Daily Diary discussion

Do you choose books because you like the author? Who are your favorite top ten authors?

Many times I do choose books particularly because I like the author, but I also love discovering new authors that I enjoy, so it's a toss-up. My favorite 10 are:

1. Thrity Umrigar
2. Anita Shreve
3. Sue Miller
4. Elizabeth Berg
5. Lisa Jackson
6. Sue Monk Kidd
7. Rosamonde Pilcher
8. Barbara Taylor Bradford
9. Janet Evanovich
10. Eileen Gouge

I agree with Terri...its both for me.

My Top 10 would be:

Danielle Steel (lately though her books are stale)
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
Mary Higgins Clark
Luanne Rice
Neale Donald Walsch
Anna Quindlen
Susan Wiggs
Anita Shreve
Kristin Hannah

At least those are the authors I buy all of their books I can find.

Anne Tyler
Dennis Lehane
Robert McCammon
Alice Hoffman
Ray Bradbury
Larry McMurtry
Stephen King
Harlan Ellison
Edith Wharton
Pat Conroy

Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Dickens, Terry Pratchett, Dennis Lehane.....

I always buy books by J.A Jance (she's a Tucson girl), Jeffery Deaver, Thomas Harris, Nancy Turner (another Tucson girl), Janet Evanovich; I have most of their books autographed too.

I also read Jonathan Kellerman, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Harlan Coben usually as soon as they come out.

Meg wrote: "Do you choose books because you like the author? Who are your favorite top ten authors?"

I used to devour books by the same author until I realized often I was reading the same story with a different title (e.g. John Grisham, Robert Parker)! However, I have found a few who pen a different story (e.g. Dennis LeHane, Michael Crichton - how sad that the world has lost this author). But I usually don't choose a book with the author in mind - usually it's the subject that catches my attention.

I used to pick an author and devour whatever (s)he wrote. For the longest time it was the Russian authors, particularly Dostoevsky, then I moved on to Bernard Malumed. After that I just wandered through books for a while. Picked up some more modern authors, particularly liking Pat Conroy until My Losing Season. I seem to like Wally Lamb, but other than that I can't even say I have a favorite author any more. I read a lot but I am not drawn to anyone. If I like a first novel I seem to be really disappointed in their next one. For example, I really liked Monk's Secret Life of Bees but was extemely disappointed in The Mermaid Chair.

I think I am really mourning the loss of a favorite author.

Yes, I can understand your mourning, Meg. Having a favorite author allows one that anticipation of when the next novel will be coming out.
Oooooh, you didn't like The Mermaid Chair? Gosh, I thought it was super.

Favorite authors that really hard to say
1. MC Beaton
2. Nancy Atherton
3. Stephen King
4. Clive Barkers
5. Lawrence Block
6. Robert Parker
7. Herbie Brennan
8. Janet Evanovich
9. Jan Karon
10.PG Wodehouse
These are the top 10 authors but I have so many

Meg wrote: "I used to pick an author and devour whatever (s)he wrote. For the longest time it was the Russian authors, particularly Dostoevsky, then I moved on to Bernard Malumed. After that I just wandered t..."

I might have missed something, Meg, but what author are you mourning? Oddly enough, we must have been writing at the same time, since our answers say about the same thing in a different way. What you said sums it up: "If I like a first novel I seem to be really disappointed in their next one."

Ditto- both old and new authors
in no particular order
1. Dean Koontz
2. Patricia Cornwell
3. Iris Johansen
4. Kathy Reichs
5. Jeffrey Deaver
6. James Patterson
7. Robin Cook
8. Tess Gerritsen
9. Robert Ludlum
10. JK Rowling

and so many more

I have authors that are favorites in that it will be a guarantee that I'll check out their new book. Sometimes they fade off the list (like James Patterson and Jude Devereaux but those two used to be favorites). I'll try not to include authors with only one specific series because they are one trick ponies right now (like JK Rowling although HP series is an absolute fav of mine).

No order just as they come to mind:
1. Stephen King
2. I don't know his name but the guy who writes the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency (he also has other series I want to read so I'll add him)
3. Marian Keyes
4. Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child collaborations (I haven't read their individual works yet)
5. The guy that wrote Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns (I can't think of his name off hand) - I can't wait for more of his works

That's all I can think of.

Meg wrote: "Do you choose books because you like the author? Who are your favorite top ten authors?"

Choosing ten favorite authors is like choosing ten favorite ways to top a pizza. It's just a small part of a much, much larger universe of possibilities...

off the top of my head:
Kathe Koja
Wendy Walker (the fantasist/art critic, not the chick-lit author who's recently started publishing)
Cormac McCarthy
Steven Erikson
Charles Simic
Ira Sadoff
Mary Biddinger
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Richard Siken
Peter Sotos

But, then, ask on a different day, some of those names will change...

I definitely have a habit of finding a fave author and devouring their books... hard to pick just 10 but here's a random group:

Elizabeth George
William Faulkner
Dennis Lehane
Philippa Gregory
Laura Lippman
Jeffrey Deaver
Preston & Childs (actually their individual works aren't bad either)
PD James
Charles Dickens
Tony Hillerman

A favorite author? I've never really thought about it...let's see.

1. Jane Austen
2. Maeve Binchy
3. Wally Lamb
4. Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series)
5. Larry McMurtry (if you haven't read Lonesome Dove you should!)
6. Stephen King (but only his early works)
7. Colleen McCullough
8. Paulo Coelho
9. Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse...and I'm thinking about trying her Shakespeare series)
10. James Patterson (Women's Murder Club)
And then there are the runner-ups...occasionally, they'll sneak up and knock someone off the list.
Rick Riordian, Kristin Gore, Brandon Mull, JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer (The Host A Novel was really good!), and Jennifer Weiner.

I have to stop thinking about it before I change the list again....

Melissa, whenever someone asks me what I think the Great American Novel is, I always say Lonesome Dove. They look at me as if I'm supposed to say To Kill a Mockingbird or Huck Finn, but, nope, it's LD. That is the very definition of an epic novel. I didn't ever want it to end. The strong Clara is one of my favorite characters ever. I love how she takes Lorena in and calls her a lady, much to Lorena's surprise. Guess no one ever called her that before. Blue Duck still scares the hell out of me. What a vicious character. And I love July Johnson.

It really is the Great American Novel. I feel that more people can relate to the characters in Lonesome Dove than in To Kill a Mockingbird or even those other contenders for the title (Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, anything by Faulkner, etc...). It's readable and it's just amazing. It's actually hard for me to talk about because I loved it SO much. I'm actually afraid someone will not like it and I'll feel personally attacked. How horrible is that?

I've yet to find many people who didn't love Lonesome Dove. I don't think you have much to worry about. :)

Never, never did understand the love for Catcher in the Rye. It was an OK read, but not one I cared about reading again. The Great Gatsby, now that's another story. But I think it's my favorite passages that I bother re-reading in TGG. The last few paragraphs are just stunning.

Kristen Heitzmann
Sarah Dessen
Meg Cabot
Sophie Kinsella
Margaret Atwood
Barack Obama
Jane Austen
Charles Dickens
Charlotte Bronte
Wally Lamb

...and many more

Tony Morrison
George McDonald Fraser
Herman Hesse
Larry McMurty
Alan Furst
Jacqueline Carey
E.L. Doctorow
Tony Hillerman
Paul Theroux
Terry Brook

In no particular order.

I haven't read Herman Hesse in years, boy I used to love his work. Also a big fan of EL Doctorow.

Truth to tell, it's been a while for me as well. I keep waiting for him to come out with something new, as I've read most of his previous works. :)

Artur Baniewicz
Liza Dalby
Umberto Eco
Ryszard Kapuściński
Stephen King
Magdalena Kozak
Stanisław Lem
Jacek Piekara
Andrzej Pilipiuk
Robert Louis Stevenson
Marcin Wolski

I am always reading one of my top 10 favorite authors but I love discovering new authors as well. It's easy to do both because I am always reading a few books at a time(or 10)!
1.John Updike
2.Henry James
3.Anne Tyler
4. Toni Morrison
5.Elizabeth Berg
6.Virginia Woolf
7.John Irving
8.Edith Wharton
9.E.M. Forster
10.Elizabeth Bowen

In no particular order:

William Gibson (at the beginning of the year, I started rereading all his stuff, staring with the Virtual Light trilogy, then going back to the Neuromancer trilogy. I love how spare and poetic his writing is.

Mary Stewart, especially the Merlin trilogy.

JRR Tolkien

Anne Tyler

Larry McMurtry (his "contemporary" stuff, like The Last Picture Show. I could never get into his westerns.

Erica Jong

William Shakespeare

Khaled Hosseini

King and Koontz

Jonathan Kellerman

Phil Rickman

Wodehouse

Steinbeck

Henry Miller

Gore Vidal

Flannery O'Conner

Jayne Ann Phillips

Oh, Debra, I don't like westerns either, but Lonesome Dove is one of the great American novels. Please give it a chance. There's so much more to this book than cattle drives and cowboy boots.

Have you read Flannery O'Connor's book Wiseblood? I am a big fan of her short stories. My favorites are: "Everything That Rises Must Converge"; "Good Country People"; "Parker's Back"; "A Good Man is Hard to Find"; "A View of the Woods" and "The Comforts of Home." I love southern gothic writing.

Tressa wrote: "Oh, Debra, I don't like westerns either, but Lonesome Dove is one of the great American novels. Please give it a chance. There's so much more to this book than cattle drives and cowboy boots.

Hav..."

Tressa - I, too, love southern gothic fiction. It's been years since I read Wise Blood. Also, in 1979, John Huston directed a very good movie version. Unfortunately, I can't find it on DVD. Do you possibly know of any young writers who are carrying on this tradition?

I have decided that this year is my year to read Lonesome Dove. But I took a very convoluted course to that decision. My husband and I saw the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino. We both liked it, and I remembered another Eastwood movie that I liked, Unforgiven. I reminded myself that I do like westerns when they are well done. Thus, I'm adding Lonesome Dove to my To Read list.

I wish I knew ten authors I really really like. Hopefully with this group as well as others I'll find some favorites. I do have a few faves I'd like to mention:

Neil Gaiman
Brian Jacques
Janet Evanovich
Lilian Jackson Braun
A.A. Milne (I love Pooh)
Dean Koontz

See I need some help...

Deborah,

I'll have to think of any contemporary southern gothic writers. I think they broke the mold when they made Flannery. Dorothy Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina) and Kaye Gibbons are good southern writers that are far from saccharine southern like Fannie Flagg.

I'll always say how I don't like westerns, but am quick to agree how much I like Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma, The Proposal, Lonesome Dove, etc.

Some books I will read simply because they are written by a certain author. Those authors include:

David James Duncan
Walker Percy
Umberto Eco
Annie Dillard
Edna O'Brien
Hermann Hesse
Michael Crichton
Isabel Allende
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Tim O'Brien

I just read my first Allende book, House of Spirits and really liked it

Meg wrote: "I just read my first Allende book, House of Spirits and really liked it"

Meg,

If you read more of hers, be sure to read Daughter of Fortune before you read Portrait in Sepia.

Harlan Ellison
Catherine Cookson
Stephen King
Douglas Adams
Mary Daheim
James Patterson
PN Elrod
Laura Levine
Janet Evanovich
Neil Gaiman

Thank you Dan

Angie wrote: "I wish I knew ten authors I really really like. Hopefully with this group as well as others I'll find some favorites. I do have a few faves I'd like to mention:

Neil Gaiman
Brian Jacques
Janet..."

I can't come up with ten favorite authors either, but there is one - Jhumpa Lahiri. I always pick up her books as soon as they come out.

1. Christy Leigh Stewart (I had to)
2. Joey Comeau
3. Kresley Cole
4. Alan Campbell
5. Jesse Hajicek
6. Pauline Alama
7. H.P. Lovecraft
8. Poppy Z. Brite
9. Carlton Mellick III
10. John Twelve Hawks