10 Authors I own the most books from

For today's list, I've come across The Broke and the Bookish
They run an excellent website including a feature called 'Top Ten Tuesday' but as I'm an Aussie blogger, who is hours ahead of them in time, I hope it's okay that I can post mine on a Wednesday, even though it doesn't have the same alliteration. Anyway, I plan to contribute in some of their topics from time to time, and today's is 10 authors I own the most books from.

1) Kathryn Kenny

I've recently discovered that Kathryn Kenny was the collective pseudonym of several Trixie Belden authors, but I'll write the name as if she was one person anyway. I collected the Trixie Belden novels, which were all the rage back in the early 80s when I was a tweenie, for good reason. The mysteries Trixie solved, along with her BFF, Honey Wheeler, their brothers and a couple of other friends were phenomenal. I acquired all 36 of them over a period of time, along with the Trixie Belden quiz books to give my own brain a workout.

My daughter won't read them. She thinks they look abysmally old-fashioned, however much I try to convince her that she doesn't know what she's missing. Who knows, she may find that to be the case for her, with their lack of the social media related activities and music young girls love now. Sometimes I'm tempted to try to sell the set to earn some money, as they're probably collectors' items now, but I always hold back. They remain taking up space.


2) L.M. Montgomery


I collected the set of these with my pocket money when I was a young teen too. Not just the Anne and Emily series, but all of them, including Kilmeny, Jane and Marigold, whose stories are single volumes. They are mostly all the beautiful old hard cover versions, which are probably also collectors' items.

3) Stanley Schmidt

This man writes the most brilliant Maths text books which we've used for our homeschooling. They are collectively called, 'The Life of Fred', and are more like quirky, classic stories or works of art. He believes that children need to be coerced into loving Mathematics, and the way to do this isn't giving them pages of dry sums and formulas to grumble through. His little hero, Fred, with the box-shaped head, is the youngest Maths Professor at Kittens University, at the age of 5. Students need to pause frequently, to figure their way through some of the problems Fred come against in his daily life. Of course, they all involve Maths, and often some English and Social Studies too.

Along with the junior primary volumes we have for our youngest son, we also own some middle school Geometry, Fractions and Decimals for my daughter. The books range all the way up to complicated senior Calculus for those who want to carry on. They are far more than Maths text books. I've included them because I think they're unique literature.

4) Joyce Meyer

I went through a phase of buying books by Joyce Meyer as they were released, finding her style encouraging, frank and funny. I still dip into them from time to time, as her advice often finds me at times of need.


5) Meredith Resce


Meredith is my first fellow Aussie Christian author friend. I cold-called her as a stranger way back in the late '90s, to ask her advice about breaking into the Christian publishing industry in Australia, which has undergone lots of changes since then. I believe I own most books Meredith has written, from her Heart of Green Valley series onward. It was fun to collaborate with her on a novel a couple of years ago, along with two of our other friends, Amanda and Rose. 

6) Dr Seuss

I never purposely set out to buy Dr Seuss books but they have a way of multiplying on the bookshelf somehow. Second hand give-aways, library sales, presents. Whatever the reason, I appreciate his wisdom and wit in rhyme, along with the quirky pictures. They are some books I'll be loathe to part with, even when the kids have all grown up.

7) The Bible

I own several different translations, which I've often come across at second hand shops. My original one, back in the 80s, was an old King James version which used to belong to my dad. I bought the NIV version as a Uni student, and since then, I've come across several more. I enjoy comparing the different ways of expressing passages across translations. Needless to say, they take up a lot of room on my shelf.

8) Laura Ingalls Wilder


I've loved these since my Primary School days and bought every one of them. Since then, I also got hold of some of the later series by others, such as Roger Lea MacBride's novels about his friend, Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Although these can't strictly be classified as part of the Little House series, I do anyway.

9) Lynn Austin

She's one of the historical Christian novelists whose works I enjoy, and I've discovered then when I count the print books on my shelf along with the ebooks I've picked up cheap for my kindle, (some of which I still haven't even read) I own many of Lynn Austin's. 

10) Yours Truly 



I have to say this because it is the truth by far. I'm not just talking about the nine novels I've written. If there were only nine spines on my shelf, that wouldn't be much at all, but our garage and the shelves of our study/bookcase are filled with hundreds. Even though they are the same nine books, there are stacks and stacks of them, many dating way back to the days when we were working independently. The boys even built a column from my boxes of books by the door of their garage-cum-common room, to use as a sound-block at night, when the rest of us have gone to bed and they are still getting up to whatever they do.

If you'd like to help decrease the number by ordering any, please let me know :)