12 of My Most-Read Fiction Writers (3+ Books)
You'll never guess which author shows up 45 times in my book spreadsheet (actually, you probably will be able to guess)
One of the great things about keeping track of all the books I’ve read is that I can search and analyze all kinds of data. A lot of it is only interesting to me, but sometimes when I’m scrolling through looking for something, I’ll see something I think other people might find interesting. I began wondering which writers I’ve read the most—of course, some of those writers have written series (many mentioned in my post 13 of the Best Book Series Ever), but I wanted to find authors where I had read at least 3 books by them that weren’t part of the same series (so if one book was part of a series, that counted, but then there needed to be two other books that weren’t part of that series or that weren’t both in the same series). Using this criteria, I found more than a dozen authors who fell into this category, and I picked 12 out of that group to share with you.
Of the 12 fiction writers, I read 3 or 4 books each by 7 of them. The remaining 5 authors show a slow and then swift uptick in books read by each of them. If you want to see how well you know my reading preferences, see if you can guess which author’s works I’ve read the most before you get to the end!
Note that these aren’t necessarily my 12 favorite fiction writers, because I haven’t always loved everything each of these authors has written. And some of my favorite fiction authors have only written books in one series, so they didn’t qualify for this list.
For each author, I’ve got a graphic showing how many of their books I’ve read and an image of my favorite book of theirs that I’ve read. Below the graphic, I’ll share notes about their books, other books of theirs I’ve enjoyed, and comments on why I think I’ve read so many of their books.
Average page length: ~275 pages
Genre: literary fiction with a focus on adventure / environmental concerns
My favorite: The River
Honorable mention: The Last Ranger
On my TBR: Burn, The Orchard
Years ago, a reading friend recommended I read The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. At the time, it wasn’t available at my library, so I read The River instead. I loved it, and subsequently read two other Heller novels. His books are all set primarily in the outdoors and the ones I read all involved survival scenarios to some extent. I am not myself much of an outdoors-person, and yet I have found myself captivated by his writing. While writing this post I discovered he has written two more books since the most recent one I read, so I am eager to get to those soon, as well as some of the books on his backlist.
Average page length: ~450 pages
Genre: science fiction
My favorite: Project Hail Mary
Honorable mention: The Martian
In the case of this author, he has only written 3 books, and I’ve read all of them. There aren’t two many authors about which that is true for me. I am a huge Star Wars fan, and I loved the TV show Firefly, but other than those things, space isn’t a topic I enjoy watching or reading about. Andy Weir is the exception. There have also been two movies made based off his books—the recent Project Hail Mary and before that, The Martian, which I haven’t seen yet.
Average page length: ~275 pages
Genre: historical / alt-historical fiction
My favorite: The Nickel Boys
Honorable mention: The Underground Railroad
On my TBR: The Harlem Trilogy
If I had to pick 10 fiction books that impacted me the most over the course of my life, I’d have to include The Nickel Boys, which is about two young men who become incarcerated at a fictional boys’ school in Florida (but that was based on the now infamous Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys). A few years ago I had the honor of getting to see a screening of the film Nickel Boys, based on the book, at a theater in Savannah. It was no less gripping on the screen than on the page. I haven’t started his trilogy that takes place in Harlem, but the final book is coming out this year, so I think it’s time to dive in!
Average page length: ~350 pages
Genre: science fiction blended with speculative/dystopian fiction
My favorite: Parable of the Sower
Honorable mention: Kindred
Dystopian fiction is one of my top genres, and all of the books by this author fall at least somewhat into this category. I actually struggled to decide if Parable of the Sower or Kindred was my favorite. Both are very dark and intense; Parable takes place in a future marked by anarchy and economic and environmental unrest, while Kindred involves a Black woman from 1976 unexpectedly traveling back in time to the antebellum South.
Average page length: ~500 pages
Genre: historical fiction
My favorite: The Great Alone
Honorable mention: The Four Winds
All of the works I’ve read by Hannah are historical fiction, but she has also written many works of more contemporary fiction. I enjoyed the first three books of hers that I read, but then I read The Women last summer, and I hated it. The parts that detailed aspects of the Vietnam War were fascinating and seemed to have been meticulously researched, but I found the main character intolerable. This made me sad because I’d consider The Great Alone one of my favorite long books, but after that last one, I honestly think I might be breaking up with Kristin Hannah as an author. I wish her all the best.
Average page length: ~500 pages
Genre: mystery/suspense in the context of contemporary fiction
My favorite: Big Little Lies
Honorable mention: What Alice Forgot
On my TBR: Nine Perfect Strangers, Big Little Truths (releasing in August 2026)
I avoided Moriarty’s books for years because I thought they were so mainstream that I wouldn’t possibly like them (I know—I can be a book snob. I apologize.). During the pandemic when I was reading multiple books a week, I decided to binge read Big Little Lies and found myself completely entranced. I went on to read several more of her books. Her books usually center on family and marriage drama, but all of the ones I’ve read also contain plot twists that you don’t see coming.
In the process of making this post I discovered she has a sequel to BLL coming out in August, which I’m looking forward to!
Average page length: ~300 pages
Genre: contemporary fiction
My favorite: The Dutch House
Honorable mention: Tom Lake
On my TBR: Bel Canto
My first novel by Patchett was The Dutch House, and what a way to start. If you haven’t read it yet, I must recommend you listen to the audiobook, which is narrated by Tom Hanks. I realized while listening that I’d be content listening to Tom Hanks read a dishwasher instruction manual. Her books often feature complicated family dynamics that are extremely grounded in reality. I have enjoyed all the books by her that I’ve read, but still have many more to read!
Average page length: ~300 pages
Genre: science fiction
My favorite: The Wayward Pines Trilogy
Honorable mention: Upgrade
On my TBR: Dark Matter
The Wayward Pines Trilogy is one of my favorite book series, but Blake Crouch (no relation, sadly) has also written several other standalone novels as well as a series I haven’t read yet. His books are mostly science fiction, and some of them are very technical, so if you like “smart” books, you’ll love his books.21
(I actually think I have read Dark Matter, but my book spreadsheet does not list it, so I think maybe there is an error. If I did read it, though, I remember very little, so I plan to read it again.)
Average page length: ~275 pages
Genre: literary fiction with a focus on adventure / environmental concerns
My favorite: Bird Box
Honorable mentions: Goblin, Inspection
Other than the last author on this list (who you might have already guessed), Josh Malerman is my favorite horror writer. His books are thick with plot and less focused on character development, but they are the perfect read for what I call “fall spooky season.” They are very much horror books, and while I can’t handle horror movies, my tolerance for horror books is pretty high. That’s not true for everyone, so proceed at your own risk. If you want to start with my favorite, consider listening to Bird Box as an audiobook. The premise of the book is that the monsters only act when you see them, so everyone wears blindfolds and has to move around only by hearing. Listening to it on audiobook makes the book even more terrifying.
Average page length: ~400 pages
Genre: contemporary fiction
My favorite: A Man Called Ove
Honorable mention: The Beartown series
I first read A Man Called Ove almost 10 years ago, and I was enamored. It wasn’t just the way the story wound around an old man and the family next door; it was the unique writing style and the way Backman told the story. All of his books that I’ve read are written in the same style, and if you love it, you love it. If you don’t like it, then you probably won’t like any of his books. I also love the Beartown series, which is about a sexual assault in a small town that is obsessed with hockey.
Average page length: ~450 pages
Genre: legal thrillers with an occasional dose of historical fiction
My favorite: Sooley
Honorable mentions: A Time to Kill, The Boys from Biloxi, Framed (nonfiction), The Guardians
On my TBR: The Innocent Man, A Painted House
John Grisham mainly writes about two things: legal matters and sports. Most of his books are about the former, but my favorite of his, Sooley, is about a teenage basketball player from South Sudan who comes to America. He co-wrote a nonfiction book called Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions that was one of my top nonfiction reads of 2024. His book The Guardians is a fiction book that involves a man who investigates wrongful convictions. While he is considered a mainstream (read: not that great) writer by many, I think his books are solid and I also respect him greatly for the work he’s done with organizations that seek justice for innocent men and women who have been incarcerated.
Average page length: varies widely!
Genre: horror, mystery, post-apocalyptic fiction
My favorite: The Stand
Honorable mentions: The Dark Tower series, The Eyes of the Dragon, The Bill Hodges Trilogy
On my TBR: the rest of his collection—a lifetime goal!
Did you guess correctly? I quizzed my husband as I was writing this, and he knew that Stephen King would be at the top, but he guessed that I had read about 30 of his books. I was surprised myself to see that I had read 45 of his books—and some of them, like The Dark Tower series, I’ve read more than once. I hadn’t read a single Stephen King book until I got married 17 years ago, and he has become one of my favorite authors. I first read The Stand, which is one of his longest books, and it checked every single box for me—a large cast of characters, a plague that decimates the population, a group of unlikely friends fighting for survival, and a spooky cult leader who is trying to take over the world. He’s not for everyone, but I’d say at least 10 of his books would make it into a list of my top 100 books of all time, were I to make such a list (*files it away for a future post*).
As I said above, my goal is to one day read all of his books, but in the meantime, I’m also hoping to write a post for those who want to dip their toes into the waters of Stephen King and aren’t sure where to start.
Not everyone keeps track of all the books they’ve read like I do, but even if your records are looser than mine, you might have an idea of the authors you’ve read the most. I’d love to know if we have any overlap; or, if not, who would make your list!
Backman!!! And oh my gosh I am so excited to see someone else who hates The Women. I could not stand that book. Unfortunately it was my first Kristin Hannah, so I might try the great alone and a couple of others, but that one turned me off big time haha.
I loved The Women. That was my first Kristin Hannah book. Maybe I like her because we are the same age and had some similar life experiences.