two that I've already read.  I'm especially interested in Slammerkin (historical fiction set in 18th century England) and her debut novel, Stir-Fry.

David Park

One of the first review copies I ever received was David Park's The Light of Amsterdam .  It is an emotionally complex, character-driven novel, and totally up my alley.  In checking out Park's other work, it seems much of it is not very well known (though, to be fair, neither is Amsterdam).  However, he takes on an array of interesting subjects.  In The Poet's Wives, he writes from the perspective of three poets' wives (two real and one fictional).  And in The Truth Commissioner, he creates a fictional "truth commission" investigating the disappearance of a young Irish Catholic boy.
He does appear to have some older works that focus primarily on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, though they are very limited release and likely hard to find.  I'd like to get my hands on at least one of his other books though, just to see if they are as atmospheric and intriguing as The Light of Amsterdam.

Whose backlist are YOU interested in perusing, reader friends?