Favorite Author/Books

[Alix]

GB got us all talking about our book favorites and I don't want to hijack his stuff any more so I'm starting this one. I have so many favorites in so many genres so I'll post some of mine and I'd love to see yours. Maybe we can all get some new ideas from here.

Author Genre Title/Character
Charlaine Harris Mystery Aurora Teagarden
Mystery Lily Bard (Shakespeare books)
Vampire Sookie Stackhouse

I love these because the characters are so full and rich. They are never just one dimensional.

Janet Evanovich Humour/Mystery Stephanie Plum

What can I say except you will laugh til your sides hurt with every book. (Except #1, its a bit darker)

Linda Howard Humour/Romance Mr Perfect/Open Season

Linda Howard has just a ton of books out there. Start with these two though and have a great laugh with them. The other books are either more romancy or more suspense. She is another one who will keep your attention though.

Christina Dodd Supernatural/Romance Darkness Chosen series

These were a good little read. Nice pace, good romance, plot line works for me. Still waiting on the last one though.

Patricia Briggs Supernatural Mercy Thompson Series

Not your usual supernatural book. Liked them a lot though. Mercy is my kind of girl. She takes no crap but still has a soft side.

Terry Pratchett Juvenile/Supernatural Tiffany Aching/Wee Free Men

OK, what a good laugh. You'll love them and so will your kids. The wee free men had me in stitches and the rest of the story is wonderful too.


Edit: ARGH! No matter what I do I can't get it to keep my tabs. I'll attempt to edit this another way so its more readable.

 

[jabbur]

Some of my favorites are
Faye Kellerman's Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus stories. Peter is a homicide detective and he falls in love with an Orthodox Jewish woman. The interplay of religion and his and her faith journeys along with the homicide investigations I find interesting. It's not real deep reading but often page turners.

Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas series. Not really creepy like some of his stories. Lighened with some humor. He also has some decent stories that involve the supernatural but again they are creepy without being scary. He sometimes really delves into the subjects of belief and the interplay of the natural and supernatural.

Jodi Picoult - The first of hers I read was Keeping Faith. Wonderful book! These would be considered "chick" books.

I could name several others but this is a good start.

 

[miniman]

Dick Franics, Isaac Asimov, Ellis Peters

I'm also getting into MC Beaton's "Agatha Raisen" books

 

[Alix]

Ellis Peters, now theres an author I haven't read in ages. Loved her stuff.

Love the Faye Kellerman books too. Not a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman though.

I've only read a couple of Dean Koontz. I loved the Watcher. Read another one that was good but the title escapes me. I read a weird one and that sort of did it for him for me. I'll look it up again.

 

[jabbur]

I've only read a couple of Dean Koontz. I loved the Watcher. Read another one that was good but the title escapes me. I read a weird one and that sort of did it for him for me. I'll look it up again.

Some of his really early stuff is really weird. His writing has taken on a more philosophical life view as he's gotten older and are not as strange. Yes he still has that supernatural element but it seems more believable and less really out there compared to his early writing.

 

[Luvs2Cook]

Ellis Peters, now theres an author I haven't read in ages. Loved her stuff.

Love the Faye Kellerman books too. Not a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman though.

I've only read a couple of Dean Koontz. I loved the Watcher. Read another one that was good but the title escapes me. I read a weird one and that sort of did it for him for me. I'll look it up again.

I feell the same way about The Kellerman's, love her, can't get into his books. Read one Dean Koontz book, he was too off the wall.

A few of my other favs, Debbie Macomber,Sandra Brown, Mary Higgins Clark.
I recently picked up a book @ the local book sale for $1.00, never thought I would enjoy Fannie Flaggs, "Can't wait to get to heaven". But for $1, I grabbed it. I enjoyed this read so much.

Thats it for now, I'm sure I'm leaving out many of my other favs.

 

[jennyema]

IMO one of the finest books ever written was "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. He committed suicide before it was published. His mother later hounded publishers and one finally relented. He won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for it.

Two of my other favorite authors are David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs.

And Ann Rule for true crime.

 

[Alix]

jennyema, you ever read Edna Buchanan? She was a reporter in Miami for years. She has both fiction and true crime stuff.

 

[pdswife]

Victoria Holt - gothic romance
James Patterson... I like him.. but he's getting to be cookie cutter with books coming out so often writing so many with other people that I only read the CROSS books now.

John Saul... scary ( he makes the bad kids of today seem like good little boys and girls) EASY reading..

 

[miniman]

I have read a couple of Dean Kroontz. but never really got into them - had to finish them but never really enjoyed them. I also like some of James Pattersons stuff and Debbie McComber

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I've only read a couple of Dean Koontz. I loved the Watcher. Read another one that was good but the title escapes me. I read a weird one and that sort of did it for him for me. I'll look it up again.

Was it Strangers? To this day, it remains one of my favorites.

I also love John Irving. His characters are so freaking weird but I love them.

 

[MexicoKaren]

Jabbur, I agree with you about Dean Koontz, especially the Odd Thomas series. I think he is very under-rated, as is Stephen King. Love them both. I just finished Stephen King's Duma Key. Rich and creepy. Memorable book.

One of my favorite authors is Ruth Rendell, who also writes as Barbara Vine. She is British, and her novels are pretty dark. I just finished The Chimney Sweep's Boy. Some of them have been presented on PBS's "Mystery." Oh, and also Minette Walters. Similar genre. The Sculptress is very good.

 

[Alix]

For a while I was into all the oldies. I really liked Dorothy L Sayers. I recently got back into Carolyn Hart too.

 

[Claire]

I, too, love the Odd series of Koontz. I'm a huge fan of almost all murder mysteries, from the dark to the funny. Like both Kellermans, and was disapointed when she seemed to try to go dark instead of her usual series. Love the oldies that others have mentioned, the mysteries from the 20s, 30s, 40s. I love series set in locations I've visited or lived in, but also love those set in places I'll never see -- there is a series set in India, one in Bangkok, for example. I love different cultural/religious settings as well, from the various Catholic priests, the rabbis, the Episcopalian ministers, the Amish. Then there are ones that are translations; some I love, some are more difficult. I've read murder mysteries translated from Dutch, French, Hindi, Japanese, and that is just off the top of my head.

But, in fact, just like I could never tell you my favorite food, I couldn't possibly tell you a favorite author or book. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Huh? No, it is like comparing apples and sushi. Right now I found some books on Amazon to read to a blind lady I read, and we're on "Vows: A Priest, A Nun and Their Son." promises to be interesting.

 

[Alix]

Oh Claire, thanks for the memory prod. Have you ever read any Lindsay Davis? Her Falco mysteries? Set in Vespasian's Rome, Falco is a detective of sorts, and I really loved all of those books. Oh and I liked the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters too. The older ones more so than the new ones, but those are OK too.

 

[Claire]

... and here I thought I'd read them all. No, never heard of Davis and Falco. Gee, you'd think with reading something like a dozen or two books a week I'd have read it all. Will look for them! No, just a minute. Those little gray cells are working. The ones set in ancient Rome? Yes, I have, just haven't seen one recently. Yes, I like the Peabody ones, and agree that I like the older ones. The more recent ones seem more centered on the romances of her son than the adventures of their intreped mother.

 

[simplicity]

IMO one of the finest books ever written was "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. He committed suicide before it was published. His mother later hounded publishers and one finally relented. He won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for it.

Two of my other favorite authors are David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs.

And Ann Rule for true crime.

I read "Confederacy" sometime in the 80's. It is a memorable book. I loaned it to a friend who had previously lived in New Orleans, knowing she'd identify with part of it, but not knowing what she'd think of the book as a whole. That book got passed around to half the people in my neighborhood.

Thank you for mentioning it. It's special and it's time to read it again.

 

[Alix]

... and here I thought I'd read them all. No, never heard of Davis and Falco. Gee, you'd think with reading something like a dozen or two books a week I'd have read it all. Will look for them! No, just a minute. Those little gray cells are working. The ones set in ancient Rome? Yes, I have, just haven't seen one recently. Yes, I like the Peabody ones, and agree that I like the older ones. The more recent ones seem more centered on the romances of her son than the adventures of their intreped mother.

Yes Claire I agree. And the intrepid Amelia is what I read the books for! LOL. Did you ever read Alexander McCall? I hear he is good but I haven't read any yet.

OK, how about a couple of oldies but goodies. Desmond Bagley and Alistair MacLean.

 

[babetoo]

Victoria Holt - gothic romance
James Patterson... I like him.. but he's getting to be cookie cutter with books coming out so often writing so many with other people that I only read the CROSS books now.

John Saul... scary ( he makes the bad kids of today seem like good little boys and girls) EASY reading..

gosh wish we lived close, we could share, yours are my favorites as well. haven't read any saul though in a long time. just finished a cross book and also one by patterson.

 

[pdswife]

Holt too? Never have found anyone else that likes her.