Charlene (of Char's Horror Corner) inspired me to participate in this one.

My top ten most read authors based on the data I've entered into Goodreads over the years.

Rank | Author | Books Read | Note

1 Philip K. Dick 53 - With maybe two exceptions, I've read everything ever published by Philip K. Dick. Before you could find those garish trade paperback reissues of all of his work at Barnes & Noble, I had the greatest time hunting down old beat up copies of his mass market paperbacks in every used book store I could find. At the time, I felt like I was unearthing buried treasure. And, really, I was. Dick's body of work is imaginative, idiosyncratic, unflinchingly earnest, insane, and deeply, deeply human.

2 Stephen King 37 - I've read King for all my life and I plan to keep doing so. He might piss me off every once in a while, but I keep coming back because deep down I know that getting pissed off by one of the best isn't so bad.

3 Clive Barker 21 - I've read all of Barker's major works and most of his minor stuff, too. In the realm of imaginative fiction, he has few rivals.

4 Edward Lorn 20 - How the fuck did this guy get in my top ten most read? I just started reading his crap last year, for heaven's sake! Okay, Since then we've become friends and I beta read/proofread for him quite a bit. That explains it. Well, that, on top of the fact that I just really dig the stuff he writes. If I didn't, I wouldn't read it. I'm just not that nice.

5 Joe R. Lansdale 19 - I used to think Lansdale's backlist was too long and tangled to be worth taming. I no longer think that. Joe R. Lansdale is a national treasure. One of the best writers we've got, inside or outside of genre fiction. I now realize I'm a Lansdale completist. 

6 Charles Bukowski 17 - I've read all Bukowski's major prose works (novels and short fiction), and a good deal of his poetry. I love stories of down-and-out characters told with honesty and integrity, and, most of all, good humor.

7 Jeffrey Ford 16 - My favorite living writer. His work is literate, unpredictable, imaginative, and wholly his own.

7 Dean Koontz 16 - Koontz's early novels are a masterclass in pacing. I really did love much of what I read by him 'back in the day,' but sadly we've grown apart over the years.

8 Robert Anton Wilson 14 - I love reading about conspiracy theories, kooks, cults, occultists, quantum physics, bizarre sex practices, mad scientists, pseudoscience, secret societies and crazies of all stripes. Wilson's The Illuminatus Trilogy (co-authored with Robert Shea) wraps all of these elements up into one massive, messy 'unified field theory' cult classic masterpiece that is tons of fun. The rest of Wilson's fiction and non-fiction works are basically more in-depth explorations of the subjects covered in the trilogy. 

9 Lemony Snicket 13 - I read all of Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, a 13 book series. I enjoyed the series, but I'm not sure that I'm especially keen on picking up any of his other stuff. Maybe some day. 

10 China Miéville 12 - To my mind, the most imaginative and unique writer working in the field of fantasy literature today. I've read all of his work. I believe he's been called 'the anti-Tolkien,' and I think that's good enough short-hand for what he's all about.