Don't Always Hit the Mark #2

This is a series that I began last week.
The general idea behind it is that even the best authors, or your favourite ones, don't always achieve the same rating with the reader.
There are of course many reasons for this - some of them lie with the author, some with the reader. You probably already recognise the factors that affect how you feel about a book - sometimes it is the plot, sometimes plot lines that don't quite come off, sometimes unconvincing characters, but sometimes too it is your mood when you are reading, factors in your life that the author could not have predicted.

Any way each of these posts will deal with an author or two, and the titles stored on my database as well as those I have reviewed on my blog. Last week I looked at Agatha Christie.

This week I am looking at Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine.

Here are my records in rating order:

Ruth Rendell

1. NOT IN THE FLESH (2007) my rating 4.8
2. END IN TEARS (2005) my rating 4.8
3. THE FEVER TREE AND OTHER STORIES (1982) my rating 4.8
4. THE WATER'S LOVELY (2006) my rating 4.7
5. COLLECTED STORIES (2007) my rating 4.6
6. FROM DOON WITH DEATH (1964) my rating 4.2
7. PORTOBELLO (2008) my rating 4.2

My average rating of Ruth Rendell titles is 4.5 which makes them a safe pick for me.

Barbara Vine:

1. THE MINOTAUR (2005) my rating 5
2. THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT (2008) my rating 4.1
3. NO NIGHT IS TOO LONG (1994) my rating 4.0
   

You can see that the Barbara Vine titles, admittedly there are only 3 of them on my list, although I've actually read many more, don't fare so well.

My general benchmarks are

5.0 Excellent
4.0 Very Good
3.0 Average
2.0 Poor
1.0 Did Not Like
0 Did Not Finish

Reviews on my blog:

Rendell, Ruth:

• FROM DOON WITH DEATH
• PORTOBELLO

Vine, Barbara: THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

All my posts relating to Ruth Rendell and