Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Authors

A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

How do you choose all-time favorite authors? An impossible task! I needed criteria. I think that in order to call an author an all-time favorite I need to have read more than one book or more than one series. I need a broader scope of their work to put them on this list. Therefore I had to leave off some favorite books because they didn't meet that criteria. So while this may not be the best or most accurate list but this is what I'm doing.

1.) Lois Lowry
Books Read: The Giver, Number the Stars, Gossamer
I met Lois Lowry a few years ago at book festival and I basically died. I love her so much. She's such a prolific writer and it doesn't matter what she writes it's emotional and captivating.

2.) Gregory Maguire
Books Read: Wicked, Son of A Witch, A Lion Among Men, Out of Oz, Egg and Spoon, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
So I haven't loved everything I've read of his but he does adult fairy tale retellings so well! I'm a huge fan of The Wicked Years and his YA, Egg and Spoon, isn't half bad either!

3.) Brandon Sanderson
Books Read: Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages, The Alloy of Law, Steelheart, Firefight, Legion, Legion: Skin Deep
Obviously! Last year was my year of Sanderson. So many of these books became instant favorites and I cannot wait to read more of his books. Next up for me is probably The Stormlight Archives.

4.) Rainbow Rowell
Books Read: Fangirl, Eleanor & Park, Attachments, Landline
Rainbow Rowell is everything. I have read all her books and I have loved all her books. It's impossible to pick a favorite, they are all so good.

5.) Louisa May Alcott
Books Read: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys
I know I'm a broken record on LMA. I just adore this series so much. I even broke my rule to include her but how could I not. I regret nothing! I do want to read some of her other work espeically after reading The Revelation of Louisa May.

6.) Henry James
Books Read: The Portrait of A Lady, The Turn of the Screw
I like reading classic but sometimes I just don't connect with the book. That has never been the case with Henry James. Whether it's a parody of Regency romances or a Gothic ghost story, I love his books.

7.) Milan Kundera
Books Read: The Joke, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Immortality
If I want to sound pretentious I mention how much Milan Kundera I have read and how my favorite book of his is The Joke. It's a thing I do sometimes.

8.) Elizabeth Kostova
Books Read: The Historian, The Swan Thieves
The Historian is one of my all-time favorite books. And The Swan Thieves is also quite delightful. But Kostova is mostly on this list because I want her to write more books!

9.) Libba Bray
Books Read: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing, Beauty Queens
I still need to read The Diviners but if it's anything like Libba Bray's other novels I will love it. She writes some truly great characters and I always connect with her themes about humanity.

10.) Victoria Schwab
Books Read: Vicious, A Darker Shade of Magic
I know I need to read The Archived... I will. I especially know I need to read it because I absolutely loved Victoria's adult novels. ADSOM became an instant favorite and Vicious is so brilliant!

Bonus Entry:
J.K. Rowling
Books Read: The Harry Potter Series
So this is me once again breaking my rule and adding an author even though I've only read one series by them, but it's such a good series it has to be on the list. Plus it's a bonus entry so it doesn't count. I mean seriously, J.K. Rowling is queen. She gave us Harry Potter.

That's my list. Who are some of your top authors of all-time. Do you love any of these authors? What do you consider and all-time favorite author. Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

14 comments:

  1. I have J.K. Rowling on my list too. Lois Lowry and Louisa May Alcott are great choices, I've only read them recently though. Some of the others I'm not as familiar with. I wish I had setup some criteria, it was hard coming up with a list of ten, yours seems to be a nice mixture. Happy reading!

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  2. Great list!! Have you read the Wheel of Time series? I'm pretty sure Brandon Sanderson wrote the last few books after the original author died.

    Tracy @ Cornerfolds

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  3. I have Victoria Schwab too!! ANDDD I also need to read The Diviner haha!

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  4. How did I forget Lois Lowry? Wow! Love her books. Great list!
    Check out my Top 10

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  5. The Diviners is SO good.... I can't wait for the sequel to come out!! I hope you love the 1st one as much as I did.

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  6. Great idea to help narrow down the list. JK Rowling made mine as well. If I had your criteria, she would still make it - I have read all the Harry Potter's, A Casual Vacancy and The Cuckoo's Calling. All fabulous. (But the last two are very different from Potter!)

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  7. Nice! I forgot to mention Rowling as my bonus pick! It's kind of an unspoken thing that she and Harry are always included in the Top Ten posts! LOL! Great picks! I also remember enjoying The Historian! Was before I had too many other books to read that I stumbled upon it!

    Here's my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  8. Hey, we both added Rowling as our 11th author. :P Nice list. I've read most of them, though not to the extent you clearly have. (Sanderson has been on my to do list for a while.) Funnily, I despised The Turn of the Screw when I read it in high school, but I feel like I should read it again. I think I'd appreciate it more now.

    C.J.
    Sarcasm & Lemons

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  9. Sanderson, Rowell, Schwab, Rowling!!! So many awesome authors. I haven't read anything by Maguire besides his Wicked series and I love Lois Lowry! I haven't read any of the other authors. I need to add them to the TBR list!

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  10. I just bought Mistborn this week. Everyone just raves about the series, so I'm super excited to start it. I loved A Darker Shade of Magic too, so good!

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  11. Lois Lowry and Ms. Rowell both made my list as well. As did Rowling, of course, but, you're right, it's almost perfunctory to include her, since she's bound to be on every single list this week anyway.

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  12. I haven't read a good majority of the authors on your list. But there are several here that I really need to read!
    I do really love Rainbow Rowell, though I still need to read E&P and Fangirl.
    And did read one of Victoria Schwab's books recently. I LOVED Vicious. So I am really looking forward to reading her other books.
    And Libba Bray, I really need to read her books. I have the first two for A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy.
    Great list!

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  13. Great list! Rainbow Rowell made my list too. I love everything she does. :)

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  14. Great list, so many fantastic authors. Rowling made my list too. She had to because that woman wrote HP!

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