Show & Tell: NieNie Asks -- Who Is Your Favorite Author?

Brandon Mull is awesome. He is a fantasy writer, and has a great imagination. I don't know if I like the Fablehavven series, or the book, Candy Shop Wars best. He is LDS so everything is clean, which is always a plus. Read Brandon Mull's books!! brandonmull.com

Brenda

http://www.grrlguide.com/

Oh, I hate this question because as a writer myself I should have a ready list, I know I should. I don't. I have favorite books that I re-read. I can't commitment to just one author, and I fear if I confessed aloud to the world what tickles my fancy I'd be judged. It's eclectic, my list of books. I like the writer who isn't afraid to make me work, who challenges, makes me laugh and cry, takes me to the darker side of the human soul, whose prose makes me green with envy, whose words I copy in my sentence/word journal that I carry around. And like Candelaria says below, I am always hunting and discovering new and old voices to add to my list.

Brenda

Well, my very favorite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Not to say that she is my favorite author of all time, but I do love her work. I feel enlightened and uplifted as I read her beautiful words. And smarter. Imagine that.

most of my reads are by women authors.

Why? Because I've read my a fair amount of male authors in my 'previous life'. I crossed gender lines at 48, and I have a lifetime of catching up to do, with only a limited amount of time to get it done (the age thing.) In effect, I am a walking gender sponge. ;-)

I've read Austen's Mansfield Park... good read.

nellewrites ( http://nellewrites.wordpress.com/ )

she's only written a few, but my current fav author is Nicole Krauss
like others here, I've had different favorites at different times - a big list that evolves along with my lifes time

William Shakespeare
Oscar Wilde
Louisa May Alcott
Robert Frost
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Emily Dickinson
Tennessee Williams
Pablo Neruda
Sandra Cisneros
John Steinbeck
and of course...
Ernest Hemingway
Believe it or not, this is the short list.

Pat Conroy for The Prince of Tides: The movie was a disappointment but the book is still the best, most beautiful contemporary epic from the "Southern" literature milieu.

John Steinbeck for Cannery Row: Hilarious, tragic, compelling, a bright shining window on a particular time and place in California. And even though it's over 50 years old, not dated at all. It still sings.

Alice Hoffman for her entire body of work, but especially Fortune's Daughter and Seventh Heaven. Only Ms. Hoffman can make suburbia seem so magical.

Kate Mosse, Jodi Picoult, Kris Radish, Octavia Butler, Sue Monk Kidd, Isabel Allende, Tess Gerritsen, Kathy Reichs, Elizabeth Lowell, Anita Shreve, Anita Diamante, Margaret Atwood, and on and on and on...

nellewrites ( http://nellewrites.wordpress.com/ )

I think I got hooked when I read A Tale of Two Cities. But my absolute all time favorite Dickens book is David Copperfield.

I love Maeve Binchy for fun vacation type reads.
I am impressed with Kathryn Stockett, can't wait for her sophomore book.
Tova Mirvis is a favorite too, I like how she explores modern jewish life.
Victor Hugo- amazing!

My favorite author is Shane Claibourne. His book "Irresistible Revolution" talks about how to effectively live in community and love each other. Love him!

My favorite authors all have writing strengths that I do not utilize in my own writing.

Tom Wolfe: objectivity, with great imagery.

Tom Robbins: Idealism, and tight wordcraft.

John Irving: Poignancy.

Oddly, all these men use much more flowery language than I am comfortable using. And they are all irreverent.

Hoping to learn from them; knowing I'll laugh with them.

His novels are often very dark but I always finish with a sense of hope and resilience in humanity.

My other favorite are a team-Bodie and Brock Thoene. They write historical fiction and have an awesome series titled The Zion Chronicles which covers Isreal and the struggles there for Christians and Jews after World War II.

I'm drawn to female authors. I love Jane Austen, but I don't think I could pick a favorite.

I love Madeline L'Engle. So creative, faith-filled family-centered. From the Wrinkle in Time series to her Crosswicks Journal about her family challenges...to her marvelous Christmas stories.

I loved Louisa May Alcott as a child and I will read anything set in an English/Irish countryside by Rosamunde Pilcher or Maeve Binchy!

I read "Anthem" by Ayn Rand in 11th grade and it changed my life, maybe I didn't grasp her greater ideas on life, socialism and her political views, but I loved this idea that we need to embrace our individualism, or else the core of who we are as human beings can become lost. I loved the idea that even when lost, it can be found again and the essence of life is never gone, just sometimes lost. The idea that people can also find that individualism in coming together with another person helped me know that a marriage relationship nurtures and supports the soul and brings out your invididuality, it does not suppress it.
I don't know, that was new to me and stuck with me forever. I probably actually missed the whole point of the book,lol.

I'd probably say Norton Juster; just because The Phantom Tollbooth changed my life.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.c... ). Her novel about blogging is Life from Scratch ( http://www.life-from-scratch.com/ ).

( http://www.flickr.com/photos/veesees/1479303458/ )

Virginia DeBolt writes about web design education and web technology ( http://www.webteacher.ws/ ) at Web Teacher. She creates a daily writing prompt ( http://first50.wordpress.com ) at First 50 Words.

I am still discovering wonderful new writers every single day. I don't have favorites. I am thrilled that there is a world of highly skilled authors that I discover every week through my shelfari connections and reading blogs, reviews, etc. I couldn't pick a favorite. I like the variety. I fall in love with a good book and a new author on a regular basis. Falling in love again...and again...is wondeful.

http://blog.candelariasilva.com ( http://blog.candelarisilva.com/ )

Good and plenty!