List your 10 current favorite authors..

[Little Star]

Come on play with me, lol.

Here are mine:

Craig Johnson
C.J. Box
John D. MacDonald
Steve Martini
Ed McBain
Robert B. Parker
John Sanford
Carolyn Haines
Jeffery Deaver
Michael Connelly


I got this idea when I accidentally responded to a post similar to this in the Syfi group.

[dmallind]

1. Hmm. Current favorites rather than current authors?

Lemesee....

Heller
Rushdie
Pratchett
Jasper Fforde
Eco
Dickens
Ben Elton
Robert Rankin
Calvino
Wodehouse

I'm less eclectic than this may make me seem. I don't so much run the intellectual gamut as leap from one end back to the other without bothering with the middle.

[sharp_stick]

2. Lets see, in no particular order

Neal Stephenson
Steven Ericson
Michael Connelly
David Foster Wallace
Glen Cook
Alan Bradley
Tom McCarthy (really like this one)
Julia Child (love me some French cookin')
China Mieville
Don DeLillo

[TBF]

3. current fiction -

margaret atwood
tana french
deborah crombie
louise penny
anna quinland
david baldacci
charles finch
peter robinson
jk rowling

and stieg larsson - books are current but he is deceased

[Little Star]

4. Dang! I forgot Baldacci on my list.

I love the comments he makes at the end of some of his books. Makes me feel like he is directly admonishing me, lol.

[TBF]

5. Baldacci is a great story teller - I used to listen

to his books on audio when I was driving back & forth to grad school (kept me awake on that two hour drive!)

[FSogol]

6. Here's mine (in no particular order)

Sherman Alexie
Colson Whitehead
Paul Murray
Joshua Ferris
Brock Clarke
Steven Hockensmith (not for his horror work)
Michael Chabon
Jonathan Safran Foer
Terry Pratchett

I defined current as living and currently working.

On deceased authors, I've currently been reading everything by John Irving (vastly underrated in Amer. Lit. and PG Wodehouse. I've read 36 of Wodehouse's 99 novels and 8 of Irving's 18.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

10. I believe Irving is still alive

I sure hope he is, anyway. I freaked when I read your post, and double checked on Wikipedia.

[FSogol]

12. Glad he's still with us. n/t

[Lex]

7. My 10 are . . .

Louise Penny
Jonathan Kellerman
Margaret Maron
Laura Lippman
Erik Larson
Steven Saylor
Martin Clark
Sarah Waters
Katy Munger
David Sedaris

[Louisiana1976]

8. Here are my 10:

Stephen King
Dean Koontz
Danielle Steel
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
David Baldacci
Lee Child
Stuart Woods
Jackie Collins
Jonathan Kellerman

[Little Star]

9. A reader after my own heart. I like your list.

[seabeyond]

46. koonts, childs and roberts would go on my list. nt

[mvccd1000]

11. Sounds like we have similar tastes...

John D. MacDonald
Robert B. Parker
Michael Connelly
James Lee Burke
Brian Haig
Nelson DeMille
Elmore Leonard
Loren D. Estleman
Stephen Hunter
Marcus Wynne

A couple of your others are right up there among my favs, but since you limited us so narrowly to 10....

[HarryPowell]

13. Off the top of my head

James Agee
John Steinbeck
Charles Dickens
Donald E. Westlake
James Elroy
Walt Whitman
Salman Rushdie
John Rechy
Samuel R. Delaney
Ray Bradbury

[clyrc]

14. My ten

Tanith Lee

Dorothy Dunnett

Lionel Shriver

Elisabeth George

Barbara Nadel

Isak Dinesen

Gregory Macguire

Colette

Garrison Keillor

Anais Nin

[peacefreak]

15. Ten for me.

Howard Frank Mosher
Stephen King
Alice Hoffman
Donald Harington (has anyone else ever read him?)
Nora Roberts
Sandra Dallas
Tess Gerritsen
Christopher Moore
Armisted Maupin
Lee Smith

[japple]

16. Okay, here's my favorite 12

James McBride
Barbara Kingsolver
Toni Morrison
Louise Erdrich
Paulette Jiles
David Sedaris
T. C. Boyle
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
David Anthony Durham
Lee Smith
Larry McMurtry
Margaret Atwood

[fadedrose]

17. Craig Johnson

Read his last book, HELL IS EMPTY, and was so so disappointed. The last half of the book was all about the weather and his suffering...

He lost his sense of humor somewhere and had the nerve to kill off one of my favorite characters, and there are many in his books that I do like.

He has one due in May 2012 and I so hope that he finds his way back to the trail and I'd love to join him.

Favorites now are: James D. Doss, Sharyn McCrumb, Christopher Fowler, Louise Penney -recent ones, but there are more than 10 authors that I haven't read for 6 months or so and their names aren't coming to my old mind. Hate to omit any good ones.

[JitterbugPerfume]

18. this isn't as easy as it appears!

Margaret Atwood

Barbara Kingsolver

Kim Stanley Robinson

Philip K Dick

Sarah Vowell

Richard Dawkins

George Orwell

Adolus Huxley

John Steinbeck

Susan Jacoby

a weird mix but there ya are!

[Little Star]

23. I agree it really wasn't easy....

But you came up with a great list.

[JitterbugPerfume]

41. thanks darlin'

[Little Star]

42. Hey there Jitterbug....

I've been meaning to ask you if you've read Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna?

I haven't read it but heard it was good.

[JitterbugPerfume]

43. I have read it

and I love it .
I think it is right up there with Poisonwood Bible.

[Richardo]

51. I forgot Sarah Vowell on my list!

I should amend.

[Are_grits_groceries]

19. My list:

Peter Bowen

Jeffrey Deaver

Kent Haruf

Barbara Kingsolver

Pat Conroy

Craig Johnson (He's an interesting guy. We've emailed back and forth several times after I commented about how much I liked his first book)

Harlan Coben

Dana Stabenow

Nevada Barr

Alan Bradley
(Bradley's main character is a hoot! Her name is Flavian de Luce and she is 11 years old. She lives in a decaying English mansion which happens to have a great chemistry lab in a part of it. It was left by an eccentrics relative. She solves crimes, whips up poisons or concoctions to bedevil her sister, and is generally a snoop. In her latest novel, she is making a potion to catch Santa. As outlandish as this may seem, the author makes it work. I love mysteries with a different hook that hold together.)

[seabeyond]

47. dana stabenow

I read two of hers that is a series. Really enjoyed. Then I found out the main male character was killed and I couldn't read anymore. But enjoyed the first couple.

[ceile]

20. Ok.

Harlan Coben
Caleb Carr
Val McDermid
Ian Rankin
PD James
Caroline Graham
Dennis Lehane
Colin Dexter
Henning Mankell
Walter Mosley

[TheCentepedeShoes]

21. I read a lot of mysteries

often those set in earlier times
My favorites in that genre are...
Louise Penny - always my number one, modern Quebec
Rennie Airth - 30's 40's England
Nicola Upson - main character is mystery writer Josephine Tey, 30's England
Charles Finch - got the latest from the library, will start tomorrow, later 19th c England
A D Scott - need to get the newest one, 50's Scotland
Jacqueline Winspeare - 30's England
Barbara Cleverley - 20's England, India, France, Greece
Nancy Pickard - Kansas today - I think her cousin is on DU
Catriona McPhereson - 20's England
Charles Todd - mother/son writing team, 20's England
Ann Cleeves - well I like her up to her last book when she did something not so nice, modern Shetland Islands

These are just ones that are currently writing
I cannot imagine the dead authors I could come up with like Ngaio Marsh, John Dickinson Carr, uh...Josephine Tey

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. I like your list!

My personal favorites:

Susan Hill--mystery series set in a small English cathedral town that seems remarkably like Wells
Peter Robinson--Yorkshire cop relocated from London
Arnaldur Indridason--police procedurals set in Iceland
Ruth Rendell--wide variety of stories with psychological twists, also the Inspector Wexford series
James Lee Burke--Dave Robicheaux, Cajun retired cop
Faye Kellerman--mysteries featuring a couple who are Orthodox Jews in Los Angeles
Reginald Hill--the Dalziel and Pascoe series
Colin Cotterill--mysteries set in Laos
Peter James--a new discovery--mysteries set in Brighton
James Church--mysteries set in North Korea

Honorable mention: Val McDermid, Deborah Crombie, Elizabeth George, Louise Penny, Karin Fossum, Miyuki Miyabe, Dana Stabenow, Jacqueline Winspeare, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Charles Todd, Ann Cleeves, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, John Sandford (because of the Minnesota connection), William Kent Krueger (another Minnesota author), Andrew Taylor.

All of these are authors whose latest works I look for when I visit my friendly and knowledgeable local mystery bookstore, Uncle Edgar's.

On the whole, I like the Brits when it comes to mysteries. They tend to have more psychological and sociological depth than most American mysteries. I used to read cozies, but I no longer bother.

[leftyladyfrommo]

49. Nancy Pickard's cousin is on DU - that would be me.

She's working on her next book. But her mother has been pretty ill (she's 95) and that mayed have slowed things down. She isn't a writer who sits down every day and writes for 4 hours or something. She waits until the story is ready and then she writes it as it comes.

[motely36]

22. hmm...10...

In no order

Douglas Preston
Lincoln Child - Both together and seperate
Greg Iles
Rick Riodan
JK Rowlings
Dean Koontz
George RR Martin
Ken Follett
Marc Acito
Frank Anthony Polito

[waddirum]

24. my list (only 8 authors so far)

Isabelle Allende
Salman Rushdie
Philip Roth
Nelson Algren
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
James Michener
Saul Bellow
Isaac Bashevis Singer

[Moe Shinola]

25. Here's my current 10...

F. Paul Wilson
Charles Stross
Tony Hillerman
Dorothy Parker
Len Deighton
Mervyn Peake
George V. Higgins
Andre Norton
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Philip K. Dick

[Starboard Tack]

26. My top 10 current (living) authors

James Lee Burke
T.C. Boyle
Stephen Hunter
Stephen White
John Lescroart
Ken Follett
Pat Conroy
Russell Banks
Greg Iles - (Only read Blood Memory)
Michael Connolly

And I must include an 11th - Peter Temple (Australian) - Just finishing "The Broken Shore" if you like at least 2 of my top five, you'll love this guy.

[mainer]

27. I find it interesting how few women make the lists of favorites

Quite a few lists have 10/10 men or 9/10. Women seem to have little or no merit for these readers.

Do women writers just not exist for some readers?

[Little Star]

28. I'm a woman and...

I have noticed before that I tend to like more books written by males. I don't know why that is.

[mainer]

29. I notice this is true even for books "written" by men that are actually ghostwritten by women

Readers still prefer books with male authors' names on the covers. Which is why so many female writers go by initials these days.

[Little Star]

30. I wonder if I have ever read a book that..

was ghostwritten by a women that I thought was a man.

Interesting!

[mainer]

31. Possibly you have. But you'll never know it!

I know of several "guy" book series that women have successfully been ghostwriting.

[seabeyond]

32. afraid someone might say they are reading "romance" and know the ridicule for it. lol

i was surprised a poster putting nora roberts, though a man and i were talking about her a couple months ago and he really enjoys reading her.

[Onceuponalife]

55. Yes, the sci-fi writer C.J. Cherryh is a woman

so was Andre Norton.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. See my list

A lot of the best mystery writing is by women

[seabeyond]

33. didnt count how many.... no order

sherrilyn kenyon
jayne ann kentz
john sanford
iris johansen
nora roberts/jd robb
kay hooper
lee childs
koontz
christina dodd
christine feehan
cindy gerard
tara janzen
karen robards
suzanne brockman
susan mallory
monica mcarty

[fadedrose]

36. Little Star - Johnson has another one coming out in May,

As the Crow Flies, and I hope it's better than the last one. Up until I read Hell Is Empty, Craig Johnson was one of my most favorite authors. I liked the first half of the book and hated the last quarter.
I looked at Amazon to see what they had on the new one, and it sounds like it might be good - planning a wedding and Indian troubles.

I checked the reviews for Hell Is Empty, and it had 4 stars instead of his usual 5. One reviewer felt the same way as I, and I copied it:

3.0 stars. One long chase scene. I've been a fan of Johnson's earlier books in this series, but this one fell flat for me. It's high on Native American mysticism and low on plot. It is essentially not a mystery, but a lengthy chase scene, in which our hero encounters one force of nature after another--wild animals, snowstorm, fire, etc. After a short while, this gets old. Stylistically, the writing is...
Read the full review ›
Published 4 months ago by Elizabeth S.

I agree. There was too little humor and too much nature.

Did you ever get around to reading the last one? What did you think?

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/J_Authors/Johnson_Craig.html

[Little Star]

37. Hi Rose...

I am so far behind on my reading these last 6 months or so. I have a ton of books in hardcopy and tons more ebooks on my Kindle. Thats ok by me though because once my husband gets retired (4 or 5 yrs) and we hopefully move south I'll have plenty of reading to keep me entertained.

But no I haven't read Hell is Empty yet. One of the things I like when I read is the sense of place. Wyoming as a setting was a plus for me in Johnson's other books. Though I must admit I enjoyed his writing style and his wit a lot. So your saying it lacked much humor kinda worries me.

As the Crow Flies will have to wait for me to buy because I only read paperback hardcopy books because they are lighter to hold. That usually means that I'm a year behind the original hard cover release.

I only get ebooks for my Kindle that are either a new to me series or a stand alone. I'm a little ocd I think.

[fadedrose]

38. Be careful what you wish for...

"Him" retiring ain't a cherry on the cake. They tend to get between you and whatever you're working on - cooking and lots of stuff that you didn't need his help to accomplish before, and all of a sudden he has a slower and harder way to get the same thing done, in more time.

Anyway, whenever you get the chance, visit your library website and take a trip over. Here, they get the books ready and anybody with your card can pick them up...no bending, standing on benches, etc., which is a lifesaver for me with my make pretend knee. I love the prices, can't beat free...

Take it easy, kid..

[Nay]

39. Harlen Coben, Lee Child, C.J. Box(just found him! Read all in a few weeks!)

[fadedrose]

40. You found him just in time...

Box's next one due 3/20/12 - Force of Nature. I like Box a lot...


http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Box_C-J.html

[pscot]

44. Here are 10 who spring somewhat laboriously to mind

Another time I'd give you a completely different list.

Isaac Babel
Daniel Dennett
Dorothy Dunnett
James Gleick
Joseph Heller
Franz Kafka
Samuel Pepys
Sir Terry Pratchett
Shakespeare
Neal Stephenson

[bluethruandthru]

45. Just ten....?

John Grisham
Patricia Cornwell
Iris Johansen
Elizabeth George
Michael Connelly
Brad Meltzer
Kathy Reichs
David Baldacci
Anita Shreve
Jonathan Kellerman

[SheilaT]

48. Just off the top of my head,

and without a lot of thought:

Lee Child
Andrew Pyper
Robert Charles Wilson
Robert Sawyer
Gavin Lambert (although he may be dead)
Harry Turtledove (but not his fantasy stuff)
Jack McDevitt
Zoe Ferraris (although she only has two books out so far. A third is on the way)
Thomas Mallon (He's amazing, and not as well known as he deserves to be)
John Nance, mainly for his non-fiction. His book on earthquakes is incredible

[Richardo]

50. Here we go...

Michael Connelly
Carl Hiaasen
Ian Rankin
David Sedaris
Lewis Carroll
Mark Twain
Christopher Buckley
Tina Fey
David McCulloch
Erik Larsen

[Richardo]

52. ...and Sarah Vowell

Thanks, JitterbugPerfume

[JitterbugPerfume]

53. you are welcome Ricardo!

Am I correct that we share a birthday--Nov22?

[Richardo]

54. You are correct...

...we're twins!

[Onceuponalife]

56. I assume by "current authors" you mean living authors

Otherwise I would certainly list Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., J. R. R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.

So 10 living authors just off the top of my head that I enjoy...

John Irving
Pat Conroy
Tom Robbins
Stephen King
Ursula K. Le Guin
Stephen Baxter
Anne Rice (her older stuff)
Peter F. Hamilton
Neal Stephenson
Larry McMurtry

I could go on and on but those will suffice for now...

[DUgosh]

57. Hard to choose

Joshilyn Jackson
Stieg Larsson
Kate Atkinson
Margaret Maron
Mary Kay Andrews
L A Meyer
M C Beaton
Sue Grafton
Kate Wilhelm
Perri OShaunessy