It is a dangerous thing to find a fascinating new author. Not really new, because it could be someone who wrote hundreds of years ago, and often is. I mean an author you haven't read before, but the first time you read something of his or hers it just grabs you. Not necessarily because the writing is so poetic, or because the imagery is so beautiful, though that is often the case, and it is gratifying. But sometimes it's about a person, place or experience that is described so well, so plainly believably, that you could swear you might have sat across from that person, or have seen that place with your own eyes, or have gone through that exact same experience, with whatever complicated emotions that included. The danger then is that that author's name takes its place on your list of authors whose works to read. A list already so long that it could happily fill all your time, and really distracts you when you have to drag yourself away to go and fry potatoes or make coffee.
After reading "The Liar", a short story by Tobias Wolff, and Dakota by Kathleen Norris