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Post by Koalapupu on Jul 28, 2006 23:58:07 GMT -5
Do you have a favorite author? Is there someone whose newest book you will buy because you are certain that s/he always entertains you? Share your faves here!
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Post by mana on Jul 29, 2006 5:07:56 GMT -5
Umm, I like so many writers so let's list some: -J.R.R. Tolkien A must for fantasy freak like myself, Middle-Earth is creation superior. -Neil Gaiman People here surely know Neil and if not, they should!! He has very interesting writings, I like all that I've read, my favourites being Stardust and short stories collection Smoke and Mirrors and American Gods. -R.A. Salvatore Another fantasy author, mostly writes Forgotten Realms books. Drizzt Do'Urden's adventures are the best. ^^ -Katharine Kerr And more fantasy... She writes celtic fantasy stories, Deverry stories being very interesting, I love the idea of reincarnation.  I've read only two books because there are only those teo translated to Finnish.  I'm capable to read books in English but I'm too lazy and haven't even seen rest of Deverry books anywhere. Oh, and got to give credit to curses the characters use.  -Elaine Cunningham Forgotten Realms writer too. I'm always waiting her books. She's great.  -Eoin Colfer He writes fantasy too, just a bit different stuff. Good entertainment. -Paula Havaste Like only Finnish author I really like. She writes about ancient Finnish people, when they still believed in old gods and Christianity was only coming here. Fictional stories in real frames. ...and many that I'm probably forgotting... I should've include some more non-fantasy stuff because I read other books than fantasy too (though fantasy is number one) but I just can't remember any great ones now. :/ Oh, well... |
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Post by ♪Carly♪ on Jul 29, 2006 10:42:33 GMT -5
Joyce Carol Oates
Truman Capote
Chuck Palahniuk
Michael Ondaatje
Frank McCourt
David Sedaris
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Post by Aims on Jul 29, 2006 18:15:36 GMT -5
There aren't many authors I'll read more than a couple of books by, so my list is a bit short.
Neil Gaiman
Anne Rice (the vampire chronicles, at least)
Terry Pratchett
Roald Dahl
Ok, major brain fart. I know there's someone else but I can't think this morning.
But I mainly latch on to authors with a bit of humour about them and then read all sorts of other random stuff as it comes along.
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Post by Natasha~ on Jul 29, 2006 20:09:22 GMT -5
Aimee, what about JK Rowling!?! LOL! She'd definately one of my faves! aside from her: ~Michael Ende (The Neverending Story) ~Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange) ~Clive Barker (Abarat) more later.  xo |
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Post by ♥Jana♥ on Jul 29, 2006 23:12:03 GMT -5
hmmmmm
Anne Rice
Neil Gaiman
Stephen King
Chuck Palahniuk
Philippa Gregory
Gregory Maguire
Anita Diamant
Betty Smith
Jeffrey Eugenides
Elizabeth Wurtzel
ok i thought there would be more.. and im sure there will be...
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Post by Koalapupu on Jul 29, 2006 23:45:33 GMT -5
Aimee, I don't have many must-read people either. My list is... -Neal Stephenson (ack! This writer is so good!) -John Irving (I keep on reading his new stuff even if it's not nearly as good as the old stuff) -Neil Gaiman -Philip K. Dick -Margaret Atwood -Douglas Adams (for those re-reading fun times) -J.R.R. Tolkien (Mana, you're not alone with the nerdiness!) Hmm. Three of those people are dead and some less prolific these days, so I don't have much material to go on with these guys Carly, I've been meaning to read David Sedaris but his books were continuously on hold at the library! What's your favorite out of them and would it make sense for me to just buy it, even if I had to pay 20 bucks...? |
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Post by Aimee on Jul 30, 2006 3:40:25 GMT -5
Aimee, what about JK Rowling!?! LOL! She'd definately one of my faves! Oh shit! You're soo right! Of course JK is on the list. |
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Post by mana on Jul 30, 2006 5:13:13 GMT -5
Ohh, I forgot Anne Rice, she's great. ^^ Two words: Lestat rules. Also, Terry Prachett is nice, I like his humor. Also, Diana Wynne Jones is another writer with humor included in her books, I like her too. I'm actually reading one of her books right now. And one author I forgot from my first post: Sujata Massey. She writers Rei Shimura books, I really like her books, I'm waiting to get to read more. |
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Post by elizabeth on Jul 30, 2006 22:01:08 GMT -5
Aimee,
Your post made me think, If she likes a bit of humor, has she tried Roddy Doyle's books? I love Roddy Doyle's book Paddy Clark, Ha Ha Ha...I found it really funny and endearing.
Favorite authors...
William Faulkner
Jane Austen
hmm....
I loved The English Patient,
Lord of the Rings
Neil Gaiman's ok but I found American Gods gross.
I loved most of Barbara Kingsolver's books but especially The Bean Trees and Poisonwood Bible is terrific.
I love Amy Bloom so much and her novel Love Invents Us is my first or second favorite novel...The Sound and the Fury tying with it, I guess.
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a beautiful novel.
OH. Connie May Fowler writes beautiful books especially Sugarcage.
more to come....
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Post by veela on Jul 31, 2006 9:12:19 GMT -5
first -- jenni, for your david sedaris question... yes. pick him up if you can't seem to get him at the library. he's great. wonderful, funny voice. interesting and true stories. i would recommend "me talk pretty one day"
as for my favorite authors...
j.k. rowling (nothing beats harry potter!)
tom robbins (very funny, intelligent and strange. if you like chuck palahniuk, you will probably like him too. i highly recommend "fierce invalids home from hot climates")
chuck palahniuk
david sedaris
janet fitch (okay, so i've only read white oleander. but love it so, so much that i'm thinking of pre-ordering her new one coming out soon!)
john irving
jonathan safran foer
hhmm... i can't really think right now. anyway, that's my brief list...
jana -- i noticed you put philippa gregory on there. have you read the other boelyn girl?? i loved that book!!! if you like her, you would probably like the josaphine bonapart trilogy by sandra guilland. very good read.
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Post by ♪Carly♪ on Jul 31, 2006 13:55:34 GMT -5
Carly, I've been meaning to read David Sedaris but his books were continuously on hold at the library! What's your favorite out of them and would it make sense for me to just buy it, even if I had to pay 20 bucks...? I agree with veela. Me Talk Pretty One Day is great. But I don't think you can really go wrong with anything by Sedaris. My second recommendation would be Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Be careful, though. If you read any of his stuff in public, you're gonna get stared at because you won't be able to keep a straight face. I'd say just buy one of his books. I guarantee you'll end up lending it to friends, so it'll be worth it. |
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Post by matzy on Jul 31, 2006 16:32:35 GMT -5
carly,
i love truman capote ("in cold blood" is probably one of my favourite books ever).
nattie,
"the never-ending story" is wonderful. though the books is so thick, i've probably read it three times.
as far as neil gaiman is concerned - i've only read "american gods" so far, and while i liked it fine, i don't really feel like reading any more of his stuff. but since he seems to be quite a favourite here, which book of his would you recommend to read next?
my favourite authors include:
truman capote
ernest hemingway
neil simon
stephen fry
william faulkner
arthur miller
james fenimore cooper (good childhood times)
mark twain (ditto)
funny that there's not a single german author in that list, they're almost exclusively american. :-)
however, i do recommend
* berthold brecht
* heinrich böll
* ingrid noll
* günter grass
if you're interested in "younger" german literature.
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Post by ♪Carly♪ on Jul 31, 2006 17:46:50 GMT -5
In Cold Blood IS my favorite book. And I'm delighted to see Berthold Brecht on your list. The Threepenny Opera is one of the funniest things I've ever read in my life.
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Post by ♣Miranda♣ on Jul 31, 2006 21:29:51 GMT -5
Margaret Atwood is my all-time favorite.
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Post by ♥Jana♥ on Jul 31, 2006 21:58:11 GMT -5
first -- jenni, for your david sedaris question... yes. pick him up if you can't seem to get him at the library. he's great. wonderful, funny voice. interesting and true stories. i would recommend "me talk pretty one day" as for my favorite authors... j.k. rowling (nothing beats harry potter!) tom robbins (very funny, intelligent and strange. if you like chuck palahniuk, you will probably like him too. i highly recommend "fierce invalids home from hot climates") chuck palahniuk david sedaris janet fitch (okay, so i've only read white oleander. but love it so, so much that i'm thinking of pre-ordering her new one coming out soon!) john irving jonathan safran foer hhmm... i can't really think right now. anyway, that's my brief list... jana -- i noticed you put philippa gregory on there. have you read the other boelyn girl?? i loved that book!!! if you like her, you would probably like the josaphine bonapart trilogy by sandra guilland. very good read. yes i read the other boelyn girl and all her other books as well.. i am reading the virgins lover right now and i will have to check out josaphine bonapart |
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Post by Koalapupu on Jul 31, 2006 23:50:50 GMT -5
Carly and Veela--I once heard David Sedaris read excerpts of Me Talk Pretty One Day* on the radio, and he did crack me up! I'll look into getting that one ;D
Mana--hey, Diana Wynne Jones is great! I had totally forgotten her! The Dark Lord of Derkholm made me roll on the floor laughing, quite literally, and of course Howl's Moving Castle is a great, great book. Although I'm a fan of Miyazaki's, I didn't like what he did with the book one bit. :/
Matzy--I still have the Tin Drum to read. I tried to be brave and read it in original, but I was pretty much drained out of reading energy on the first page. I probably have to give up and find a Finnish translation of it (bleah). I've done some German literature classes and I really liked Berharnd Schlink's Der Vorleser. And I do own two copies of The Neverending Story--it's one of my favorite childhood stories!
Oh, and about Gaiman. I would definitely recommend his graphic novels the Sandman series as a starter. That's how I got into him. Lots of myths revisited, seriousness but not always without tongue in cheek.
*Carly, I'm adopting your bolds. ;D
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Post by Aimee on Aug 1, 2006 5:36:37 GMT -5
Aimee, Your post made me think, If she likes a bit of humor, has she tried Roddy Doyle's books? I love Roddy Doyle's book Paddy Clark, Ha Ha Ha...I found it really funny and endearing. No, I'd never heard of him - just looked the book up on a local auction ebay-ish site, and now have it saved to my watchlist. That, and other things based on people's posts here... hahaha, this could get dangerous. |
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Post by ♪Carly♪ on Aug 1, 2006 11:32:23 GMT -5
*Carly, I'm adopting your bolds. ;D Yay! ;D |
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Post by mana on Aug 2, 2006 13:39:27 GMT -5
Mana--hey, Diana Wynne Jones is great! I had totally forgotten her! The Dark Lord of Derkholm made me roll on the floor laughing, quite literally, and of course Howl's Moving Castle is a great, great book. Although I'm a fan of Miyazaki's, I didn't like what he did with the book one bit. :/ Yes, I loved The Dark Lord of Derkholm, it's hilarious!! Much better than its sequel or the one I finished recently, The Merlin Conspiracy (although I liked that one too) in my opinion. ^^ I haven't read Howl's Moving Castle or even seen the Miyazaki's movie (read a review though, where was said it was more like he took frames and characters from the book but that's the connection there and rest is Miyazaki's ideas), even though I'm Japan freak and I loved Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. I'm saying something about Gaiman too, I first read Stardust, I think that's also good book to start. American Gods isn't the best to start indeed. I wouldn't suggest to read Coraline either before others... |
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I've read only two books because there are only those teo translated to Finnish. 
I'm capable to read books in English but I'm too lazy and haven't even seen rest of Deverry books anywhere. Oh, and got to give credit to curses the characters use. 
