Oh my. Now you make me have to think about it. Here goes.....
1. Barbara Kingsolver
2. Diana Gabaldon
4. Jane Kirkpatrick
5. Danielle Steel (I know, I'm shameless)

I have others, but can't say I would add them to the list because I might have only read one or two books by the author.

1. Jeffrey Deaver
2. James Rollins (just discovered last year and devoured all of his books)
3. Maria V Snyder (loved the Study Series, not as found of the glass-maker series)
4. Rachel Caine
5. JK Rowling
6. Nora Roberts
7. Karen Kingsbury


There are others, but I am blanking right now.

Mercedes Lackey. I have an addiction to find every hardback possible. Sad thing is I missed a couple.

Haven't found another author to latch onto completely but Neil Gaiman is climbing the charts! Haven't been disappointed at all.

Lisa See /used/ to be but after reading Shanghai Girls, I need to re-think her.

1. Khaled Hosseini
2. J.K. Rowling
3. Neil Gaiman
4. David Sedaris
5. um, that's it, I guess.

Does anyone know if Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Sunds) is going to be putting out another book anytime soon? Both of his books really touched me in a way that no other books have.

I honestly cannot remember if I've commented in this thread or not but here goes:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien (if they found an old portfolio with his notes on anything, I'd read it =D)
2. Carlos Ruiz Zafon
3. Steve Berry
4. Jane Austen (same reason as Tolkien)
5. ...can't think of a fifth author *blushes*

1. Ernest Hemmingway
2. Isabel Allende
3. Sophie Kinsella
4. Mary Higgins Clark
5. Lois Lowry

Hmm...I think I have quite a few that other people haven't mentioned, probably because while I've been getting more into general fiction, I tend to obsess over fantasy. In no particular order, because I'm too tired for that sort of thing.

Mercedes Lackey - They're formulaic at times, but it's a formula that I enjoy coming back to, especially in her Valdemar books.
Lois McMaster Bujold - Arguably my current favorite author. I love her Vorkosigan books, and her Chalion books were top-notch.
Tanya Huff - So much fun. I always seem to laugh when I'm reading her books.
Carol Berg - I loved Transformation so much that I have to pick up everything she writes, even though I'm a bit behind in reading them.
Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time may have deteriorated at the end, but I still need to read all of them eventually, and I will read Brandon Sanderson's conclusion to the series.
Patricia Briggs - Love her contemporary fantasy stuff, but also adored the first of her Hurog books, with the second on my to-read list.
Elizabeth Moon - Her Vatta's War series has made me really happy, so I've bought up a bunch of her other books.
L. E. Modesitt Jr. - I obsessed over his Recluce books for a long time, and I still am buying them, despite the formulaic nature of them. Like Mercedes Lackey, it's a formula that I tend to enjoy.
Madeleine L'engle - My childhood goal of reading every book she's written has not changed, even though I'm not pursuing it as actively anymore.
Kristin Cashore - Even though she only has one book out so far, I loved Graceling so much that I burn with the need to read more by this author.
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak was so amazing that I think I'll keep pursuing this author for a while.

There are probably more, but I can't think of them at the moment. :)

Chuck Palahniuk, George Orwell and P.G. Wodehouse

I'll come up with the rest after lunch.

I can only think of a few:
Jane Austen and William Shakespeare

Chuck Palahniuk
George Orwell
P.G. Wodehouse
Neil Gaiman
and
Woody Allen, maybe?

I am going to keep my list contained to authors who are still with us as the qualifier "you would read regardless" made me think about present day and books that have yet to be created or released. So, here are my contemporary favourites, in no particular order (that would have hurt my brain, lol!):

Richard Russo
Miriam Toews
John Irving
Barbara Kingsolver
Tom Robbins
Khaled Hosseini
Ann Patchett
Rohinton Mistry
David Sedaris
Elizabeth Hay