I Am I Am I Am (4.5/5)
The Marriage Portrait (5/5)
Hamnet (5/5) -- read in 2022
This Must Be the Place (2/5)
The Hand That First Held Mind (3.5/5)
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (5/5) - read in 2022
The Distance Between Us (4/5)
My Lover's Lover (4/5)
After You'd Gone (4/5)
In late 2024, I decided to spend 2025 reading all of Maggie O'Farrell's books. I had already read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and Hamnet, and I wasn't inclined to re-read those despite my love for both novels. I began with O'Farrell's debut and worked my way through the stacks, finishing with The Marriage Portrait, which I also loved. There were a few duds in the mix, but overall, I can say that I'm a fan. I do believe her historical novels are more enjoyable than the contemporary works, but I'll continue to read whatever she publishes. Her memoir is exceptional, as well.
Have you read an author's entire collection? In addition to this personal reading challenge, I spent all of 2025 reading Elizabeth Strout's books. I'll share those details in my next post.
This listing with ratings shows that even within one author, there is such variety and appeal to individual readers!
ReplyDeleteHelen, and it's not like her earliest books weren't as good as her later ones! I enjoyed her first four, but the next three were just "ok," if that.
DeleteYes, I've read several authors' entire collection, but as you know, those would tend to be mystery writers for me. Glad you got to do this. Are you going to try another author this year?
ReplyDeleteKay, I've read Susan Hill and Deborah Crombie's entire mystery series, and I'd love to try another mystery author. I should get back to Elly Griffiths... I have a few of Sharon Bolton and Rhys Bowen's books (from my mom). Time to do some "taste testing" and see how I like those author's works.
DeleteThis was certainly a good choice of an author for a year for you! I've read and enjoyed three of her books.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun challenge, Deb. There were a few duds, but I stuck with them since I was determined to be an O'Farrell "completist." :)
DeleteThat Esme Lennox book was a heart breaker. You did great for 2025 with your author pick and you read all of Strout as well. Which author do you think you think you'll focus on this year?
ReplyDeleteTina, I should re-read Esme Lennox now that I've finished with all of her books. I've forgotten a lot about it already! Not sure who I'll focus on this year. Maybe the rest of Ann Patchett's or maybe a mystery author. Not sure if I really have any plans to do it again this year.
DeleteIt's cool you have read all her books, kudos. I have only read Hamnet ... but I liked it quite a bit. I'll likely read her new novel this summer ... it's a historical one.
ReplyDeleteSusan, it was a fun little project. If you liked Hamnet a lot, I think you'd enjoy The Marriage Portrait. It's outstanding!
DeleteI love that you did this and it gives me encouragement to pull off something similar but the commitment is also huge. What if I don't like her as much after I do this? I once decided to read all the books by a YA author I admired, Chris Crutcher. I soon realized that his earlier stuff wasn't landing as it might have had I read it when it published (many of his books were published in the 1980s and 90s) and the topics didn't match our reality. I abandoned the project about half way through. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Anne. (And thanks for popping over to comment on this older post.) What's interesting to me is that I found O'Farrell's first four novels to be very good. The following three weren't nearly as good, but then the next three are excellent. I wonder what was going on in her life to have such a dip in her writing. Maybe it wasn't anything and I simply didn't care for those three novels as much as her others. I wonder how I'll feel about her new book (Land).
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