@Kari could not agree with you more. I have read just about everything he has written and he is a brilliant author that the vast majority of even hard core readers are not aware of.
@Claudette I read “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” to my English Lit class years ago. After the holidays several students came to school with the entire series. Some had asked for it for Christmas. We had one period called “Literacy” and students could choose anything to read. I brought in my Sunday New York Times. What a thrill to see these children scanning that! I gave them credit for bringing in any newspaper and a one-time book report credit if they read 25 articles. Sweet and wonderful memories.
It depends what you mean by underrated and who is doing the underrating.
Many critics dismiss authors like Janet Evanovich, Sara Paretsky, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, Lee Child, Jasper Fforde etc. It seems to me that many many popular authors are dismissed by critics simply because they are popular. But all of these authors have written wonderful books!
If you mean by the general public there are lots of self published authors who I have read who are every bit as talented as the popular authors but for reasons I can not comprehend they are not as popular . . . authors like Becky Monson and Barbara Venkataraman write very good fun books that almost no one has heard of!
(In the interest of full disclosure Barbara has given me free copies of most of her books in exchange for honest reviews . . . I honestly think she writes good novels).
What troubles me is that critics and teachers and professors don’t seem to separate the difference between a novel that is good to talk about and a novel that is enjoyable to read. They are not always the same thing. In many many cases they are diametrically opposed.
To use a modern example the book “The Circle” by David Eggers is a great book for discussion. I could talk about that book for hours . . . but I did not like the book at all. I did not like the story nor did I find it well written but it was so popular it was made into a movie (that unsurprisingly to me bombed).
Then there are books like “Shades of Grey” by Jasper Fforde that was deeply thought provoking, fun to read, would be great for a book club but that surprisingly few people are aware of.
This is obviously a loaded question for me that I am passionate about. LOL
There are lots of ways to interpret the question and there will likely be various reasons for folks to choose who they choose.
I haven’t read any of his books but some of my friends who are really avid readers and I respect their opinions do enjoy his books. I think this might be a prime example of underrated because they are popular. But I still have a stigma against him.
Emily Ramseyer Jellick I understand the stigma. I am a catholic and I understand why many folks don’t want to read him. There is no judgement one way or the other from me.
Here is what I tell them.
These are works of *FICTION*. In the DaVinci Code for example Dan Brown makes it very clear to any critical reader that while the organizations he mentions exist the people he is imagining are extremists of those organizations.
Just like every ex-Army MP does not behave like Jack Reacher not every member of Opus Dei behaves like the characters in “DaVinci Code”.
Yes many folks have condemned his books and many folks have said things like “See this is exactly what I always said the Catholic Church is about”.
The bottom line for me is that he writes fiction . . . he writes made up extreme examples about some things that are real but that are not truthful.
Having said that he wrote books that do not star Robert Langdon that do not touch upon any religious themes. If you are really interested get one of those from your library. He really can write they are exciting stores which if you can shut off the criticism I found easy to enjoy.
I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything he has written and none of his books have changed my mind about anything important.
I do try to keep an open mind and love reading all kinds of books so I will add one of his to my TBR list. It’s a long list so I don’t make promises on actually reading one!
@Caroline Rereading it right now! Also love The Whistling Season and Last Bus to Wisdom which think was the last before he passed away so unfortunately there will be no more. If you like him, you might like News of the World (don’t remember author)
Taylor Webb look for the leather bound edition of Moby Dick with all 200+ illustrations of Rockwell Kent by Sweetwater Press. Some people are giving it away not knowing what a remarkable book it is.
@Beverly you are welcome. I hope you like it as much as I did. Some more great ones by him are strangers, lightning, dark fall, phantoms, the husband, the good guy, and too many more to name. Those are just some of my favorites. Oh, and the Frankenstein series! I loved it! Also the odd Thomas series! OK, I think I’m done at least for a minute. LOL!
@Jora I’ve read several, and I’m 36. But I’m from Nebraska and grew up only about an hour away from Red Cloud where Cathers family lived when they moved to Nebraska
@Kari , I grew up on the West Coast and live in WA state now. I’d never heard of Cather until I worked at a book store, and having been a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan my whole life- and a lover of stories of the West, and the incredible changes that occurred societally as the country grew with Westward Expansion- I fell in love with the novel, “My Antonia.” I think it’s a fantastic book and she’s just a brilliant writer. It seems she’s under-appreciated! I think I’d enjoy visiting Nebraska- years after reading her book, I discovered I had ancestors who where early settlers there- so maybe the story resonates at a genetic level for me… so interesting!
@Jora I also grew up on the Little House books. Stories of the Great Plains and Westward Expansion are always near and dear to me because my family has been here for generations. A couple other Nebraskan authors to check out are Bess Streeter Aldrich and Mari Sandoz. I personally haven’t read any Sandoz (yet!), but Old Jules is on my list.
@Butch You must read Seabiscuit! (Even if you saw the movie, and think you don’t need to read the book.) Her writing should be required reading for students to learn about the Depression, and her extensive research on the excruciating life of jockeys is riveting. Then there’s THE HORSE! One of the best books I have ever read…
Irving D. Yalom, the two books that I have read of his are masterpieces. I know he has written more, but I have not had a chance to get my hands on them. He is by FAR my favorite modern writer. So intelligent, but highly readable. Love him! and shockingly, I have never seen his name come up in ANY conversation on this group.
He writes novels, and also some of the best books on psychotherapy I’ve seen. All of this seems to come from a combination of his work as a psychiatrist , his incredible writing, and an ability to engage the human in all of us. I have all his books, although some of his textbooks I use as part of my work. I love seeing his name on this thread!
@Natalie People don’t feel comfortable with leaving Shakespeare “as is”. He has to be made politically correct. This has been going on a long time. Reframing Shakespeare. The noble, elusive dreamlike fantastic qualities of Shakespeare are rarely interpreted. It’s not a question of festivals. It’s a question of essence and it’s been going on for decades. When I was growing up Shakespeare was revered. Now Shakespeare is accessible. The Grand Canyon between those two poles is immeasurable.
Even the way Shakespeare is SPOKEN, the emotion, the high theatricality and pathos as interpreted by great actors is a dinosasur now. LISTEN TO OLD RECORDINGS. Especially John Guilguid in his early days. And John Barrymore. An entire register is gone now from the possible spectrum of the human voice in conveying the myriad emotions and depths of Shakespeare. They had it then, that musical divinity they seemed to pluck out of the very air. Nowthere are no more depths. Just a kind of brittle cleverness. Perhaps there are for some deep souled persons reading Shakespeare in an armchair with all the lights and colours going.. But it doesn’t come across onstage. In workshops. In Ivy Colleges and elsewhere Shakespeare courses are often only available if enough students sign up for any given semester. My local library did nothing to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday. Nothing. BUT I AM GLAD YOU LOVE SHAKESPEARE. ME TOO.And maybe we are headed toward a new appreciation of him. Our actors, all of them used to have this noble sense of things in general. At some point in the early sixties the corosion began. The anti hero, the loss of the heroic and the visionary. Even Peter O’Toole as affable as he was who truly had that kind of voice that could cover whole mountain ranges of feeling and could project that in film as well as on stage lamented the new wave of actors under Lee Strasburg and others who spoke O’Toole said like they had marbles in their mouths and who didn’t project at all. Who seemed to be speaking into their soup. I saw a TV interview with O’Toole when he was talking about this a couple of years before he died and his face was truly pained in describing this sitution. Go back and look at O’Toole in the film Beckett. LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. I KNOW YOU WILL HEAR IT. THAT GOLDEN SILVERY THING IN THE VOICE we never hear anymore.
Agreed, although there is something to be said about the great plays’ abilities to be placed in other settings. Shakespeare is truly timeless. Most of the plays can work in any context. Yes, as a purist, I prefer the original language, the original time periods,but isn’t it amazing that the rich characters and the depth of emotion have been worked and re-worked effectively for the past 400 years. Each Hamlet, each Caesar, each Macbeth/Lady Macbeth, each Falstaff, each Prospero blow me away.
To me it is arrogance to “rework” Shakespeare. And idiocy. I’m sorry, but that’s just how I feel. I will never be convinced otherwise. You don’t improve pure gold. You don’t improve on a perfect circuit, the most perfect conduit ever of the English language. All atempts to do this fail not only due to their pridefulness but due to the truth that beauty perfectly realized cannot be made more beautiful. There is a term in psychology called “leveling”. It’s a way of getting even with whoever or whatever makes you feel like you are not enough. People secretly hate Shakespeare some people, the same way they hate God and the saints. SURELY he must have been just one of the guys or girls. Shakespeare remains Shakespeare. Beethoven remains Beethoven. God remains God. No matter what we do to crown ourselves above them all.
My grandmother was an English teacher and loved Shakespeare. When I was in high school she was so upset to hear that I found Shakespeare boring. She asked a few questions about what we were reading and how it was being taught. She volunteered to teach all the classes for one day and it was such a revelation for us. To hear Shakespeare out loud by someone who loves the language and has the presence to draw you into the story was beautiful. We also had a program in elementary school that brought a group into the classes for several weeks and we acted out scenes from Shakespeare’s works. With costumes and lighting and everything. It was great!
I was surprised none of his books were on the list: Centennial, which also was a great TV miniseries, Hawaii, book better than movie, Chesapeake, Alaska, Texas, I have read a lot of them.
@Patti That’s wonderful! So glad to find someone else who loves P.D. James. I loved Death in Holy Orders. I love how her novels have such strong locations. I think she’s tremendously underrated as an author. I’ll tell you — I met her! Many years ago, she went to Washington DC and I got to meet her and she autographed my books. She was a charming little English lady.
I LOVE her books..have most of them, and have been reading them since the 70s. It’s hard to get some of her earlier books, though, and I ‘ve worn mine out.
@Monica I’ve read some which I loved. Don’t know how I missed reading Prince of Tides. I even loved reading his cookbook that I picked up in South Carolina a couple years ago. Chock full of wonderful stories and memories of people from his life told in a way only Pat Conroy could.
@Michelle-The 1st one I read was “In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead”, just because of the creative title. I was hooked. The Lost Get Back Boogie, The Neon Rain, really any of the early Dave Robicheaux books are great. A mesmerizing (and prolific) writer.
Not sure if he is under-rated but I never hear much about Louis L’amour. He was a favorite of my dads and he would give a few of his favorites to me growing up. I remember I liked the Sackett family novels as much as the Little House books.
I agree, Le Guin is unheard of by most people let alone appreciated or understood. Her writings would be fabulous for studying in school, but they are overlooked.
Anne River Siddons. Southern fiction writer. I enjoyed every book she has ever written. I’m a Yankee but found myself looking forward to each story filled with the southern way of life. The Outer Banks is my favorite.
Jennie Dietel didn’t she get a Pulitzer Prize and other awards for her writing. I think she is very famous. First book i read that she wrote was from Oprah’s book club years ago. Excellent author her Beloved was on the list. Ps the book scared me!
Pearl S. Buck. I am always amazed at how many lists don’t have The Good Earth on them. She gets robbed a lot. Other than that Tim O’Brien, Edna Ferber ….
Ron Rash, best known for his novel, Serena, is a very talented author that writers tend to have read more than ordinary readers. He’s multitalented, writing novels, short stories and poetry that is all superb, imho. A good place to start would be his novel, The Cove, or short story collection, Burning Bright. Most of his works take place in southern Appalachia.
Kate Greenville is an incredible Australian writer who wrote The Secret River and The Lieutenant, both about the early colonial days of Australia, and The Idea of Perfection, a two fish out of water love story, of sorts.
You know… She’s so underrated people don’t even know how to pronounce her name. William Faulkner and Truman Capote knew her, and they pronounced her name KAY-ther.
It seems to me that quite a few of these authors were well-known and critically acclaimed in the past, but today’s readers aren’t aware of them. This is a good way to spark new interest in them.
Robert McCammon
Patrick Ness
Fannie Flagg
@Judy I agree with you.
Agreed. I love her books!
Oh Yes, she is a brilliant warm and wise author. I have loved every one of her books – her characters live in my memories as real people. Love <3
Richard Wagamese
Jeffrey Deaver
J. Robert Lennon
Joe hill
Daniel Silva
Wally Lamb
Tony Vigorito
Tough one…I’m picking a Canadian…Guy Vanderhaeghe…great short stories and novels
Steven Pressfield
tough one – Denise Mina,jmaybe…or Kate ATkinson…
Neal Stephenson!
My husband loves him.
@Andrea, he is a special kind of genius — visionary!
I think that might be why he’s under appreciated… you almost need an advanced degree in engineering to appreciate him!
Paul Auster!
@Ryan I’m stealing your answer!
I don’t know about underrated because I think the people who read his books really like them but an under read author is Italo Calvino.
Coetzee
@Katherine I really like him, too. I loved “Slow Man.”
Was just thinking, I’d pick up “Dry” on my lunch break today.
I think disgrace is his best
Me! Me!
Seriously, Anton Myer (The Last Convertible)
I love The Last Convertible!
Louise Erdrich
@Cherie, yes!!!!!
Sigrid Undset
I love Greg Iles. Everyone should be reading him.
I kind of hate when a new Greg Iles book come out as I know I’m going to have a couple of sleepless nights reading. I just cannot put his books down.
@Patricia Okay, Okay, I will write him down on my list! ?
Louise Penny
@Laura love her! She’s pretty highly thought of!
Elizabeth Berg, she writes in such a beautiful way and touches so many aspects of life. I also love Toni Morrison for the same reason.
@Katrina agree ? %
@Katrina agree!
I read Grace by Elizabeth Nunez years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. She is a great writer, but not many people heard about her.
Julie Kaewert and Maas Meyers. I’m glad I still have their books. I haven’t seen their books for a long time.
Randy Wayne white
Terry Goodkind
Paul Auster
Kary Buchanan
Jasper Fforde
@Kari could not agree with you more. I have read just about everything he has written and he is a brilliant author that the vast majority of even hard core readers are not aware of.
Barbara Kingsolver
@Peggy I love her! But so does everyone else I know who is a reader ???
R.S. Belcher
Ferrol Sams
I loved his trilogy! And he’s a local Georgia guy!
IS he really? I’m in Ga too! Small world!!
Fayetteville…..
I’m in Carrollton
Ahhh! I’m newly transplanted, Morgan County in beautiful Madison
Great question! Have to give some thought.there is a couple
Dennis Lehane
Love all his books.
Such a good author!
C.S. Lewis
@Claudette I read “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” to my English Lit class years ago. After the holidays several students came to school with the entire series. Some had asked for it for Christmas. We had one period called “Literacy” and students could choose anything to read. I brought in my Sunday New York Times. What a thrill to see these children scanning that! I gave them credit for bringing in any newspaper and a one-time book report credit if they read 25 articles. Sweet and wonderful memories.
@Claudette ❤️
Yann Martel
Patrick McManus
Alice Hoffman
James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke is a fantastic writer!
I think so too. I was reading him a long, long time ago, before his popularity made him so well known. So impatient between books for the next one.
Josephine Tey “Daughter of Time” “The Singing Sands”
@Barbara The Daughter of Time is one of the best detective novels of all time! Isn’t The Singing Sands a WWI novel, also?
No. It takes place mostly in Scotland (and Arabia) while the investigating detective is on leave suffering from what we now know is PTSD.
Michael J Sullivan
Mark Helprin
It depends what you mean by underrated and who is doing the underrating.
Many critics dismiss authors like Janet Evanovich, Sara Paretsky, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, Lee Child, Jasper Fforde etc. It seems to me that many many popular authors are dismissed by critics simply because they are popular. But all of these authors have written wonderful books!
If you mean by the general public there are lots of self published authors who I have read who are every bit as talented as the popular authors but for reasons I can not comprehend they are not as popular . . . authors like Becky Monson and Barbara Venkataraman write very good fun books that almost no one has heard of!
(In the interest of full disclosure Barbara has given me free copies of most of her books in exchange for honest reviews . . . I honestly think she writes good novels).
What troubles me is that critics and teachers and professors don’t seem to separate the difference between a novel that is good to talk about and a novel that is enjoyable to read. They are not always the same thing. In many many cases they are diametrically opposed.
To use a modern example the book “The Circle” by David Eggers is a great book for discussion. I could talk about that book for hours . . . but I did not like the book at all. I did not like the story nor did I find it well written but it was so popular it was made into a movie (that unsurprisingly to me bombed).
Then there are books like “Shades of Grey” by Jasper Fforde that was deeply thought provoking, fun to read, would be great for a book club but that surprisingly few people are aware of.
This is obviously a loaded question for me that I am passionate about. LOL
There are lots of ways to interpret the question and there will likely be various reasons for folks to choose who they choose.
Wallace Stegner
Marylin Robinson
@Susanne Yes!!!!! Thank you
She’s my pick also.
Anne Tyler
Dan Brown
I haven’t read any of his books but some of my friends who are really avid readers and I respect their opinions do enjoy his books. I think this might be a prime example of underrated because they are popular. But I still have a stigma against him.
Emily Ramseyer Jellick I understand the stigma. I am a catholic and I understand why many folks don’t want to read him. There is no judgement one way or the other from me.
Here is what I tell them.
These are works of *FICTION*. In the DaVinci Code for example Dan Brown makes it very clear to any critical reader that while the organizations he mentions exist the people he is imagining are extremists of those organizations.
Just like every ex-Army MP does not behave like Jack Reacher not every member of Opus Dei behaves like the characters in “DaVinci Code”.
Yes many folks have condemned his books and many folks have said things like “See this is exactly what I always said the Catholic Church is about”.
The bottom line for me is that he writes fiction . . . he writes made up extreme examples about some things that are real but that are not truthful.
Having said that he wrote books that do not star Robert Langdon that do not touch upon any religious themes. If you are really interested get one of those from your library. He really can write they are exciting stores which if you can shut off the criticism I found easy to enjoy.
I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything he has written and none of his books have changed my mind about anything important.
I do try to keep an open mind and love reading all kinds of books so I will add one of his to my TBR list. It’s a long list so I don’t make promises on actually reading one!
Scott Westerfield. He wrote the Uglies series which is just as good as Hunger Games and 10x better than Twilight.
Great question.
Rhys Bowen
@Andrea , I’ve just discovered her by chance at our library. Really enjoying her books.
Greg Iles
Michael Morpurgo, hands down!
Greg Iles and Jeffrey Archer.
I have never heard someone like Greg iles. I love his books
@Kathy me, too
Margaret Lawrence
Wilbur Smith.
Christopher Moore
@Kathryn good choice. Very funny author!
Ken Follet. So many and diverse books
Jeffry Lent
James Mitchener
Toni Morrison.
I love Greg Iles
Ha ha…. ME.?
Pat Conroy
Agreed. Conroy GREAT!
R J Ellory
Wallace Stegner
Robert Penn Warren
Wally Lamb
James Lee Burke, Pat Conroy
@Laura Burke is so fun to read
@KR Totally agree. Love him!
Anthony Marra. I loved Constellation of Vital Phenomena.
Beth Gutcheon
Charlie Carillo.
Me”!”???
Michael J Sullivan..
Arthur Golden
James Lee Burke is great!!
Rumer Godden. Muriel Spark. Barbara Pym. Margery Sharp. All Post war British writers.
@Nancy, yes!
Richard Ford!!!
Pat conroy
I totally agree.
agree
He writes so beautifully. Like poetry! Have loved him forever
@Mary ❤️
Elizabeth George
Barbara Kingsolver
William Faulkner!
Jack London
Richard Paul Evans
Ivan Doig
@Linda totally agree! Kent Haruf too
@Linda Dancing at the Rascal Fair!!
@Caroline Rereading it right now! Also love The Whistling Season and Last Bus to Wisdom which think was the last before he passed away so unfortunately there will be no more. If you like him, you might like News of the World (don’t remember author)
@Linda , yes! Loved News of the World.
Mary stewart
Alexander McCall Smith
Connie Dupler Young I agree he can write but not my favorite.
Maybe I should try something other than the 44 Scotland street series?
Marcus Sedgwick
Faulkner
@Maryrose I don’t think he is at all underrated.
Dixie Cash
Taylor Caldwell
Fannie Flagg
Jeffrey Archer
Ellery Adams
Louise Penny
Susan Wittig Albert
O. Henry
Rumer Godden
Tabitha King
William Least Heat Moon is another.
Herman Melville. Everyone admits he’s great but they don’t do it enough!
Taylor Webb look for the leather bound edition of Moby Dick with all 200+ illustrations of Rockwell Kent by Sweetwater Press. Some people are giving it away not knowing what a remarkable book it is.
Monica Wood….without a doubt!
Marko Kloos (sci fi), Susannah Daniels (lit fic), Charlie Donlea (suspense)
Lisa See
@Valerie love her! I’ve read all her books and met her, too.
@Linda lucky you!! Her books never disappoint. Always excellent.
A beautiful writer.
Pat Conroy
Lisa @See
Pat Conroy
@Donna , yes even his cook book is a good read!
Lisa see
I agree. Her writing is so beautiful.
Michener
Greg Iles
Stephen King
Rainbow Rowell.
Yes!!
Laura Hillenbrand
Tom Robbins? The 1st world war?
Chelsea Lloyd someone posted Tom Robbins
I think she’s replying to most underrated author.
Hariette Arnow
Claire North
David Liss
James Michener
Kurt Vonnegut
Diana Gabaldon
C.S. Lewis
Stephen King
I agree, he is superb at creating genuine people in his novels and stories-you KNOW these people!
Maybe Dean Koontz.
@Karen , I just read Life Expectancy. This was my first Dean Koontz. It will not be my last!
@Beverly my favorite buy him is Watchers, But I love them all!
@Karen thank you.
@Beverly you are welcome. I hope you like it as much as I did. Some more great ones by him are strangers, lightning, dark fall, phantoms, the husband, the good guy, and too many more to name. Those are just some of my favorites. Oh, and the Frankenstein series! I loved it! Also the odd Thomas series! OK, I think I’m done at least for a minute. LOL!
I agree. He’s an excellent wordsmith, some of his sentences are breathtaking.
My favorites of his are Watchers, and Whispers.
I forgot about whispers! It was great!
Helen Oyeyemi
Pearl Cleage, Leonard Pitts
I guess NAPOLEON HILLs
Rick DeMarinis
James Thurber
Dennis Lehane
Willa Cather.
(No one I know around my age has read her works- I’m 40- so I think it’s a generational thing?)
@Jora I’ve read several, and I’m 36. But I’m from Nebraska and grew up only about an hour away from Red Cloud where Cathers family lived when they moved to Nebraska
@Kari– that explains it! That’s fascinating for you, to have the history and her stories seemingly all around you…
@Kari , I grew up on the West Coast and live in WA state now. I’d never heard of Cather until I worked at a book store, and having been a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan my whole life- and a lover of stories of the West, and the incredible changes that occurred societally as the country grew with Westward Expansion- I fell in love with the novel, “My Antonia.” I think it’s a fantastic book and she’s just a brilliant writer. It seems she’s under-appreciated! I think I’d enjoy visiting Nebraska- years after reading her book, I discovered I had ancestors who where early settlers there- so maybe the story resonates at a genetic level for me… so interesting!
@Jora I also grew up on the Little House books. Stories of the Great Plains and Westward Expansion are always near and dear to me because my family has been here for generations. A couple other Nebraskan authors to check out are Bess Streeter Aldrich and Mari Sandoz. I personally haven’t read any Sandoz (yet!), but Old Jules is on my list.
And I think Nebraska is a great place to visit! Especially if you enjoy western and Great Plains history.
@Kari thanks for the tip!! I actually never would have thought of it… wonderful to hear the first hand thoughts!
Kari Lukow Morgan I love these author recommendations- thank you!
@Jora You’re very welcome. ?
@Jora most definitely!
Me.
Michael Crichton
Thomas Hardy
Laura Hillenbrand
@Linda I liked Unbroken
@Butch You must read Seabiscuit! (Even if you saw the movie, and think you don’t need to read the book.) Her writing should be required reading for students to learn about the Depression, and her extensive research on the excruciating life of jockeys is riveting. Then there’s THE HORSE! One of the best books I have ever read…
@Linda I will read Seabiscuit
@Butch I just started Outlander and since I’m obsessive/compulsive I will most likely finish the series, then I’ll take your advise
Lucia Berlin
Wendell Berry
Aimee Bender
Irving D. Yalom, the two books that I have read of his are masterpieces. I know he has written more, but I have not had a chance to get my hands on them. He is by FAR my favorite modern writer. So intelligent, but highly readable. Love him! and shockingly, I have never seen his name come up in ANY conversation on this group.
He writes novels, and also some of the best books on psychotherapy I’ve seen. All of this seems to come from a combination of his work as a psychiatrist , his incredible writing, and an ability to engage the human in all of us. I have all his books, although some of his textbooks I use as part of my work. I love seeing his name on this thread!
Hienlien
Raymond Andrews
Willa Cather
Catherine Webb AKA Claire North
Thomas Perry.
J. K. Rowling
Meg Grinnell Brownstead I wouldn’t consider her under rated. She is a “brilliant” author and is very well known
Roald Dahl
Beryl Markham ~ West with the Night
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAACkyS7JmM&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-1000189-Med-hasem-bk-Evergreen-Nov1417-PLA-audiobookspla*AQAAAACkyS7JmM&gclid=CjwKCAiArK_fBRABEiwA0gOOc8ThYuI_HELCF13gedfZFhokgqXAfuFkSISWRybTprvr6AaTj1RaxRoCjHsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Carol Caley Guida I absolutely love this book! Also check out~ Straight On Till Morning~ same author and ~Circling the Sun~ by Paula McLain.
I think Isabel Allende should have had a place on the GAR list.
@Alissa just ” discovered ” her. She’s an amazing author.
@Alissa I’ll have to look her up!
Terry Pratchett
Lisa Lee
George Martin
CJ Box
Robert Jordan
Fredrik Backman
I totally agree. Love his writing style.
Don Winslow and Kevin Baker
Loved Don Winslow ‘s Savages.
V.C. Andrews
Chris Bohjalian
Love love his books and each one is uniquely different style of writing and subject.
@Eileen listening to Idyll Banter, read by him, right now! Wonderful! Short stories (true) about living in VT. Wonderful language!
Carol Shields wasn’t in the 100 and she has won Pulitzer for Stone Diaries . Unless should have won Pulitzer.
Louise Erdrich
Totally agree
@Terri, I “gobble” everything she writes!
Lisa See
@Sara loved China Dolls!
I love Lisa See. I read all her books but I think “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” is the best
@Kayoko I have Snow Flower on my list to read.
Charles @Martin.
Anne Tyler, Anne River Siddons, Pat Conroy
agree
Anne Tyler for sure
Laurie Halse Anderson. It’s young adult fiction. But her stories destroy me. So much emotion.
She is great! There are many YA authors that are underrated.
Amulya Malladi
In American culture as it is at the present time, William Shakespeare.
But there are so many Shakespeare lovers, self included. Look at all the Shakespeare festivals across the country.
@Natalie People don’t feel comfortable with leaving Shakespeare “as is”. He has to be made politically correct. This has been going on a long time. Reframing Shakespeare. The noble, elusive dreamlike fantastic qualities of Shakespeare are rarely interpreted. It’s not a question of festivals. It’s a question of essence and it’s been going on for decades. When I was growing up Shakespeare was revered. Now Shakespeare is accessible. The Grand Canyon between those two poles is immeasurable.
Even the way Shakespeare is SPOKEN, the emotion, the high theatricality and pathos as interpreted by great actors is a dinosasur now. LISTEN TO OLD RECORDINGS. Especially John Guilguid in his early days. And John Barrymore. An entire register is gone now from the possible spectrum of the human voice in conveying the myriad emotions and depths of Shakespeare. They had it then, that musical divinity they seemed to pluck out of the very air. Nowthere are no more depths. Just a kind of brittle cleverness. Perhaps there are for some deep souled persons reading Shakespeare in an armchair with all the lights and colours going.. But it doesn’t come across onstage. In workshops. In Ivy Colleges and elsewhere Shakespeare courses are often only available if enough students sign up for any given semester. My local library did nothing to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday. Nothing. BUT I AM GLAD YOU LOVE SHAKESPEARE. ME TOO.And maybe we are headed toward a new appreciation of him. Our actors, all of them used to have this noble sense of things in general. At some point in the early sixties the corosion began. The anti hero, the loss of the heroic and the visionary. Even Peter O’Toole as affable as he was who truly had that kind of voice that could cover whole mountain ranges of feeling and could project that in film as well as on stage lamented the new wave of actors under Lee Strasburg and others who spoke O’Toole said like they had marbles in their mouths and who didn’t project at all. Who seemed to be speaking into their soup. I saw a TV interview with O’Toole when he was talking about this a couple of years before he died and his face was truly pained in describing this sitution. Go back and look at O’Toole in the film Beckett. LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. I KNOW YOU WILL HEAR IT. THAT GOLDEN SILVERY THING IN THE VOICE we never hear anymore.
Agreed, although there is something to be said about the great plays’ abilities to be placed in other settings. Shakespeare is truly timeless. Most of the plays can work in any context. Yes, as a purist, I prefer the original language, the original time periods,but isn’t it amazing that the rich characters and the depth of emotion have been worked and re-worked effectively for the past 400 years. Each Hamlet, each Caesar, each Macbeth/Lady Macbeth, each Falstaff, each Prospero blow me away.
@Mary If it’s any consolation, I celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday in my classroom every year for 32 years of teaching.
@Natalie That is tremendous consolation. Tremendous. I am sure you were an exceptional teacher and your students were most fortunate.
To me it is arrogance to “rework” Shakespeare. And idiocy. I’m sorry, but that’s just how I feel. I will never be convinced otherwise. You don’t improve pure gold. You don’t improve on a perfect circuit, the most perfect conduit ever of the English language. All atempts to do this fail not only due to their pridefulness but due to the truth that beauty perfectly realized cannot be made more beautiful. There is a term in psychology called “leveling”. It’s a way of getting even with whoever or whatever makes you feel like you are not enough. People secretly hate Shakespeare some people, the same way they hate God and the saints. SURELY he must have been just one of the guys or girls. Shakespeare remains Shakespeare. Beethoven remains Beethoven. God remains God. No matter what we do to crown ourselves above them all.
Mary Angela Douglas I totally agree. Why “rework” classics that are perfect as they are?
My grandmother was an English teacher and loved Shakespeare. When I was in high school she was so upset to hear that I found Shakespeare boring. She asked a few questions about what we were reading and how it was being taught. She volunteered to teach all the classes for one day and it was such a revelation for us. To hear Shakespeare out loud by someone who loves the language and has the presence to draw you into the story was beautiful. We also had a program in elementary school that brought a group into the classes for several weeks and we acted out scenes from Shakespeare’s works. With costumes and lighting and everything. It was great!
@Emily seeing the plays brings to light a whole different world of Shakespeare!
Pat Conroy.
@AnnMarie
My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.
“I grew up slowly beside the tides and marshes of Colleton….’
The best opening lines of a book ever!! Like southern poetry.
Jim Thompson
John Irving
Underreated at least by not having any selections on the GAR 100: Isabel Allende, Barbara Kingsolver, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, VIrginia Woolf …
I thought 100 Years of Solitude was on the list.
@Alissa You are right!
Pearl Cleage
Stephen King
Minette Walters
Kent Haruf
Gloria Naylor.
Henry James and Virginia Woolf.
James Michener
Stephen King. Because he’s so popular he sometimes doesn’t get his due but he’s got some mad skills.
Rainbow Rowell I have read all her books, some multiple times. She is an incredible author ❤️
Chaim Potok
Barbara kinsolver
@Leslie I agree!
EB White
James Michener
I was surprised none of his books were on the list: Centennial, which also was a great TV miniseries, Hawaii, book better than movie, Chesapeake, Alaska, Texas, I have read a lot of them.
Me 2. I agree. I have a stack of his books by my bedside. Recessional, Chesapeake, Carribean, The Source…..
Ray Carver
John Dufresne
Milan Kundera
Honore de Balzac!
Graham Greene
@Sabiha, absolutely!
Alice Walker. Surprised the Color Purple only ranked 27. It was in my top 10.
@Sharon I agree- it should have ranked much higher.
Mary McGarry Morris
Shirley Jackson (We Have Always Lived in the Castle)
Another fav of mine
Just read this, it’s brilliant.
I have read that one and just recently a good friend gave me The Haunting of Hill House, a Gothic classic.
Life Among the Savages is great as well!
@Lisa I just ordered the Sundial and the Bird’s Nest from my local library. Will have to check that one out as well!
Charles de Lint – Moonheart
P.D. James. People just think of her books as mystery books, but she writes so beautifully, that they truly are “literature.”
@Jacqueline what’s your favorite of hers?
Mine is Devices and Desires
@Patti That’s wonderful! So glad to find someone else who loves P.D. James. I loved Death in Holy Orders. I love how her novels have such strong locations. I think she’s tremendously underrated as an author. I’ll tell you — I met her! Many years ago, she went to Washington DC and I got to meet her and she autographed my books. She was a charming little English lady.
Geraldine Brooks, Anne Tyler, Wally Lamb
@JoEllen “The Hour I First Believed” is one of my top ten all time favorite books!
Kent Haruf
Wally Lamb is a favorite of mine.
Patrick Taylor
Patti Smith
Rachel Joyce.
Sue Monk Kidd, Ann Hood, and Vanessa Diffenbaugh.
Robert @Buckley
Kurt Vonnegut
Chuck paulaunick
Sena Jeter Naslund (Ahab’s Wife)
Mary Wesley
Kristin Hannah
I love her books
Barbara Pym
Annie Proulx
Barbara Kingsolver
James Michener
Margaret George
Pat Conroy
Not enough fantasy fans seem to know about Sharon Shinn’s great books.
Stephen King.
Joanne Harris
Mary Doria Russell
Always excited to find another MDR fan! The Sparrow / Children of God are in my personal top ten.
Hurray! Such excellent writing, right?!
@Elizabeth oh my yes! She should be better known. Such wide ranging talent across genres. A Thread of Grace was wonderful too.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Marge Piercy
I LOVE her books..have most of them, and have been reading them since the 70s. It’s hard to get some of her earlier books, though, and I ‘ve worn mine out.
Willa Cather
Madeleine L’Engle
Jhumpa Lahiri too
@Tricia yes on Jhumpa beautiful writing and young, excited for her future works ✍️
Sidney Sheldon ❤️
@Barbara he did create memorable stories!
@Andrea he was a great escape ☺️
Russell Shorto (for non fiction)
Pat Conroy
The Prince of Tides was an obsession. I took it everywhere.
@Peter found a copy in a box of books in my basement last week! Reading it now!
@Karen Prepare for skipped meals and secluded park benches so you can keep reading!
Read ALL his books, Karen. You won’t regret it…
@Monica I’ve read some which I loved. Don’t know how I missed reading Prince of Tides. I even loved reading his cookbook that I picked up in South Carolina a couple years ago. Chock full of wonderful stories and memories of people from his life told in a way only Pat Conroy could.
@Peter My favorite Conroy…maybe time for a reread!
@D.M. and lots of shrimp…
@Peter SO!
Marcus Zusak
Dr. Suess
Wally lamb or Isabelle Allende
Barbara Kingsolver
Haruki Murakami, he should have a Nobel prize for literature
@Scott agreed
arturo perez reverte
Alison Pataki.
Avi
Anne Rice
I agree
Cornelia Funke
Edward Rutherfurd
Kate Windsor, Forever Amber. My favorite
Sarah Wsters
Connie Willis
@Yvette she is one of my favorites. I agree with you on this one.
Oh, and also Susan Howatch
Betty Webb.
Ann Patchett
Anne Tyler
Oh… and Tom Wolfe ?
Stanley Gordon West
Tracey Chevalier
Barry Hughart
Taylor Stevens
Graham Greene
Randy Wayne White and Lee Child
Walter Mosley!
Walter Mosley
Diane Chamberlain
Marilynne Robinson, Geraldine Brooks, Luis Alberto Urrea
Love Geraldine Brooks. People of the Book!
@Laura
Oh, yeah! Ditto March … and all her books really
Geraldine @Patrick
@JD Year of Wonder
Wendell Berry
Muriel Spark
Edna Ferber
Richard Russo
I especially loved Empire falls and bridge of sighs.
and That Old Cape Magic…witty and insightful
@Linda great book also
Richard Russo and James Lee Burke are two of America’s best novelists, in my opinion. I savor their writings!
@Mark love everything he’s written
@Mark what would you suggest for James Lee Burke?
@Michelle-The 1st one I read was “In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead”, just because of the creative title. I was hooked. The Lost Get Back Boogie, The Neon Rain, really any of the early Dave Robicheaux books are great. A mesmerizing (and prolific) writer.
William Faulkner
@Louise. So hard to read, tho! Exception: Light in August, loved it
@Carol My favorite is “As I Lay Dying,” but I never found him hard to read!
@Louise Dialect is hard for most people, I would think
Not sure if he is under-rated but I never hear much about Louis L’amour. He was a favorite of my dads and he would give a few of his favorites to me growing up. I remember I liked the Sackett family novels as much as the Little House books.
I loved everything James Clavell wrote
Especially Shogun
Jodi Picoult
alice hoffman
Philip Roth
Which of the many? I think I started and stopped at Letting Go.
@Peter The Plot Against America
@Ellen Thanks. Sounds juicy. None of the Rabbit books? I’m surprised.
@Ellen and Philip K Roth ?
@Peter not Roth- John Updike
@Peter you need to read some 20C lit. Says much about the present
Got into Ron Chernow’s Washington, then Grant to better understand Reconstruction, but they are big books. Name 5 you recommend please
Indignation
kristen hannah
I guess I don’t pay enough attention to how books are “rated” and who is doing the rating . . . I’ll go with Georgette Heyer.
John Hart
Usala K. Le Guin
Not really. She has won every award possible.
Peter Neumann yes, I meant in the terms the general public. Just my opinion.
I agree, Le Guin is unheard of by most people let alone appreciated or understood. Her writings would be fabulous for studying in school, but they are overlooked.
@Patty I taught her at Temple U. Students loved her.
@Patty I taught her at Temple U. Students loved her.
She read from her works at a small book festival I attended in Portland, Oregon in 2007. She was a beautiful, intelligent, humble person.
Greg Iles, Geraldine Brooks,
I loved People of the Book
Liane Moriarty
True!
Anne River Siddons. Southern fiction writer. I enjoyed every book she has ever written. I’m a Yankee but found myself looking forward to each story filled with the southern way of life. The Outer Banks is my favorite.
Kings Oak was a really good book!
I loved Colony.
Wallace Stegner
@Bette yes!!!!
Loved Angle of Repose
@Denise Crossing to Safety is also very good.
@Bette totally agree
@Bette Crossing Over was a wonderful experience
@Bette I may have forgotten the correct title…?
@Peter all his books wonderful experiences
@Peter Crossing to Safety
@Bette Yes, I liked that one, too.
Chris Cleave
Flannery O’Connor
Chevy Stevens.
I’d be better at OVERRATED! ????
Toni Morrison
Jennie Dietel didn’t she get a Pulitzer Prize and other awards for her writing. I think she is very famous. First book i read that she wrote was from Oprah’s book club years ago. Excellent author her Beloved was on the list. Ps the book scared me!
@Freddie Yes. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature after writing Beloved as well.
Pearl S. Buck. I am always amazed at how many lists don’t have The Good Earth on them. She gets robbed a lot. Other than that Tim O’Brien, Edna Ferber ….
Chris carter
The Good Earth was really good, probably go on my save shelf……
James Lee Burke….
Andre Norton.
Ron Rash, best known for his novel, Serena, is a very talented author that writers tend to have read more than ordinary readers. He’s multitalented, writing novels, short stories and poetry that is all superb, imho. A good place to start would be his novel, The Cove, or short story collection, Burning Bright. Most of his works take place in southern Appalachia.
There is a story in Burning Bright, “Hard Times,” that is breathtaking. Amazing how he could get so much profundity into a mere 18 pages.
@Bobbi I’ll have to re-read it now. Glad to find another fan.
Annie Dillard
Love everything she’s written. What an amazing eye she has.
Agree Annie Dillard is an amazing writer. Never repeating herself.
Kate Greenville is an incredible Australian writer who wrote The Secret River and The Lieutenant, both about the early colonial days of Australia, and The Idea of Perfection, a two fish out of water love story, of sorts.
Colum McCann
Let the Wide World Spin—beautiful and mesmerizing
I forgot about that one,,,so so so good!
I’ve read it twice!
Read all of James Lee Burke’s books plus Greg Iles two of my favorite authors. Just finished the audible Mississippi Blood, the last of the trilogy.
John Dufresne
Following
Marisa de los Santos
Evelyn Waugh.
Jacqueline Susann
She was a huge star in her time.
@Denise yes but the literary community looked down on her. Her stories were somewhat sordid but the lady sure could write.
This is kind of a (fill-in-the blank) question.
Willa Cather.
You know… She’s so underrated people don’t even know how to pronounce her name. William Faulkner and Truman Capote knew her, and they pronounced her name KAY-ther.
@Bobbi Can I send yo an article that’s very long> Re: Cater.
@Katherine Sure. I’ll PM you my email address. Thanks.
Thank you!
OMG Bobbi I don’t know how to PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
@Katherine ok I left you a friend request and a pm (private message). Check your messages.
Well, Bobbi, I’m a DOPE when I don’t know where to find a PM!
Bobbi – Have a wonderful family Thanksgiving Day with all your four-footed friends!
Louise Erdrich
I love her works. Have been a fan since Love Medicine.
As I said yesterday…Willa Cather.
It seems to me that quite a few of these authors were well-known and critically acclaimed in the past, but today’s readers aren’t aware of them. This is a good way to spark new interest in them.
@Denise I agree.
Emily St. James Mandel
@Becky Yes! She’s most known for Station Eleven but I love all her work so much!
@Andi I love them all, too. I have read Last Night in Montreal many times.
@Becky Me too! I’ve never met anyone who loves Last Night in Montreal, this is why I love this group!