Lisa Gardner, Teri Wilson, and Wendy Webb … just to name a few! I always like Peter Swanson’s books … I am reading All the Beautiful Lies right now. And I adore Jan Karon’s Mitford series!
Michael Perry. He’s an author for NW Wisconsin and writes stories from his life experiences. He can make me laugh and cry in the same chapter. Everyone must check him out. I’ve met him as well and he’s as down to earth as he writes. I adore his writing.
Impossible to name one. I like many, and just because I like an author does not mean I like all of their books. Sometimes they write one that doesn’t do it for me. Here are a few of my favorites: Children’s authors: Virginia Lee Burton, Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Lenski, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beverly Cleary.
His Redwall series got me through the tough years of middle school, introduced me to my best friend, and still merit space on my bookshelf for the entire series.
Haven’t read the final book in the series since his passing in 2011. I’m planning on working through the entire series later this year finishing by finally enjoying his last book.
He sites Watership Down as a major influence so this would be great for anyone who also loved WD.
I have quite a few: Edgar Alan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Toni Morrison, Graham Greene… I think I’ll stop there. There are so many amazing voices out there.
I have several and the more I read the more I find. Top of my list would be Diana Gabaldon and Clive Cussler. Really like Daniel Silvia, Steve Berry, and James Patterson and John Jakes. Plus I’m a sucker for Hemingway and Fitzgerald. I’m just a sucker for a really good story teller.
Alice Hoffman, Mary Alice Monroe, Amy Tan, Kate Morton, Tracy Chevalier, Jodi Picoult, Jane Hamilton, Lisa See and Judy Blume are a sampling of favorites.
I don’t really have a favorite Author. I did not read much as my children were growing up. Though I will say J.K Rowling got some of my reluctant readers to finally buckle down. Seems a sneaky older sister read the first half of The Sorcerers Stone to little sister but refused to keep going or to speed up. So little sister stole the book and learned to read! So for that reason, J.K. Rowling is my favorite author.
I’ve been a binge reader for decades. I find an author I like, read everything they’ve written that I can find and then I move on. My first binge was Nancy Drew. Over the years it’s been Heinlein, Ian Fleming, John D. MacDonald, Dickens, Twain, Elswyth Thane, Betty Smith, Sue Grafton … so helpful that many of my binge authors have passed away so I don’t have to keep waiting for them to write another book. (Okay, “helpful” is definitely the wrong word, especially with the recent passing of Sue Grafton. I was so looking forward to wishing a fond farewell to Kinsey Milhone in “Z is for Zero” but she passed away shortly after “Y is for Yesterday”. ) Now I have no less than 20 authors “bookmarked” at Goodreads waiting for their latest offering — if I had to pick a favorite from those 20, it would be Louise Penny.
Laura Hillenbrand. I know she writes non-fiction but…wow. Fiction authors. Harper Lee, Betty Smith, and new to my list, Michael Crichton. My faves change with the tide. So many great ones!
Can’t pick one. I’ve read and loved Stephen King and Alice Hoffman for years, Louise Penny is my newest favorite. And if stuck on the proverbial desert island …. The Harry Potter series would be my pick. So you know JK Rowling is right there at the top.
Did anyone our there read Celeste.de.Blasis? Tiger’s Woman, Proud Breed, Swan series? Amazing books. She died young of cancer but we loved her books. I’ve read all of them twice.
I did as well and then passed them to my mother, and sisters as well as people at work. One lady finished the last page of the Proud Breed and started over. It was the first book I got my husband to read and he absolutely lost himself in it. I am going to once again read them. I was devastated that she had died and no more books would be coming. I have 2 copies of each.
@Jeneane you have no idea how excited I am that someone else has read all his books!!! I read Master of the Game when I was 15 (stole it from my moms library and read it without her knowledge).
@Annie , the one about the lady who gets sent for execution…something about midnight..has haunted me. I can’t remember all if them. You’ll probably know exactly which one
I can’t choose one, it’s like trying to pick your favorite child. Here’s some of the authors I invariably love. Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Joanne Harris, Michael Chabon, Tracy Chevalier, Sherman Alexie, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Amy Tan, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Neil Gaiman…I could go on, so many good for so many different reasons.
That’s a loaded question… I have one in about every genre. So many new authors replace long standing favorites. Lisa Genova and Jason Reynolds are new favorites of mine.
I don’t think I could pick a favorite author. I “use” different authors for different purposes. I call James Patterson and Harlen Coben my “jump start” authors–if I’m in a rut, I read a book like that to get out of a slump–quick reads. I love Margaret Atwood and Alice Hoffman for a challenge.
In no particular order: J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy Gilman, J.K. Rowling, Margaret Mitchell, Spencer Quinn, Edgar Allen Poe, W. Somerset Maugham, Wm. Kent Krueger, Julie Kramer, Clive Cussler, Orson Scott Card, Lois McMaster Bujold, C.J. Box, and Earl Derr Biggers
My favorite depends on which author I like best any given year. When I find an author I like, I tend to burn through all their books, sometimes getting sick of the author! Jo Ellen.
There are so many that have been favorites at different times in my life.At one time, it was a goal of mine to try to read all of one favorite or another, but I soon realized that wouldn’t work. I like Willa Cather, Thornton Wilder, Wallace Stegner, Geraldine Brooks, and Barbara Kingsolver to name a few favorites.
Nicholas Evans, Geraldine Brooks, Barbara Kingsolver, Jon Meacham, and Isabelle Allende for more current authors, but I could go on and on about the classics.
If I love a book, then I will love that author. At least with regards to that particular book. There are so many books that I have loved over the years that it is impossible for me to choose!
@Nonna I have seen her several times…she is sooo nice and down to earth. I’ve also met Kristin Hannah and Jodi Picoult among others. I love author events!
J.K. Rowling, @Jodi, John Steinbeck, @Chris, Judy Blume, Stephen King, Wally Lamb
Lisa Gardner, Teri Wilson, and Wendy Webb … just to name a few! I always like Peter Swanson’s books … I am reading All the Beautiful Lies right now. And I adore Jan Karon’s Mitford series!
Stephen King, Suzanne Brockmann, JK Rowling, Mo Willems (children’s books, so cute)
My kids get breathless from giggling at the Pigeon Needs A Bath. We love Mr. Willems!
Michael Perry. He’s an author for NW Wisconsin and writes stories from his life experiences. He can make me laugh and cry in the same chapter. Everyone must check him out. I’ve met him as well and he’s as down to earth as he writes. I adore his writing.
A.S. King, John Steinbeck, Jeffrey Eugenides, Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Green.
Alexandre Dumas, père
Impossible to name one. I like many, and just because I like an author does not mean I like all of their books. Sometimes they write one that doesn’t do it for me. Here are a few of my favorites: Children’s authors: Virginia Lee Burton, Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Lenski, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beverly Cleary.
Stephen King, Louise Penny, Tana French, Jane Austen, Fredrik Backman are among my favorites
James Patterson, Nora Roberts, J.D.Robb, Debbie Macomber, and Elin Hilderbrand ??
Carl Hiaasen.
Kurt Vonnegut
George R.R. Martin
Hands down Kurt Vonnegut. His stories and quotes follow me on almost a daily basis.
“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.
Louise Penny
Rainbow Rowell, MaryJanice Davidson, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, Leo Tolstoy, Toni Morrison
??????
Hemingway and Steinbeck. Hands down.
Brian Jacques (pronounces Jakes).
His Redwall series got me through the tough years of middle school, introduced me to my best friend, and still merit space on my bookshelf for the entire series.
Haven’t read the final book in the series since his passing in 2011. I’m planning on working through the entire series later this year finishing by finally enjoying his last book.
He sites Watership Down as a major influence so this would be great for anyone who also loved WD.
Great synopsis of how he got started with writing from Wikipedia (how many authors start off as verbal storytellers for blind children?!?!?!)
A.b. Guthrie…
Toni Morrison, Wally Lamb
Daniel Silva. John Steinbeck. Jack London.
Christopher Fowler and Charles deLint
I loooove Charles de Lint! I wish more people were familiar with his books.
@Meredith me too I can’t believe he isn’t really well known
Pat Conroy
Too many to name.
Madeline L’Engle, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Hemingway, Alice Munro, Neil Gaiman… and Ellen Marie Wiseman Patricia Cornwell… too many
I haven’t read any Dickens , what would you suggest for a beginner?
@Angel Bleak House, and Little Dorritt to start.. Here’s a list: https://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/novels/complete-works/
@Mari ffantastic – thx.
@Angel you are welcome! Many of these might be a free read from your library..
Bleak House and Little Dorritt are my favorite books of Charles Dickens
Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, E.M.Forster, and many others.
Anne Tyler
Kurt Vonnegut is mine, too. I love his writing style and I love the things he has to say.
Kate Atkinson, Elizabeth George, Dan Chaon, Donna Tartt, that’s just a few of mine.
I have and at the time enjoyed it. But I would say now, drop it. have you read The Goldfinch ?
Heathery Lynne I loved it. But I’m the only person I know who did.
I have quite a few: Edgar Alan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Toni Morrison, Graham Greene… I think I’ll stop there. There are so many amazing voices out there.
From the past: Jane Austen. Now: Daniel Silva, Ken Follett, Jodi Picoult, and Chris Bohjalin.
Dr Seuss!
I have several and the more I read the more I find. Top of my list would be Diana Gabaldon and Clive Cussler. Really like Daniel Silvia, Steve Berry, and James Patterson and John Jakes. Plus I’m a sucker for Hemingway and Fitzgerald. I’m just a sucker for a really good story teller.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Joyce Carol Oates
Madeleine L’Engle
Anna Quindlan
Robert McCammon, Joe Lansdale, Richard Matheson
The late, great Sir Terry Pratchett
Jane Austen.
Jane Austen
Margaret Atwood
Paulo Coelho
@Andrew
Ian Fleming, John Le Carre, Dayton Ward.
I can’t contribute. It is like you are asking me to pick a favorite child.
Alice Hoffman, Mary Alice Monroe, Amy Tan, Kate Morton, Tracy Chevalier, Jodi Picoult, Jane Hamilton, Lisa See and Judy Blume are a sampling of favorites.
Charles Dickens
Stuart Woods
Daphne Du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel was also good. I read Jamaica Inn a really really long time ago and can’t remember much about it.
Robert B. Parker, Stephen King, Elizabeth Berg, Michael Connelly, Ace Atkins, Laura Lippman, Anne Lamott
Wally Lamb!
Sarah Addison Allen
Ken Follett, Eduard Rutherfurd, Kristin Hannah, Philippa Gregory
Yes, Edward Rutherford, I haven’t seen him mentioned here but he’s another good one.
Anne Tyler, Anna Quindlen, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Luis Alberto Urrera, Ann Patchett
John Irving
Stephen King!!!!!
But behind him I’d say J. K. Rowling, Larry McMurtry, Ann Rule, Toni Morrison….
I have to stop there because I could name about a hundred others and I need sleep lolol.
I just can’t name one! I love Amy Tan but there are a few others is put in top 5. Carol shields, John irving.
Tim Egan, John Irving, Kurt Vonnegut, and Pat Conroy are all among the top.
I don’t really have a favorite Author. I did not read much as my children were growing up. Though I will say J.K Rowling got some of my reluctant readers to finally buckle down. Seems a sneaky older sister read the first half of The Sorcerers Stone to little sister but refused to keep going or to speed up. So little sister stole the book and learned to read! So for that reason, J.K. Rowling is my favorite author.
I don’t have just one… too many to love
Lois McMaster Bujold
James Michener, Agatha Christie, Larry McMurtry for starters!
Sue Grafton
To many to name…
Jane Austen
Too many to choose just one
I’ve been a binge reader for decades. I find an author I like, read everything they’ve written that I can find and then I move on. My first binge was Nancy Drew. Over the years it’s been Heinlein, Ian Fleming, John D. MacDonald, Dickens, Twain, Elswyth Thane, Betty Smith, Sue Grafton … so helpful that many of my binge authors have passed away so I don’t have to keep waiting for them to write another book. (Okay, “helpful” is definitely the wrong word, especially with the recent passing of Sue Grafton. I was so looking forward to wishing a fond farewell to Kinsey Milhone in “Z is for Zero” but she passed away shortly after “Y is for Yesterday”.
) Now I have no less than 20 authors “bookmarked” at Goodreads waiting for their latest offering — if I had to pick a favorite from those 20, it would be Louise Penny.
Greg iles
No better author.
James Patterson
Laura Hillenbrand. I know she writes non-fiction but…wow.
Fiction authors. Harper Lee, Betty Smith, and new to my list, Michael Crichton. My faves change with the tide. So many great ones!
Laura Hillenbrand knows how to tell a story. Love her writing.
Ann Patchett, Agatha Christie, Maria Schriver and Fannie Flag. Just to name a few of my favorites.
Impossible to answer.
So many for so many different reasons:
Margaret Atwood
Paul Auster
Ian McEwan
Pearl S. Buck
William S. Burroughs
Ken Follett
Henry David Thoreau
Nelson DeMille, Liane Moriarty, Mitch Albom, Judy Blume, Chris Van Allsburg, and Sandra Boynton.
Alice Munro is my absolute favorite. I also love Agatha Christie, Louise Penny, and Tana French.
Can’t pick one. I’ve read and loved Stephen King and Alice Hoffman for years, Louise Penny is my newest favorite. And if stuck on the proverbial desert island …. The Harry Potter series would be my pick. So you know JK Rowling is right there at the top.
Stephen King
Charlaine Harris.
Vonnegut and Douglas Adams
Did anyone our there read Celeste.de.Blasis? Tiger’s Woman, Proud Breed, Swan series? Amazing books. She died young of cancer but we loved her books. I’ve read all of them twice.
I haven’t thought of those in years but I read them all.
OMG I loved her books! I read all those ! They were so good! I read them back when they first came out.??
I did as well and then passed them to my mother, and sisters as well as people at work. One lady finished the last page of the Proud Breed and started over. It was the first book I got my husband to read and he absolutely lost himself in it. I am going to once again read them. I was devastated that she had died and no more books would be coming. I have 2 copies of each.
Without a doubt, Stephen King.
Diana Gabaldon
Louise Penny, Laurie King, Elizabeth George
I’ve never met anyone who’s known about my favorite author, but I can reread his books over and over. Sidney Sheldon.
Now you know someone. I’ve read all of his books and loved them…a master story teller.
@Jeneane you have no idea how excited I am that someone else has read all his books!!! I read Master of the Game when I was 15 (stole it from my moms library and read it without her knowledge).
@Annie , the one about the lady who gets sent for execution…something about midnight..has haunted me. I can’t remember all if them. You’ll probably know exactly which one
@Jeneane yesssss! I remember all the stories, but not the names ?
Sidney Sheldon was one of my many “binges” many years ago. I devoured each and every one of them.
I know. It’s awful when I can’t remember. I guess I have read too many books…………..NOT.
I love Sidney Sheldon ! Especially The Other Side of Midnight, Bloodline, Rage of Angels but I think my favorite is The Sands of Time.
Thank you. I think The Other Side of Midnight is the one I was referring to where the lady is executed. He was wonderful.
I can’t choose one, it’s like trying to pick your favorite child. Here’s some of the authors I invariably love. Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Joanne Harris, Michael Chabon, Tracy Chevalier, Sherman Alexie, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Amy Tan, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Neil Gaiman…I could go on, so many good for so many different reasons.
For more scary suspense, Philip Margolin. And Chelsea Cain.
Joey Jones
Maya Angelou, John Sandford, Richard Ball, Toni Morrison Bebe Moore Campbell, Alex Haley, Leron Bennet, Tom Clancy, J.R. Ward
Too many authors, too little time, but I do read every Picoult, Grisham and Karon book.
Charles Dickens.
Oh you that’s a fine thinking challenge. I’ll have to get back to you on that…
L’Engle, LeGuin, Konigsburg, McCaffrey, Rowling, so many stand alone novels, so many good books. It’s hard to name even a few!
That’s a loaded question… I have one in about every genre. So many new authors replace long standing favorites. Lisa Genova and Jason Reynolds are new favorites of mine.
For now – Rhys Bowen, Sharyn McCrumb, Charles Todd, Jacqueline Winspear.
Juliet Marillier
I’m quite fickle too with my authors.
This week I’m loving Toni Morrison.
John Steinbeck
The Winter of Our Discontent !
Margaret Attwood, Kurt Vonnegut, Erik Larson, Haruki Murakami, etc.
Lisa Genova, Jodi Picoult, Kris Radish, Elizabeth Berg, Diane Chamberlain, Steinbeck, Fredrick Backman, Julie Otsuka, and I could go on!
Octavia Butler, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood just off the top of my head.
Geraldine Brooks, Anne Patchett and Barbara Kingsolver
Pat Conroy.
I agree! Prince of Tides took my breath away.
@Sherry , it is Lord’s of Discipline for me.
James Michener
That’s a tough one….Love Alan Bradley
Geraldine Brooks
Neil Gaiman is a genius, but my favorite is my significant other, @Author
Jojo Moyes
JK Rowling and Mary Kay Andrews
I don’t think I could pick a favorite author. I “use” different authors for different purposes. I call James Patterson and Harlen Coben my “jump start” authors–if I’m in a rut, I read a book like that to get out of a slump–quick reads. I love Margaret Atwood and Alice Hoffman for a challenge.
Anna Quindlen
Me, too!
Agatha Christie first & foremost. Then Shirley Jackson.
Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Stephen King, Anne Rice…there are more, but these are my favorites; where I go when I just want to get lost in a book.
Toni Morrison.
Amy Tan, Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, and so many others.
EM Forster, Ann Patchett, Anne Tyler, Jane Austen, Kate Atkinson, David Sedaris, George Saunders…Im sure I left some out, but don’t make me choose!
this is worse than asking …which is your favorite child? !
I know who my favorite child is… my four legged one. ?
Anne Tyler; Barbara Kingsolver.
Edward Rutherford.
Philippa Gregory
I love historical fiction so Margaret George and Edward Rutherford are 2 of my favorites plus Dan Brown is another
In no particular order: J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy Gilman, J.K. Rowling, Margaret Mitchell, Spencer Quinn, Edgar Allen Poe, W. Somerset Maugham, Wm. Kent Krueger, Julie Kramer, Clive Cussler, Orson Scott Card, Lois McMaster Bujold, C.J. Box, and Earl Derr Biggers
Jhumpa Lahiri; Ann Patchett; Anna Quindlen; Neil Gaiman; Bill Bryson; John Steinbeck.
Too many to mention
Sinclair Lewis, David McCullough, Maeve Binchy
Janet Evanovich, Margaret Mitchell, Judy Blume.
Kurt Vonnegut.
If I read a book that I like I will usually read several others by the same author. So I really don’t have a favorite.
Though I tried to choose just one, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even choose two or three over all of the others I love. So, no answer.
Way too many to name!
Stephen King, Harlan Coban, Lee Childs, Dean Koontz, Jennifer Weiner
Those are my favorites, too!
Stephen King, Joe Hill, Robert McCammon, Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson
@Christine is my favorite author:)
Right now I’m in love with Alberto Urrea
That’s a very tall order. I have to break it down between fiction and nonfiction. Where to start? Good question!
I’m enjoying the light reading of Mary Kay Andrews this summer! Jo Ellen
Elizabeth Strout!!!
She’s awesome. Olive Kitteridge is one of the greatest characters in contemporary literature.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, M.C.Beaton
Barbara Pym, J I M Stewart, Dorothy Sayers
I have too many
Diana Gabaldon
Yes, the Outlander series is amazing!
My favorite depends on which author I like best any given year. When I find an author I like, I tend to burn through all their books, sometimes getting sick of the author! Jo Ellen.
That’s so hard. I can’t just say one favorite.
There are so many that have been favorites at different times in my life.At one time, it was a goal of mine to try to read all of one favorite or another, but I soon realized that wouldn’t work. I like Willa Cather, Thornton Wilder, Wallace Stegner, Geraldine Brooks, and Barbara Kingsolver to name a few favorites.
I love Willa Cather! What is your favorite of her books? Mine is My Antonia.
Song of the Lark, but My Antonia is good too.
Steinbeck, Austin, and Judy Blume (she writes incredible adult fiction). Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber write adult romance.
Austen, Dickens, and the Brontes.
Nicholas Evans, Geraldine Brooks, Barbara Kingsolver, Jon Meacham, and Isabelle Allende for more current authors, but I could go on and on about the classics.
Wow. Joel Rosenberg. Tim Downs. Mark Henshaw. Karen Cleveland. Davis Bunn. Probably others I’m not thinking of.
Isaac Asimov, the man was seriously brilliant.
Elin Hilderbrand .
Kate Morton – Waiting for her next book to be released this fall (I think). She interweaves the past and present with gracefully worded mystery.
Jimmy Breslin.
Virginia Wolff.
If I love a book, then I will love that author. At least with regards to that particular book. There are so many books that I have loved over the years that it is impossible for me to choose!
Robert James Waller
Jayne Ann Krentz, Sharon Shinn, and Yasmine Galenorn top my list.
John Irving
Alan Bradley: Flavia de Luce Mysteries
Kristin Hannah, Adriana Trigiani, Jodi Picoult, and many others!
Went to a Q and A featuring Adriana. She was witty, entertaining, and incredibly smart. If you have the chance, go see her!
@Nonna I have seen her several times…she is sooo nice and down to earth. I’ve also met Kristin Hannah and Jodi Picoult among others. I love author events!
@Nonna totally agree. I saw her in 2015.
I still love Rosamunde Pilcher. Her books always make me want to dig in my garden.
James Patterson, Thomas Hardy
Leon Uris
Jane Austen
Jodi Picoult
Harper Lee and Ayn Rand for very different reasons.
Diane Chamberlain….at the moment. Lol.