Is It Better To Stick With You Favorite Authors Or Take A Chance On A New Author

I often wonder if I should read a book by a new author. I have taken chances in the past and they have worked out and not worked out, horribly. But if I just stick with authors I know will that be good enough? I think with the likes of Neil Gaiman, S.E. Smith, Steven King, Judy Croome and others, I would have plenty to read for quite a while because I had my 14 years of not reading. But then I will not know what I am missing.

Scenario one - I read only authors I know and enjoy all the books and love it. The downside - I will never know about new authors and authors that I could add to the list. I will miss some great books and never know about it but in a parallel universe I am reading a bunch of different authors and having a great time (I know it's a little sci-fi but I believe in it)

Scenario two - I read all new authors with a book or two of my favorite authors mixed in. In this scenario I am taking big chances with my time and money. I have been gifted a lot of books so I have enough now to start books and discard them if I want to. But what happens when there are no books left. How do I pick my new books? I know there are many books where the blurb sounds great but the book was horrible. But I have read some great books too that I picked up just by reading the jacket cover.

So what is the solution? I think the answer is reading a lot of short stories by authors I do not know if I can to get an idea of what their writing style is. If they have short stories. Or the other option which they have on a lot of sites now is to listen to or read the first three chapters of the book before I buy it and see if it draws me in. And I still by my favorite author books. But not too many. I want a good mix and match of old and new.

So right now I have won so many books and brought a lot of books before (and after) Kindle so all I have to do is pick a book I want to read from the pile. But I have a Barnes & Noble gift certificate and there are a lot of great books out this month and ones coming out in the summer that I want. I also have coupons for example 20% off a book purchase. So I will allow myself a few new books until I finish the books I have here. But whether I buy from my old favorites or my new interests will be the question.

Mollydee