Cathy Marie Buchanan Hosts a Q&A discussion

Q. WHO IS MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR?

A. Margaret Atwood with Handmaid's Tale, Blind Assissin and Alias Grace being my favourite books. I also love Carol Shields, Ian McEwan and Michael Cunningham. (I could go on and on here.) The best book I read in the past year was Elisabeth Strout's Olive Kitterage.

Top ten books in last year?

Well 8 of them would be from Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow series, my newest favorite author and books. But I gave The Day the Falls Stood Still 5 stars. I'm stingy with 5 stars, so since January I've given that rating to the aforementioned books, Guy Gavriel Kay's Sarantium Mosaic, The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, the first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series, and Bloodroot by Amy Greene, A Game of Kings, by Dorothy Dunnett, Someone to Run With by David Grossman, and one book in the Miles Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

All time favorite authors include Barbara Kingsolver and Charles Frasier for Cold Mountain. And of course, there's J.D. Salinger, Harper Lee, William Faulkner, etc. I could go on and on.

Olive Kitterage ranks up there, but it's not the best for me. Last year's standouts include Let the Great World Spin and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

Oh, my:
The Day the Falls Stood Still
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Help by Kathryn Sockett
Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Catherine wrote: "Top ten books in last year?"

Very tough but I will try...

Spin by Catherine MacKenzie!!!!!
Elizabeth Strout
Late Nights on Air
The Bishop's Man
The Golden Mean
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Year of the Flood
The Cardinal Family (very old and read for research)
Jessica Z.
Black Swan Green

Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Well 8 of them would be from Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow series, my newest favorite author and books. But I gave The Day the Falls Stood Still 5 stars. I'm stingy with 5 stars, so since..."

Love those 5 stars. I am going to have to read Let the Great World Spin. I keep hearing how fabulous it is.

Deborah wrote: "Oh, my:
The Day the Falls Stood Still
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Help by Kathryn Sockett
Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Story Sisters by Alice ..."

I adored The Girls. So original. Told from the POV of conjoined twins.

Oh yeah! There was The Help! But that was last year. Loved it.

Favorite author: Charlotte Brontë

Top Ten books in last year (approximately):

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
All Other Nights by Dara Horn
Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Cathy wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Oh, my:
The Day the Falls Stood Still
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Help by Kathryn Sockett
Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Story S..."

I, too, loved The Girls, a wonderfully unusual story!

The GirlsThe GirlsThe GirlsThe Girls

Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Oh yeah! There was The Help! But that was last year. Loved it."

This is another book that I haven't read then I am going to have to sink my teeth into.

rinabeana wrote: "Favorite author: Charlotte Brontë

Top Ten books in last year (approximately):

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
All Other Nights by Dara Horn
I..."

I'm a big fan of Geraldine Brooks though I didn't think People of The Book was her best work. I preferred March and Year of Wonders. Still, not the best Brooks is pretty darn good.

I should have included Anne Patchett's Run in my top ten. I forgot about loving that (and her books in general).

I've also been asked to write blurbs for the backs of a few books that have not yet hit the shelves. One was The Bells by Richard Harvell, and you are all going to love it. Here's my blub: "Astonishing in its originality, epic in its scope, luminous in its richness, The Bells is a novel to be savoured page by glorious page.¨

Cathy wrote: I'm a big fan of Geraldine Brooks though I didn't think People of The Book was her best work. I preferred March and Year of Wonders. Still, not the best Brooks is pretty darn good.

I also liked March and Year of Wonders better, but I didn't read them in the last year. In fact, I got the audio recording of People of the Book based on my enjoyment of the other two (especially Year of Wonders). It took me a little while to allow myself to like March, though, because Little Women is firmly ingrained in me and it wasn't easy for me to accept that Marmee and Mr. March had a history much different from the lives of their beloved daughters.

rinabeana wrote: "Cathy wrote: I'm a big fan of Geraldine Brooks though I didn't think People of The Book was her best work. I preferred March and Year of Wonders. Still, not the best Brooks is pretty darn good.

I ..."

Little Women is an all time favourite. It's right up there with Anne of Green Gables and anything by Roald Dahl as a book that truned me into a reader.

One of my boys had scarlet fever, which is easily cured now with antibiotics, but when we got the diagnosis poor Beth March jumped to mind, bringing plenty of distress.

Cathy wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Top ten books in last year?"

Very tough but I will try...

Spin by Catherine MacKenzie!!!!!
Elizabeth Strout
Late Nights on Air
The Bishop's Man
The Golden Mean
The Cel..."

Aw shucks! Love this list!

Although Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders is my favorite of hers (I simply love the plague), I, also, loved People of the Book. I found it richly layered and so full of great historical info. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I haven't read March yet, hope to rectify that egregious omission soon.

OK, I have looked over the books I've read so far in 2010, and here is the list of top favorites. Sorry there are a bit more than 10, never was any good at limiting numbers. The list is chronological, from what was read January through today.



Four Spirits: A Novel
The Help
If I Stay
The Swan Thieves
Blackout
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
The Wife's Tale: A Novel
A Murderous Procession
The God of the Hive
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Every Last One
Broken for You
Ice Cold
Sacrifice
Moloka'i

You know, I read "The Swan Thieves," too. It got very mixed reviews on Amazon, particularly from those who loved "...Historian." I loved the book! Thought it was rich and kept me involved until the end.

The other book I found that was a great escape and engaging was "The Roses." As historican fiction goes, it was a captivating story about how land can sometimes be an obsession to the detriment of love...

Deborah wrote: "You know, I read "The Swan Thieves," too. It got very mixed reviews on Amazon, particularly from those who loved "...Historian." I loved the book! Thought it was rich and kept me involved until th..."

Kathy wrote: "OK, I have looked over the books I've read so far in 2010, and here is the list of top favorites. Sorry there are a bit more than 10, never was any good at limiting numbers. The list is chronolog..."

Uh,oh. I didn't finish the Historian and hence no Swan Thieves.

Kathy, you must read March.