Ooh. A random selection of fiction authors, some of it would be different tomorrow...
Diana Wynne Jones - Fantasy: mostly children's, some adults'; all awesome. Dorothy L Sayers - '20s and '30s detective novels, fabulous characters, convoluted plots, always teaches you more than you'd ever want to know about something random (eg bellringing). Jim Butcher - Dresden Files series is urban fantasy, totally kick-ass and beautifully plotted. Codex Alera is his take on high fantasy, also pretty good. Christopher Brookmyre - Scottish dark, dark comedy crime fiction. AS Byatt - Just absolutely beautiful writing.
Also the usual suspects: Pterry, Gaiman, Jasper Fforde, Ian Rankin, Rowling, etc, etc.
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky, I hope I spelled that right since I like him that much. I had read Crime and Punishment as a teenager and fell in love with that book. I have no such strong feelings about other writers, so it's just one. If forced to say more then probably Josh Lanyon, very clever, knows what it takes to write a good romance.
Its very difficult for me to narrow it down to 5 but here goes:
Truman Capote
Gabriel Garcia Marquese (sp)
Bruce Chatwin
William Trevor
Beryl Bainbridge.
I love so many authors, so many books of all genres but these authors above all with their penmanship took me to another world. I have read all of the books written by all of the above and sad that there will be no more except perhaps Trevor.
The authors who I usually buy the hard-backs rather than wait include:
Iain (M) Banks – Scottish sci-fi (‘Use of Weapons’ & Culture series) and general author (‘Wasp Factory’ ‘Crow Road’ ‘Complicity’)
Terry Pratchett – fantasy author and national treasure (Discworld e.g. ‘Mort’)
Ben Elton – dark humorist (‘Stark’ ‘Inconceivable’ ‘Dead Famous’ ‘First Casualty’)
Bernard Cornwell – historical adventure (‘Sharpe’ series, ‘Stonehenge’ ‘Azincourt’)
Ian Mackall-Smith – Scottish general author plus No.1 Ladies Detectives Agency series
I also like to read autobiographies, but most sensible people limit the number of autobiographical books they publish – recent ones have included Richard Pryor, Julie Walters, Theo Paphitis, Janet Street-Porter, James Caan and Christopher Lee.
1. Haruki Murakami
2. Michell Houllebecq
3. Stephen King
4. Chuck Palahniuk
5. Natsuo Kirino
Inactive?
1. Fyodor Doestevsky
2. Steig Larsson
3. Charles Dickens
4. CS Lewis (best children's books EVER!)
5. Philip K Dick
How the f*ck did I miss THIS post? Houellebecq I LOVE, though I disagree with him on pretty much EVREY concept ever- that said, his book on Lovecraft pretty much NAILED Lovercraft's misanthropy as an artistic force, and The Possibility Of An Island was beautiful in the way that Platform and Atomised deliberately (seemingly to me anyway) weren't...
And Natsuo Kirino- well. She's just ace. Out, I must confess, was better in the journey than the conclusion (though the first hundred pages or so were PROPERLY gripping), but Grotesque was wonderful, and Real World was actually a work of genius; like Mishima's Runaway Horses retold by children.
Comments
Interesting, because I have no idea who any of them are, apart from Stephen King, or what they've written.
I don't even know what genre(s), if any, they write in.
Gene Wolfe.
William Gaddis.
Thomas Pynchon.
William Gibson.
Alice Hoffman.
Though I haven't read anything by any of them recently.
I think I'd replace Martina Cole and Philippa Gregory with Marian Keyes and Nicci French.
I love Philpa gregory.
Clive Cussler
Jane Austin
Kate Mosse
C J Samsom
I would not say, they are my favourite five, just five writers i love. I love so many I think it is impossible to pick just five:)
Of course
And your vote for Gregory has made up for me taking her off my list
Diana Wynne Jones - Fantasy: mostly children's, some adults'; all awesome.
Dorothy L Sayers - '20s and '30s detective novels, fabulous characters, convoluted plots, always teaches you more than you'd ever want to know about something random (eg bellringing).
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files series is urban fantasy, totally kick-ass and beautifully plotted. Codex Alera is his take on high fantasy, also pretty good.
Christopher Brookmyre - Scottish dark, dark comedy crime fiction.
AS Byatt - Just absolutely beautiful writing.
Also the usual suspects: Pterry, Gaiman, Jasper Fforde, Ian Rankin, Rowling, etc, etc.
If you love Jane Austen you should read Georgette Hayer. Wonderful, fantastically authentic regency romances.
Christopher Brookmyre
Colin Bateman
Harlan Coben
Simon Kernick
Lee Child
Erica James
Mark Billingham
Bill Bryson
CJ Sansom
If I thought about it for longer it might be slightly different but that's my immediate list, which reflects pretty well the different genres I like.
James Herbert
Alison Weir
Alice Sebold
Peter James
All completely different but all equally good in their own ways.
Michael Connelly
Lee Child
Harlan Coben
Greg Iles
These are the authors I rush out and buy as soon as a new one comes out. All the same kind of genre ... crime/thriller.
Honourable mentions go to Linwood Barclay and James Patterson ( some, but not all )
Truman Capote
Gabriel Garcia Marquese (sp)
Bruce Chatwin
William Trevor
Beryl Bainbridge.
I love so many authors, so many books of all genres but these authors above all with their penmanship took me to another world. I have read all of the books written by all of the above and sad that there will be no more except perhaps Trevor.
D.H. Lawrence
Virginia Woolf
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Katherine Mansfield
Jane Austen
Iain (M) Banks – Scottish sci-fi (‘Use of Weapons’ & Culture series) and general author (‘Wasp Factory’ ‘Crow Road’ ‘Complicity’)
Terry Pratchett – fantasy author and national treasure (Discworld e.g. ‘Mort’)
Ben Elton – dark humorist (‘Stark’ ‘Inconceivable’ ‘Dead Famous’ ‘First Casualty’)
Bernard Cornwell – historical adventure (‘Sharpe’ series, ‘Stonehenge’ ‘Azincourt’)
Ian Mackall-Smith – Scottish general author plus No.1 Ladies Detectives Agency series
I also like to read autobiographies, but most sensible people limit the number of autobiographical books they publish – recent ones have included Richard Pryor, Julie Walters, Theo Paphitis, Janet Street-Porter, James Caan and Christopher Lee.
How the f*ck did I miss THIS post? Houellebecq I LOVE, though I disagree with him on pretty much EVREY concept ever- that said, his book on Lovecraft pretty much NAILED Lovercraft's misanthropy as an artistic force, and The Possibility Of An Island was beautiful in the way that Platform and Atomised deliberately (seemingly to me anyway) weren't...
And Natsuo Kirino- well. She's just ace. Out, I must confess, was better in the journey than the conclusion (though the first hundred pages or so were PROPERLY gripping), but Grotesque was wonderful, and Real World was actually a work of genius; like Mishima's Runaway Horses retold by children.
David Webber
Eric Flint
John Ringo
S M Stirling
Harry Turtledove
Guess what my reading habits are.
By the way will I am writing this the Japanese Government have just coonfirmed a leak from one of their plants, scary or what
Christopher Paolini
Terry Pratchett
Mark Bingham
Patricia Cornwell
Dan Brown
Thank you:D
i am glad the Gregory vote has gone down well:D:p
Looking forward to Stephen Kings one this year - time travel and the kennedy assasination. can't wait to see what he does with that....
That was, indeed, excellent Lizzy.
Do we know when the sequel is out?
Margaret Forster
Barbara Pym
Anita Brookner
D H Lawrence
Lee Child
Dean Koontz
Michael Crichton
James Herbert
Jane Austen
Terry Pratchett
Wilkie Collins
John Wyndham
jessie keane
mandasue heller
june hampson
kimberley chambers
all simular authors crime books