"It's not you, it's me..."

"...or maybe it's just you."

Wendy over at The Misadventures of Super Librarian has a great post right now that made me realize that I am not alone with a particular problem - breaking up with an author. Have you ever come to the realization that an author, or maybe just a series, that you used to love is now a chore to read? Having come to that realization, do you still continue with the books?

I admit it, I have that problem. I should have stopped reading Laurell K. Hamilton at Narcissus in Chains, book 10 of her Anita Blake series. She is now up to book 17. I've read up to book 16 and will probably read book 17 at some point. Part of me resents her Meredith Gentry series - it seemed like her Anita Blake books changed at around the same time she started putting out her Meredith Gentry books, taking on the, er, feel (i.e. excessive, long, detailed, plot-killing sex scenes) of her new series. It's possible that the change would've happened regardless, but I still can't help being resentful.

Hamilton is the first author that comes to my mind when I think of authors I really should just break up with, but there are other authors that are coming dangerously close to being on that list (or maybe they already are on the list and I'm just deeply in denial). Names that come to mind are J.D. Robb, Janet Evanovich...depressing. I don't spend any money on them (ILL is awesome), at least, but I do spend time.

I can only think of three major author/series break-ups in my life. Try not to laugh too hard at this first one - my earliest was with the Baby-sitters Club books. That one was pretty painless. I remember devouring those books and then, one day, opening one that I think had some kind of environmental theme and realizing I didn't want to read it. I quit cold turkey and didn't look back. Then (again, try not to laugh too hard), the next one I can remember was Christopher Pike. Although that one was more recent, my memory of the exact moment I broke up with Pike isn't as clear. I think it had something to do with suddenly discovering a love for the fantasy genre. The only big break-up I can think of that happened when I was an adult was Mercedes Lackey. That happened, I think, after I read Exile's Valor - I remember being stunned that she had basically written herself into her own series and made another, well-established character (one I had loved, until this point) fall in love with the character that was her. That was the last straw for me. I still have some of her earlier books, because I still like them and reading them gives me warm fuzzy feelings, but I squash any urges I have to try her newer ones.

So, anybody else have any good author/series break-up stories?