Friday, April 25, 2008

LISTS: Authors from A - Z

Who are my favorite and newly favorite authors?

Lizzy Siddal made a list, and I thought it was a great idea. It's a combination of old standbys and authors I've recently discovered, and loved, so much so that I'm trying to find all their books and squeeze them into my reading list. But if you ask me tomorrow, half of these would change, lol. I've seen versions of this where you have to list your favorite book by the author, but lizzysiddal did it this way, and I'm not prepared to make that big of a decision tonight.


A - Jean Auel - I love the Earth Children series, but I've read them all
B - Maeve Binchy - I think I have read all her books now, except of few short stories
C - Douglas Coupland - I haven't read nearly enough of his books yet
D - Sarah Dunant - I've only read Birth of Venus, but I loved it
E - Jeffrey Eugenides - I'm not sure about him;notice I didn't bold his name. I loved Middlesex and didn't like The Virgin Suicides at all. I need another one to test him out.

F - Jasper Fforde - loving the Thursday Next books
G - Phillipa Gregory - the first historical novel was fabulous and I'm looking for another
H - Charlaine Harris - I devoured her Shapespeare mysteries, and will start her other mysteries soon

I - Kazou Ishiguro - loved the first two I've read. His quiet style is sneakily wonderful
J -
K -Stephen King/Sophie Kinsella - they seldom let me down
L - Lois Lowry - a new author, but The Giver is so wonderful, that she can make the list
M - David Mitchell - I think he could become a favorite author, I'll try another book to make sure

N -
O -
P - Orhan Pamuk - His two nonfiction books have been fab, I'm anxious to try his fiction
Q - Paul Quarrington - I'll be honest, I haven't read a lot of Q authors, so he is winning by default
R - Mordecai Richler - He's got a big list of books I haven't read yet, but I liked Duddy Kravitz a lot, and don't forget about Jacob Two-Two

S - Jerry Spinelli - another new author, and people rave about Stargirl
T -
U -
V - Sarah Vowell - I found her first book Assassination Vacation rather funny and I'd like to try another of hers. If I had read more Vonnegut, he might make the list
W -
X -
Y -
Z - Markus Zusak - He hasn't written enough books yet. Hurry up!

Do we have a lot of the same authors listed? Do I love an author you hate? Do you have any suggestions for my empty letters?

14 comments:

  1. wI might have to try this. Give my brain a nice work out. I agree with your Markus Zusak comment... hurry up already!!!

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  2. I started off enjoying the Earth's Children series but found it slipped in quality. Richler would definitely make my list too, though I haven't read enough. That's one of my problems. I try to read so many different authors that I neglect those I'd probably enjoy more.

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  3. I am going to copy this post idea from you (later today - after football games!). =) I also like Sarah Dunant but have only read two of her books. And Zusak, as you know, rocks the kasbah.

    Enjoy your Saturday!
    Jill

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  4. suey - some letters, like Z, were certainly easier than others.

    john - I only read the Earth's Children series a few years ago, just before she published the last book. The later ones weren't the same, but I still enjoyed the epicness of them. There are a few authors like Richler that I put on the list based on only one book, but I have high hopes.

    jill- I have a second Dumant to read, eventually. Zusak rocks.

    Football games? Do your boys play? We are soccer/baseball this time of year. Well, not baseball yet, but soon.

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  5. If you liked "The Birth of Venus", try "In The Company of the Courtesan" by Dunant. I liked that one even more! (There's a review on my blog if you want to check it out.) And I haven't read any of the Tuesday Next series from Fford, but I adore his Nursery Crimes.

    Great list!
    Lezlie

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  6. Some days I get up too early. I spelled Fforde wrong, and is it "Thursday Next"? Geez. I made a mess of that! :-)

    Lezlie

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  7. lezlie - I have The Courtesan here, waiting patiently to be read. Glad to hear it is even better than Venus. I didn't even notice Tuesday instead of Thursday:) I've read the first 2 books, and enjoyed both a lot. The Eyre Affair is the first one to try.

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  8. I LOVE Jasper Fforde! I really want a pet dodo now.

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  9. mariel - there are so many things about Fforde's world that I love, dodos among them.

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  10. I think I've read all of Maeve Binchy's books as well. :D

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  11. Here's a suggestion.. have you tried reading any book by V.S.Naipaul? He's a nobel laureate..but his books are really simple and fun to read.. i would recommend Miguel Street if you havent read any as yet..:)

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  12. trish - love, love love Binchy.

    ramya - thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into V.S.Naipaul.

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  13. Hmmm...how about William Trevor. Irish writer, brilliant short story writer. He's amazing in a very quiet, subtle way.

    I've read a couple of books by Larry Watson (Orchard being my favorite) that are really good.

    Julie Orringer has a wonderful short fiction collection called How to Breathe Underwater. I wish she'd hurry up and publish another book.

    I love David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is one of my all-time favorite books.

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  14. How about James Joyce and JRR Tolkien? Can't think of any others this late at night....I'm going to do this, watch for my list tomorrow. What a fun idea!!! And a great way to know who you like - as well as the challenge with herding the cats, which I have yet to join and have made my list already!!...

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Thanks for commenting, so nice of you to visit.

(I'll try without the letters for a while - so please dont be a spammer! Let's try no anonymous users)