There seems to have been a burst of non-authors authoring books over the last several years.  Which is a great thing, as far as I’m concerned.  The more people who try their hand at writing means there will be more new books for readers to enjoy in the future, right?

However, I am surprised at the number of celebrities as well as politicians giving fiction writing a go.  It’s interesting to me because each author brings something unique to their writing, but an actor or former secretary of state would bring something even more distinct to a story.  The question in the end still remains, can they pull it off?  In my experience so far, yes, they can!

A good friend of mine adores Richard Armitage.  When his book, Geneva, became available for pre-order on Audible, she immediately pointed it out to me.  I was a little skeptical due to him being an actor and me, admittedly, not knowing much about him, but was willing to give it a shot.  In the end, I loved this book.  It was twisty, suspenseful, and well-paced.  And he makes an excellent narrator.  Side note: he does narrate a number of Agatha Christie novels as well which are worth a listen.

I might get some flak for this, but I enjoy James Patterson’s books, even now, after 20+ years of reading his novels.  When I got an email announcing that he was co-authoring a book with Bill Clinton entitled The President Is Missing, I laughed and thought really?  Then, I read the description and thought that if anyone had the knowledge for this, it’d be Bill Clinton.  While this wasn’t the best book I read that year, I did still enjoy it.  The story kept me engaged and entertained.  I’m also a sucker for a political thriller, so this was definitely up my alley.

Since Bill Clinton had done it, it stands to reason that his wife might, too.  I was less surprised to see Hillary Clinton collaborate with Louise Penny than I was to see Bill and James Patterson.  While I have not yet read State of Terror, several people I know have and have enjoyed it as well.  One of which was determined not to read it due to her personal feelings about Ms. Clinton, which is reasonable as far as I’m concerned.  However, since she’s a huge fan of Louise Penny, she gave in, borrowed it from the library, and ended up loving it.

Something I discovered while checking my facts for this post is that Carrie Fisher wrote Postcards from the Edge.  I haven’t read this or seen the movie, yet I’ve been aware of it for a very long time.  These are the reasons why I enjoy research – I learn so much.  I now need to acquire a copy of this book.

One that I’ve known about for several years and keep forgetting to pick up is Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner, who famously played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation.  I’ve always loved the character and, in watching interviews with the actor, I became very fond of the actor’s personality and sense of humor as well.  It sounds like a fun and crazy book.

An odd one that I stumbled across that I’m very interested in is a series of books about Mycroft Holes written by Kareem Abdul Jabbar of all people.  I’m a big Sherlock fan and have been for most of my life.  There have been so many takes on the great detective over the years, but I’m not sure if there have been many that focus on his brother, Mycroft.

Possibly the weirdest co-authorship situation I’ve ever seen – and the one that sparked the idea for this post – is an upcoming novel written by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan called Remain.  The tagline is ‘a supernatural love story’ and I am just baffled.  Especially since Nicholas Sparks isn’t exactly know for happily ever after.

There are many, many others who have written books – David Duchovny, Julie Andrews, Steve Martin, and Chris Colfer, to name a few.  It’s certainly a fun rabbit hole to go down when you’re looking for something new to read.  I know I discovered several that landed smack dab on top of the TBR pile.

So, what about you?  Have you read anything written or co-written by a celebrity?  What was your favorite?