Who are your guilty pleasures writers?

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

Not that I am particularly high brow in my readig, it spans huge swathes of themes, writers and periods, however some is hard going and sometimes when I just want a break I read,

Catherine Cookson
Agatha Christie

but, mostly Catherine Cookson and I am building up a collection. I can't walk past a 20p Cookson and not buy it.

Who are the authors you read when you want to just have a quick read?

[smugmumofboys]

Another secret Katie Fforde fan here.

Tosh, but enjoyable nonetheless.

[scottishmummy]

I even liked the shopaholic movie

[MrsRobertDuvallHasRosacea]

The Botswana books .....although I'm getting a bit tired of them.

[RoxyRobin]

Georgette Heyer - so far so acceptable.

But also the truly dreadful 'Agatha Raisin' books by M C Beaton (hidden in a box under my bed because I'm so ashamed).

[MerrilyWatkins]

Jeffrey Archer - shhhh.

I win!

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

Merrilly - you do win I think. I think I might start reading some more murder mysteries. I do enjoy a good detective drama.

I do have a friend who never reads anything past 1900 - and Martina Cole!

[5Foot5]

"But also the truly dreadful 'Agatha Raisin' books by M C Beaton (hidden in a box under my bed because I'm so ashamed). "

OK I will own up to a fair bit of Agatha Raisin but I usually borrow them from the library if I am at a loose end.

[elspethmcgillicuddy]

Ooohh! I love Agatha Raisin too... My favourite is the Penelope Keith radio adaptation though.

I can't believe you haven't discovered the new mallory towers and st clare's!! You're in for a treat! They were commissioned a few years ago. An author called Pamela Cox wrote several St Clare's books so that the series was completed as originally intended by Enid Blyton with one book per term. She also wrote a series that mirrors Mallory Towers but is based around Felicity's time there.

I'm afraid I can't link to them as I don't know how am on my phone but they are available on amazon... Never occurred to me to pretend I have a teenager in a real life shop! Next time!!

They are utter rubbish and not as well written. Totally formulaic but for me that is part of the escapist charm!

[RoxyRobin]

I'd feel even more guilty if I did that - the library staff would witness my shame!

I remember out of interest watching Catherine Cookson's 'The Cinder Path' on the telly because the house Catherine Zeta Jones' character lived in was just up the road from us. DH (usual reading fodder Lee Child), his interest piqued - possibly by CZ-J - asked me to get the book out of the library for him but I refused point-blank. I've got a reputation to maintain at that library.

[busyboysmum]

I love Lee Child - Jack Reacher books and JD Robb the In Death Series.

Also just read all the Sookie Stackhouse books, rubbish but great.

I also read all my kids books so just polished off the Skullduggery Pleasant books this last few days on my kindle!

Hmmm must get back to reading something decent soon!

[QueenofPlaids]

Pretty much anything involving vampires or werewolves. Used to be Laurell K Hamilton until she went from being 'entertaining rubbish' to just rubbish.

Keri Arthur
Charlaine Harris
Kim Harrison
Patricia Briggs
Jim Butcher (but The Dresden Files area actually good, so less guilty)
Kelly Armstrong

Also Janet Evanovich even though all her plot & characters never move on

[dylsmimi]

At the minute charlaine Harris - all the.sookie stackhouse (true blood) books. They are so easy to read you barely need to think! I'm on no. 6 already!
I also got annoyed with Becky bloomwood in the shopaholic books especially the sister one.it was just ridiculous but her other books are ok and easy read like remember me and can you keep a secret?

[LucyEyelesbarrow]

I am so relieved that other people have read Agatha Raisin. I have read them all and really quite enjoy them but am embarrassed by it: they are dreadfully written with so many continuity errors. But I find Agatha's world strangely comforting.

Agatha Christie
Jilly Cooper
The Trebizon books

I'll have to look for the new Mallory Towers and St Clares books.

I'm looking forward to reading the Angela Brazil school stories I've just downloaded onto my kindle; I've always meant to try her and some of her books are free on kindle store.

[elspethmcgillicuddy]

Wow! I've never heard of Angela Brazil! A whole new school series! And free! That's my weekend sorted!

I told you that Lucy Eyelesbarrow was superhumanly efficient

[CrystalQueen]

Another Charlaine Harris fan here (getting me through tedious waiting for jury duty time)
Sue Grafton Alphabet series
JD Robb In Death series

Kindles rock for reading shite on

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I've just been reading Enid Blyton's The Naughtiest Girl in the School to the DCs and tonight I realised that I had carried on reading for 2 more chapters after they'd strolled off and gone to bed, so the Mallory Towers box set that I have stashed away as a Christmas present is coming out next.

[KikkiK]

Thanks to this thread I have just discovered that all the Trebizon books are on Kindle, and only a couple of quid each. Shame I've got an essay to start finish before I can read them. It's like being a teenager again!

[Galaxymum]

Reading Holly Webb's books to my 6 year old at bedtime has become a true guilty pleasure! I am positively encouraging her to choose each new one more for my sake than hers I think!

I also have loved Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series. Also guilty pleasure in the 90s Aga sagas! I have found those village affairs very comforting by Joanna Trolloppe. Maeve Binchy is a fantastic comfort storyteller too.

Other guilty pleasure are the teen paranormal books. Witches, vampires, demons (but I don't do werewolves)

[LadyBeagleEyes]

Nora Roberts, particulary the stand alone ones.
The series ones (and there's mullions of them) are not quite so good.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I am a huge Nora Roberts fan, LadyBeagleEyes. I have pretty much everything she has written, apart from the mills and boon stuff

I'm also a chalet school fan, and have the whole set, plus some of the fanfic - though I prefer the later books, when Jo is grown up, to the earlier ones.

My other guilty pleasures include some of the authors mentioned here - Katie Fforde, Trisha Ashley and Maeve Binchy - plus many others (I think, as far as reading goes, at the moment, I am a bit of a junk food addict) - so we have Rebecca Shaw (particularly the Turnham Malpas series), Debbie McComber, Gil Knight, Jill Mansell, Elizabeth Elgin, Patricia Scanlan, Zoe Barnes and Annie Sanders - and I'm sure that's not all.

[SusanneLinder]

I love Jeffery Archer too . Also Sidney Sheldon , Val McDermid and Agatha Christie.

And of course Enid Blyton. The new Malory Towers books are just fab, carries on with Felicity, and finishes of the previous stories of Malory Towers .Shant tell you anymore in case you read them.

The St Clare's ones are good too.Highly recommend Kitty at St Clare's which is set just before Claudine at St Clare's and I absolutely pmsled.Kitty is a very naughty girl.

For those too embarrassed to buy, you can get Kindle versions of the Mallory Towers ones.

[5Foot5]

Found the new Pamela Cox Malory Towers books on Amazon and ordered all six!

Woo-hoo

[5Foot5]

Agatha raisin - I was in the library today and taken out an Agatha Raisin Companion. I think it is meant to be her back story, extra info and so on. Don't know if it will be any good.