Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’ve Read The Most (5 Years Later)

Happy Tuesday! Today on Top Ten Tuesday, we’re revisiting a topic we did five years ago – ‘the authors I’ve read the most’. Back in 2015, that was one of the first TTT posts that I did, so it’s been super fun to see how my reading habits & authors have changed in the last five years… and how they haven’t.

In 2015, my most read authors (in order) were:

Colleen Coble
Mary Connealy
Janette Oke
Shelley Shepard Gray
Tamera Alexander
Deeanne Gist
Irene Hannon
Denise Hunter
Patricia Davids
Dee Henderson

Authors I’ve Read the Most, 2020 edition
(in order by number of books read)

Shelley Shepard Gray was on my top ten list in 2015 and she TOPS the list in 2020! If my calculations are correct (which is always suspect because math.) I’ve read 21 of her books in the last five years, bringing my total read to 35. I love each book of hers I’ve read – including The Amish of Hart County series pictured above… but my favorite is still the very first series I read, The Secrets of Crittenden County.

I made the mistake in 2015 of only using my Goodreads list to count the books I’d read by each author. I haven’t read any additional books by Janette Oke since then but because I used her booklist to count this time, my total read count has nearly doubled from 17 to 32. While I dearly love both her Love Comes Softly & Canadian West series, my favorite book by Oke remains Roses For Mama.

Colleen Coble remains one of my fave suspense authors, whether it’s historical or contemporary. I’m behind on her books (as I am with all the authors lol) but my favorite series are her Hope Beach and Lonestar books. And for those of you who have followed my health journey, Colleen was instrumental in helping me find a doctor who cared enough to finally test me for & diagnose me with chronic Lyme’s Disease (after six years of doctors who refused to test me for it) and start treatments that have made a world of difference in my life! I’m forever thankful.

Mary Connealy is one of the most authentic-hearted people I know, and her books are as hilarious as she is. I’ve read all but her newest series (because, again, I’m hopelessly behind) but my faves of her books are split a bit. My favorite series is probably still her Trouble in Texas series but my fave book is Now & Forever from her Wild at Heart series.

Terri Blackstock is the author I’ve been reading the longest – that I’m still reading! I started reading her books in high school or college (I’m so old I can’t remember which lol) and over twenty years later I’m still reading her books. In fact, her latest series – If I Run – is my fave & I thought it would take a lot to topple the Suncoast Chronicles as my faves. It’s interesting to note that Terri wasn’t on my list in 2015 because she just barely missed the count cut-off but I’ve more than made up for it by reading about 13 more of her books in the last 5 years to bring her total to 23.

I love Patricia Davids‘ Amish fiction – as I said in 2015, “I love the realness and warmth of her characters, her humor, and the breathlessness of her romance.” I’ve since doubled the amount of her books I’ve read, and I still look forward to each new one that pops up on my radar! My fave series is still the very first I read – Brides of Amish Country – but my fave book is An Amish Harvest which kicks off her The Amish Bachelors series.

I can’t believe that Jody Hedlund wasn’t even on my radar yet in 2015 but she definitely made the top ten list this time around. I’ve read 22 of her books in the last five years, and that’s even with being behind on her latest series. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite because I can’t. Each new book I read by her becomes a new fave.

I think in 2015 I’d maybe read one or two of Lynette Eason‘s books but once I read that first book I was forever hooked. I’ve read 20 of her books in the last five years, and I’ve loved each one. My favorite series is still Deadly Reunions but her Blue Justice series comes in a very close second.

Denise Hunter made my list in 2015, but I’ve definitely boosted the amount of her books I’ve read in the last five years. Several of her books have been made into movies for the Hallmark Channel, and she always write super swoony heroes. Picking a fave series is tough because I love them all, but it’s a very close call between the Chapel Springs and Summer Harbor series. Oh, and maybe the Big Sky series too. See? I can’t choose.

Irene Hannon is another author that made the list in 2015 too, and I continue to love every new book she writes (once I’ve caught up to them lol). Her Private Justice series remains a fave, just as it was in 2015, but five years later I’d also add her Men of Valor (also romantic suspense) and Hope Harbor (contemporary romance) series to the list.

Special Mention

Pepper Basham just barely got edged out of the top ten, but she absolutely deserves a special mention because she is the only author of more than 5 published books who can say I’ve read all her books. For a lot of authors, I’ve read all but 1 or 2. But with Pepper, I’ve not only read all 13 of her published books (many times as she’s writing them lol) but I’ve also read all of her completed-but-unpublished-yet books! In 2015, I’d only read her debut novel (the only one out at that point) so I think that’s a pretty cool accomplishment over the last five years 🙂

NOTE:
Toni Shiloh is super close to this too – i’m just missing her very first book. Argh!

PS – The Truth About Fame releases today – it’s book 2 in my fave of Shiloh’s series. Go grab it now!

I loved seeing how my mix of most-read authors (and genres, for that matter) has changed – and how it’s stayed the same – over the last five years. I hope you did too.

What about you? Who are some of your most-read authors? How have your own reading habits changed since 2015?