Five Favorite Authors

[Uncensored2008]

Nelson Demille - Crime/suspense/humorous insights
Lee Child - Crime/suspense/action
Vince Flynn - Suspense/action - Political intrigue

Nelson DeMille wrote a book called "The Lions Game," which I read in 2000. In it, a Muslim terrorist sneaks aboard a trans-Atlantic flight and murders the entire passenger and crew. I read this about 1 year before 9-11. When the actual even occurred, I was stunned by the similarity. DeMille does his homework and understood the working and methods of Muslims even before the massive attack. It was, and still is, a chilling book.

 

[Montrovant]

Narrowing the list to 5 is very difficult.

I can say easily that my favorite is David Weber. I could read his Honor Harrington series over and over again, and I enjoy his other books as well.

Douglas Adams (if only he'd written more!)
Robert Jordan (if only he'd survived to finish the Wheel of Time!)
George R R Martin
John Ringo

That list could change depending on my mood. Stephen King, Tom Clancy, C S Friedman, there are just too many I could switch in and out. Some have written an exceptional few books, others write a bunch of books I can always pick up and read, the only thing for sure is every author on my top list will write fiction.

 

[koshergrl]

I tend to like authors who have created works I can read over and over...so I don't go much in for Clancy or the whole espionage thriller genre. They're fun in film form, but reading them, nah, I don't get much literary pleasure out of them.

I like to read authors who can turn a phrase...I like to read for the words themselves. The story has to be a good one but to have staying power with me, the prose must be elegant or otherwise striking.

 

[koshergrl]

I'm also a huge fan of fairy tales...I have Maria Tatar's annotated classic fairy tales and it is fabulous. She's a Harvard academic and she delves into the psychology of fairy tales, and gets into the art that has sprung up around them as well, BESIDES providing the tales themselves...I find it endlessly fascinating.

When I was 10 my sister bought me an earlier edition of the Classic Fairy Tales...I loved that book until finally it fell to pieces, and she replaced it with this one, and it is one of my favorite books. It is always bouncing around the house, my daughter takes it to school with her, it's the go-to book for reading out loud in our house.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Annotated-Classic-Fairy-Tales/dp/0393051633]Amazon.com: The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales (9780393051636): Maria Tatar: Books[/ame]

 

[BDBoop]

Narrowing the list to 5 is very difficult.

I can say easily that my favorite is David Weber. I could read his Honor Harrington series over and over again, and I enjoy his other books as well.

Douglas Adams (if only he'd written more!)
Robert Jordan (if only he'd survived to finish the Wheel of Time!)
George R R Martin
John Ringo

That list could change depending on my mood. Stephen King, Tom Clancy, C S Friedman, there are just too many I could switch in and out. Some have written an exceptional few books, others write a bunch of books I can always pick up and read, the only thing for sure is every author on my top list will write fiction.

I'll have to look up Honor Harrington.

I just ordered Si's Merlin recommendation series, book one.

 

[PredFan]

George Martin - Fantasy
A Scott Berg - Biographies
Stephen King - Horror, fantasy
Michael Shaara - historical
David Wingrove - science fiction

For fantasy, I can read Frank Herbert's Dune series over and over again.

Or, is that sci fi?



Damn, those were great reads.......

Have you read any of his son't prequels? They are very very good.

 

[BDBoop]

I'm also a huge fan of fairy tales...I have Maria Tatar's annotated classic fairy tales and it is fabulous. She's a Harvard academic and she delves into the psychology of fairy tales, and gets into the art that has sprung up around them as well, BESIDES providing the tales themselves...I find it endlessly fascinating.

When I was 10 my sister bought me an earlier edition of the Classic Fairy Tales...I loved that book until finally it fell to pieces, and she replaced it with this one, and it is one of my favorite books. It is always bouncing around the house, my daughter takes it to school with her, it's the go-to book for reading out loud in our house.

Amazon.com: The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales (9780393051636): Maria Tatar: Books

Did you ever read "Beauty" by Sheri Tepper?

On her 16th birthday the princess Beauty sidesteps the sleeping curse placed upon her by her wicked aunt, the fairy Carabosse - only to be kidnapped by visitors from another time and place, far from the picturesque castle in 14th century England. She is taken to the world of the future, a savage society where, even amongst the teeming billions, she is utterly alone. As she travels magically to places both imaginary and real, Beauty eventually comes to understand her special place in humanity's destiny.

She has bits of all the Beauty characters from fairy tales weaving through her story.

 

[PredFan]

I read many authors, 90% are in the Science Fiction genre. My favorites are:

Dan Brown
Douglas Preston/Lincoln Childs

 

[BDBoop]

I read many authors, 90% are in the Science Fiction genre. My favorites are:

Dan Brown
Douglas Preston/Lincoln Childs

Did you start out reading science-fiction, or is it something you discovered later.

 

[koshergrl]

I'm also a huge fan of fairy tales...I have Maria Tatar's annotated classic fairy tales and it is fabulous. She's a Harvard academic and she delves into the psychology of fairy tales, and gets into the art that has sprung up around them as well, BESIDES providing the tales themselves...I find it endlessly fascinating.

When I was 10 my sister bought me an earlier edition of the Classic Fairy Tales...I loved that book until finally it fell to pieces, and she replaced it with this one, and it is one of my favorite books. It is always bouncing around the house, my daughter takes it to school with her, it's the go-to book for reading out loud in our house.

Amazon.com: The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales (9780393051636): Maria Tatar: Books

Did you ever read "Beauty" by Sheri Tepper?

On her 16th birthday the princess Beauty sidesteps the sleeping curse placed upon her by her wicked aunt, the fairy Carabosse - only to be kidnapped by visitors from another time and place, far from the picturesque castle in 14th century England. She is taken to the world of the future, a savage society where, even amongst the teeming billions, she is utterly alone. As she travels magically to places both imaginary and real, Beauty eventually comes to understand her special place in humanity's destiny.

She has bits of all the Beauty characters from fairy tales weaving through her story.

No, but this book shares the history of all the tales inside, and identifies the different tales as they appear in different cultures.

It's a fascinating book. I love it. And it's absolutely beautiful.

 

[American Horse]

Nelson Demille - Crime/suspense/humorous insights
Lee Child - Crime/suspense/action
Vince Flynn - Suspense/action - Political intrigue

Nelson DeMille wrote a book called "The Lions Game," which I read in 2000. In it, a Muslim terrorist sneaks aboard a trans-Atlantic flight and murders the entire passenger and crew. I read this about 1 year before 9-11. When the actual even occurred, I was stunned by the similarity. DeMille does his homework and understood the working and methods of Muslims even before the massive attack. It was, and still is, a chilling book.

Read that one; it was my first by him. Since then I've read everything and even got a copy of "The Agent of Death" (1974). He has a new one scheduled to come out October 16 of this year: "The Panther" CLICK HERE FOR AN EXCERPT

 

[techieny]

I already provided my five, but have to give a nod to Carlos Ruiz Zafon who is an amazing author. just sayin.

 

[Montrovant]

I tend to like authors who have created works I can read over and over...so I don't go much in for Clancy or the whole espionage thriller genre. They're fun in film form, but reading them, nah, I don't get much literary pleasure out of them.

I like to read authors who can turn a phrase...I like to read for the words themselves. The story has to be a good one but to have staying power with me, the prose must be elegant or otherwise striking.

It's odd how completely different that is from me. I never want to really notice the words, I want to be immersed in the story and characters. My favorite books are the ones where I can almost forget that I'm reading, that I 'can't put the book down', that I can read again and still get sucked in. If an author can accomplish that without exceptional word use or striking prose, as you put it, I don't mind.

Different strokes, as the saying goes. For me, whatever the reason for someone enjoying their books, I'm always happy with people who read for pleasure. It is far too much a lost activity in this day and age (and no, I'm not that old, even though I just sounded like it there! )

 

[Montrovant]

George Martin - Fantasy
A Scott Berg - Biographies
Stephen King - Horror, fantasy
Michael Shaara - historical
David Wingrove - science fiction

For fantasy, I can read Frank Herbert's Dune series over and over again.

Or, is that sci fi?



Damn, those were great reads.......

Have you read any of his son't prequels? They are very very good.

Strangely, Dune is one of those classics of my reading choices (fantasy and sci-fi) that I just don't understand the appeal. I've read the first book twice, and wasn't that impressed. I can say the same about the Lord of the Rings books: I've read the series twice, didn't especially like it.

On a related note, Dune (the sci-fi channel miniseries) and the Rings movies are the only 2 instances where I preferred the film format to the books. Well, to be accurate, that may also be true of True Blood, but I'm on the fence there.

 

[koshergrl]

Loved Dune, but did skip around a bit in it, and never went back to read it again.

LOVE Tolkein. I do re-read the LOR trilogy every now and then, and it's always lovely. I don't skip around in it.

I like a good story...I'm not interested in words for words sake...that's why I find pendantic yahoos who just dribble on and on and on mind numbing. I want a story, and I prefer that it be told in an artistic, but not self-conscious, manner.

Love Shakespeare. Love the Bible.

But I love modern stuff too...I love Stephen King, and while I don't think his prose is necessarily poetic, it is certainly effective and riveting. I appreciate it for what it is.
I've read Salem's Lot many times, and always enjoy it.

I don't mind fluff but it needs to be structurally sound (and if it's fluff, I'll forget all about it the next day). If the writing is crap, I don't care how great the story line is, I get distracted and disgusted and will toss it.

 

[Montrovant]

Loved Dune, but did skip around a bit in it, and never went back to read it again.

LOVE Tolkein. I do re-read the LOR trilogy every now and then, and it's always lovely. I don't skip around in it.

I like a good story...I'm not interested in words for words sake...that's why I find pendantic yahoos who just dribble on and on and on mind numbing. I want a story, and I prefer that it be told in an artistic, but not self-conscious, manner.

Love Shakespeare. Love the Bible.

But I love modern stuff too...I love Stephen King, and while I don't think his prose is necessarily poetic, it is certainly effective and riveting. I appreciate it for what it is.
I've read Salem's Lot many times, and always enjoy it.

I don't mind fluff but it needs to be structurally sound (and if it's fluff, I'll forget all about it the next day). If the writing is crap, I don't care how great the story line is, I get distracted and disgusted and will toss it.

King gets unfairly lambasted IMO. No, he isn't a modern Shakespear. No, he isn't doing anything extraordinarily new. No, he's not the greatest writer who ever lived. What he is is an author who can write a good story, something easy to read and compelling enough that you enjoy yourself, and he's someone who's been able to do that over and over (and over and over....) successfully over the course of quite a few years. I don't love all his books or short stories, he's not my favorite author, but I have read at least 20 of his books.

 

[Zander]

I have way more than 5, but here are the ones that pop off the top of my head (with a few of my favorites listed) ....

Philip Roth- Contemporary Fiction Novels (Sabbath's Theatre, American Pastoral)
Lois McMaster Bujold - Science Fiction (Vorkosigan saga - multiple titles)
George RR Martin - Fantasy (Game of Thrones series, Wild Cards)
Walter Mosley - Fiction (Last days of Ptolemy Grey)
David McCullough - Non Fiction Author (John Adams, The Great Bridge)

 

[Zander]

How did you guys discover your favorite authors? I know my daughter and I have gotten each other into a lot of authors. I got her started on Jim Butcher, and she got me on J. K. Rowling.

One way that has been a real eye opener for me, is the book club I joined. We have eight-ten members from varied walks of life. Each month we get to vote on 3 books chosen by the next months "leader" (the leader changes every month). Then we meet the following month after we've read the book, and the "leader" leads a discussion of the book. It has forced me to read a lot of books that I would have never chosen. It's been one of the best things I have ever done.

 

[Ragnar]

Loved Dune, but did skip around a bit in it, and never went back to read it again.

LOVE Tolkein. I do re-read the LOR trilogy every now and then, and it's always lovely. I don't skip around in it.

I like a good story...I'm not interested in words for words sake...that's why I find pendantic yahoos who just dribble on and on and on mind numbing. I want a story, and I prefer that it be told in an artistic, but not self-conscious, manner.

Love Shakespeare. Love the Bible.

But I love modern stuff too...I love Stephen King, and while I don't think his prose is necessarily poetic, it is certainly effective and riveting. I appreciate it for what it is.
I've read Salem's Lot many times, and always enjoy it.

I don't mind fluff but it needs to be structurally sound (and if it's fluff, I'll forget all about it the next day). If the writing is crap, I don't care how great the story line is, I get distracted and disgusted and will toss it.

King gets unfairly lambasted IMO. No, he isn't a modern Shakespear. No, he isn't doing anything extraordinarily new. No, he's not the greatest writer who ever lived. What he is is an author who can write a good story, something easy to read and compelling enough that you enjoy yourself, and he's someone who's been able to do that over and over (and over and over....) successfully over the course of quite a few years. I don't love all his books or short stories, he's not my favorite author, but I have read at least 20 of his books.

I believe that to be true, though I would not include myself among his fans. (or detractors) I only own The Bachman Books and have only read a handful under the King brand. He's a good enough writer and prolific as heck. Credit where it's due.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Near impossible task here but a good question non the less.

I can do top five current "fun" authors to read. (in no particular order)

- Jim Butcher

- Tom Robbins

- Terry Pratchett

- Jasper Fforde

- Neil Gaiman

that Butcher guy writes some good stuff......