The newspaper world was rough-and-tumble, to say the least. Editors lambasted each other and often came to blows. When in 1835 James Gordon Bennett, editor of the Herald, charged Benjamin Day of the Sun with being an infidel, Day replied that Bennett’s “only chance of dying an upright man will be that of hanging perpendicularly upon a rope.” In January 1836, another editor, James Watson Webb, thrashed Bennett for twenty minutes with a cowhide whip on Wall Street as crowds cheered. (Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson)
Today’s TTT is “books to end a reading slump”, but my tastes are so different than other people’s that it would a pointless exercise. Instead, inspired by this post at the SF&F forum Chronicles, , I’m listing ten authors whose published works I’ve (mostly) read in full.
(1) Bernard Cornwell. The only books by him I’ve not read are the ones he published under a female pen-name.
(2) Isaac Asimov. I’ve read all of his fiction except for juveniles & The Ends of Eternity. I’ve also read a lot of his nonfiction, mostly science and some history with more miscellaneous works like his guide to the Bible and a volume of annotated classical poetry.
(3) Robert Harris. Fairly certain I’ve read everything he’s published: Harris is a prolific author of historical fiction whose settings are incredibly varied: most of his works are standalones, with the exception of a trilogy based on the life of Cicero
(4) Carl Sagan. While I can’t remember my first Sagan work, his Demon-Haunted World is the best contender and I’ve since read everything by him save his work on nuclear winter.
(5) John Grisham. This author of legal thrillers was the first author whose works I ever ‘completed’, though frankly I would have stopped reading him years ago were it not for the fact that one of my family members always gives me his latest at Christmas.
(6) Jeff Shaara. An author of American historical fiction, Shaara has covered everything from the American Revolution to the Korean war; I’ve read everything save the last novel in his second Civil War trilogy (I have no interest in reading about Sherman) and the Korean novel. The quality is inconsistent, but at this point reading him is a habit.
(7) Wendell Berry. I’ve read all of Berry’s Port William novels and short-story collections, and have read most of his nonfiction to boot: the exceptions being Life is a Miracle, The Hidden Wound, and his most recent release.
(8) Frances and Joseph Gies. I include these two together because while they wrote independently sometimes, their solo work stayed within the same subject (medieval social history) that they address in collaboration.
(9) and (10) Anthony Esolen and Brad Birzer. Including them together because they’re both Catholic men of letters who write on literature and culture, though Birzer has also delved into biographies like that of Russell Kirk. They’re both wonderful to listen to as lecturers; Esolen is outright melodic and Birzer is very….soothing.
Reading Freely 
I don’t think I’ve read any author completely. Looking at my shelves I’ve read a LOT of Asimov, Niven, Clarke, Heinlein…. I *might* have real all of Iain M Bank’s SF novels… [muses] Still quite a bit of Cornwell to be read though……
I think the only thing I’ve read by Niven is Lucifer’s Hammer. Hoping to do at least one Heinlein during SF Month in November.
Heinlein is a bit hit/miss for me, although you might appreciate his politics more than I did. I found Niven universal decent (at least) and often very good indeed. I’m thinking of revisiting my original SF authors and picking out my fave one or two books from each author – although with Gibson its *got* to be three! [grin]
Heinlein’s politics were…interesting. In that interview he did with J. Neil Schulman, he indicated that he had been a big Roosevelt supporter before moving more towards a kind of libertarianism — the Goldwater cold warrior kind.
I found your list interesting, especially the final author, Anthony Esolen. While I’ve not ready any of his books, he is my favorite translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy. I also enjoyed reading t.he work of Frances and Joseph Gies
You also read Esolen’s translation of Lucretius, I think? Your review is why I own it — I had no idea he’d translated that work!
Yes, that is my favorite translation of one of my favorite Roman classics.
I’ve read a lot of Asimov but no where near all of his works. Most of that is voluntary on my part though. but then I discover forgotten gems like the Black Widower Club and wonder, again, if it is worth the hassle of tracking everything down 😀
I used to have an entire bookcase (4 shelves) full of nothing but Asimov. It was easy enough to acquire back in the day…I just ordered “lots” on ebay that were boxes of Asimov titles. I’d fish out the ones I wanted and give the ones I already had to goodwill.
I would really like to read Robert Harris someday.
And yes to Esolen’s translation of Dante!
Harris is fun! I got started on his Roman stuff, I think.
There aren’t many authors out there who I have read everything from them that they’ve ever written.
I wonder what it would be like to gather all of the authors on your list together for a dinner party or something? 🙂
Oh, I’d love to listen to Asimov and Esolen debating! They were both very educated men, but had very different worldviews.
Great list! I have also read a lot by Bernard Cornwell and Wendell Berry. What? Bernard writing under a female pen-name??I recently featured the 6 authors I have read the most of: https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/08/04/spell-the-month-in-books-august-2025/
Strangely enough, yes! I keep meaning to track them down on ebay.
Are you thinking of:
Crowning Mercy (with Susannah Kells)
aka The Aristocrats
They’re the only ‘female author’ Cornwell I know about…
Possibly — it’s been a long time since I went looking for them. Kells rings a bell, though.
You didn’t tell me which name, so I asked an AI, and here is what I received:
Bernard Cornwell wrote several novels under the female pen name Susannah Kells.
This pseudonym was used when he co-authored books with his wife, Judy Cornwell, including titles such as A Crowning Mercy, Fallen Angels, and Coat of Arms.
I keep forgetting if you are open to ebooks. If so, I can send them to you
Absolutely! Half of my reading is ebooks these days. My address is my same username here followed by @gmail.com
they should be in your inbox now. Enjoy!
Merci!
I enjoy very much reading what you write about reading, but the truth (the whole truth, nothing but the truth) is that I do not like any of the books I’ve read from people on this list (Asimov, Grisham, Sagan)—oops, no, I take that back…I do love the tiny bit of Wendell Berry I’ve read. In any case, please do not hate.
Can’t blame you with Grisham — he’s very lazy these days and I only read him because people give the books to me. I also keep secretly hoping he’ll return to form. What did you read from Asimov, if I I may ask?
I read Foundation. I admired the plot, the themes of the story, but imvho I can’t find the souls of the characters. There was no emotional resonance, and that’s why I read.
Again, that’s just my vho.
That’s understandable — with the exception of the Mule in the second book, it’s not a character-oriented collection. His Black Widowers stories are more marked by memorable characters.
OMG, John Grisham. I still have some of his books on my TBR but I like those I’ve finished. On my first read of your title, I thought you’ve worked with them and I said, wow, so lucky. I had to read it again. Lol!
Hah! No. I’ve gotten to work with some authors in my role as a local history librarian (helping with research), but that’s it!
While I’ve read several books by some authors, I don’t think I’ve read their entire catalog. The closest I can think of is Beth O’Leary, I haven’t read her most recent book.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create! https://readbakecreate.com/the-os-have-it-ten-titles-starting-with-o/
Nice list, Stephen. I’ve read Shaara, too, though I’ve heard of most of the authors on your list. Thanks for sharing.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/08/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-books.html
I used to read a lot of Asimov – it’s been a long time since though.
I didn’t know Bernard Cornwell had ever used a female penname! I’ll have to look that up.
I used to enjoy Grisham back in the 90s. His newer books haven’t been as good and the last one I read was an absolute snore! Ha ha.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Well, that is also a good suggestion, Stephen. Read books by your favourite authors, maybe re-read some of them.
You are right, I don’t read your genre very often but I have read five of your authors.
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