It’s the “pick your favorite child” meme. That’s how I felt when I saw that this week’s topic was “Top Ten ALL TIME FAVORITE Authors” by The Broke and the Bookish. No I don’t have to participate, but I am enjoying these non-traditional book review posts more lately and it’s always fun to make a list.
So I went over my bookshelf and reading list to see which authors stood out to me. These are authors who I have read more than one title by (except one) and just enjoy their voice so much. Funnily enough, nine are women!
Jane Austen – I fell in love with her female characters and they are all classics that I never tire of, no matter how many times I’ve read them.
Meg Wolitzer – The Wife is my favorite of her collection but she could write anything and I will read it.
Margaret Atwood – Leah turned me onto her writing with a now favorite of mine, The Handmaid’s Tale, but then when I picked up her short story collection Stone Mattress, the author-reader relationship was set.
Cheryl Strayed – I’ve only read her collection of essays Tiny Beautiful Things, but it was enough to create a fan. Her podcasts by the same name are utterly fabulous!
Gillian Flynn – We all know about Gone Girl and although it was the first book I read by her, it was enough to have me read the rest of her backlist one after another. Dark Places is my favorite and I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
Roxane Gay – An Untamed State blew me away and then I related strongly with her essays titled Bad Feminist. She’s also fun to follow on twitter and Tumblr.
Kristan Higgins – The only romance novels that make me laugh, swoon, cry every time. My One and Only started it all and The Best Man I reread several times.
Jojo Moyes – She had me bawling with Me Before You, on tenterhooks with historical fiction novels The Girl You Left Behind and The Last Letter From Your Lover and then recently tackled a dysfunctional family with contemporary One Plus One. Loved them all!
Anthony Doerr – The sole man on this list but I LOVE HIM! After gushing about All The Light We Cannot See, I made a note to pick up his two short story collections. The Shell Collector was amazing and one of the best collections I’ve read. I hope it doesn’t take him another ten years to write his next release!
*The photo was taken by me at The Jane Austen Museum in Chawton, England where she grew up. YES, it’s the table she wrote on and YES, I cried. You can see more about the experience here.
We share a ton! I’d definitely have Meg Wolitzer, Roxane Gay and Cheryl Strayed on mine. This is such a hard list to make!
Great minds! 😉 It was a hard list and yet I realized many of the authors I’ve come across in the past five years-I’ve only read one of their books.
I love Jane Austen and Anthony Doerr (I’m not a Cheryl Strayed fan, though). I think I’m the only person left who hasn’t read Roxanne Gay, but I hope to change that soon!
Austen has been a favorite of mine for a long time but Doerr just last year and he’s so talented!
Yes, Doerr is very talented!
Love this list! I also have Austen and Atwood on my list. I kept people on my list that I’ve read at least two of their books, but I’m with you on Strayed, Gay, Flynn, and Doerr for sure. Haven’t read the other three on your list but have heard good things. My list is on my blog. Cheers, Jenna
I just commented the same thing. The past five years or so, I’ve only read one book by new-to-me authors, which were very good. I’d love to go back and read more of their work.
You have a great looking list! Jane Austen is the best. I loved Gillian Flynn’s books, especially Sharp Objects! My TTT
Thanks! She IS the best!. 🙂 I liked Sharp Objects as well. Can’t wait to see what she does next.