I didn’t grow up reading all the time, but I still remember when that started to change. In sixth or seventh grade, my friend Brandon Shaw gave me a stack of books for my birthday. One of them was Icebreaker by John Gardner — a James Bond novel. I didn’t read much else back then, but I read every single John Gardner Bond book after that.

In college, I started reading regularly for the first time. That’s when I got into Tom Clancy and Larry Bond — those big, global thrillers full of submarines, spies, and political tension. After college, when I had an office job and had kids, I made reading part of my daily routine. I’d read during lunch breaks or while waiting at my kids’ practices.

Thanks for reading Bill Garrison! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Over the years, I moved on to authors like John Grisham, James Patterson, Lisa Gardner, and Karin Slaughter. I don’t have as much time to read as I used to, but every now and then a book grabs me hard enough that I’ll stop what I’m doing and make time for it.

The first audiobooks I ever listened to were the Left Behind series. I remember wondering why the narrator kept trying to imitate the female voices — it sounded awful — but when I worked for the Turnpike Authority and spent long hours driving, books on tape made those days bearable.

Reading has shaped how I write. I’ve mentioned before that Richard North Patterson had a big influence on me — his pacing, realism, and sense of moral weight. Every writer should read as much as they can. That’s how you grow.

Back in 1995, I started something that I’ve kept up ever since: a spreadsheet tracking every book I’ve ever read. Each one gets a score in four categories — characters, depth of plot, thrills, and an overall rating. Most books tend to score about the same across categories, but every now and then one stands out — maybe great characters but an average plot, or a slow start that ends up packing a huge emotional punch.

Looking at that list now, I can see how much my reading habits — and my ratings — have evolved. When you first discover an author who completely captures your imagination, that first book makes a huge impression. You read everything they’ve written, but by book ten, even if the story is just as good, it doesn’t feel as new or surprising.

That’s definitely true for me with John Sandford and his Lucas Davenport series. I still love them, but the first one I read will always be rated the highest — not necessarily because it’s the best, but because it was the one that hooked me.

Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand

The Rainmaker – John Grisham

Kiss the Girls – James Patterson

Black Light – Stephen Hunter

Mortal Prey (audio) – John Sandford

Silent Witness – Richard North Patterson

No Second Chance (audio) – Harlan Coben

Replay – Ken Grimwood

Debt of Honor – Tom Clancy

World Without End – Ken Follett

Looking at my list of favorite books, I’d have to say Atlas Shrugged probably shouldn’t be number one. I think I rated it so high partly because I was proud of myself for finishing it. Then you look at the other books — The Rainmaker, Kiss the Girls, Black Light — and realize they were all “first impression” books. They were the first books I read by those authors, and they hit me hard at the time.

Ken Grimwood’s Replay is an amazing book, and the only book I’ve ever read more than once. It’s a great time-travel story, and I have to admit it had a really big influence on The Day She Died.

The problem with re-ranking everything now is that I don’t remember a lot of those books as clearly anymore, so I’ll probably stick with my old rankings. And some of those authors I just don’t read anymore. I don’t think Richard North Patterson is even writing now. I still read Harlan Coben, Ken Follett, and John Sandford, and I try to keep up with Stephen Hunter. I’ve mostly stopped reading James Patterson, although I still like his NYPD Red series. I even stopped reading John Grisham.

So I guess it’s clear my tastes have changed over the years — but at the same time, they really haven’t. I still gravitate toward the same kinds of stories: smart thrillers, strong characters, and plots that keep you turning the pages.

And maybe that’s why I write the kind of stories I do now — stories about ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations, where truth and faith still matter. Those books I grew up reading didn’t just entertain me. They taught me what makes a story worth telling.

In future posts, I plan to cover some of my favorite Christian novels, and I want to get back to my series about streaming movies that could have made it big in theaters. Apple is next! But, for my next post, I plan on revealing the cover to my new novel, The Road To Ruin.

Thanks for reading Bill Garrison! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.