Top 5 Authors You Would Read Regardless

[Anita]

James Patterson
John Grisham
Mary Higgins Clark
Patricia Cornwell
Nicholas Sparks

[Suzanne]

James Patterson
Jodi Picoult
Debbie Macomber
Nora Roberts
?

[Ann from S.C.]

James Patterson
Jodi Picoult
John Grishom
Jeff Long
Marian Keys
Sophia Kingsley

[Lori]

Thank you Emma!! I'm sure I'll read everything Stephanie Myers writes too. They are just such fun reads even if the writing is less then brilliant. Okay...way, way less then brilliant :)

[[deleted user]]

1. C.S. Lewis
2. Bronte Sisters
3. Ernest Hemingway
4. Robert Jordan
5. E. M. Forster

Very difficult to pick top 5 as there are many brilliant writers out there!

[Sherry]

Temporary highjack of this thread to say I LOVED As You Like It.It was a fantastic production set in 1950's America with the Duke being a mafia boss and Jaques as a beatnic.They even had set The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe to music and it was sung at the end like a broadway number.Fantastic and so much fun!!!

[Emma]

Fun reads? Fun reads? Twilight made me practically pull all my hair out, with Bella's constant Edward talk, and talking about how unworthy of him. And that moonless night quote in New Moon almost made me puke. Eclipse made recovery easier though. Much much easier. And almost enjoyable.

[Lori]

Okay...maybe fun is not the right word. I am enjoying them though! And they are awfully fun to talk about afterwards. I wish I could find an adult discussion group though. I have burning questions that just aren't appropriate in a room full of 14 year olds!

[Emma]

Very true, they tire me out!

[Tisha]

Penny Vincenzi
James Patterson
Nora Roberts
Phillipa Gregory
Stephen King (except for The It...so maybe I can't actually include him on the "read regardless" thread huh!

[TheReadingKnitter/]

Jodi Picoult
VC Andrews
RL Stine
Christopher Pike

Those are the only four I can think of now...Yes I have some YA in there...I loved their books when I was younger.

[Kataklicik]

In no particular order:

1) Jeffrey Archer (yes, yes, sooo commercial)
2) Rosamunde Pilcher
3) Maeve Binchy
4) Amy Tan
5) James Patterson

Eclectic, no?

[alicia]

Stephen King
Sophie Kinsella
Cecelia Ahern
Richard Laymon
Jodi Picoult

[Mona]

Honestly I can only think of one: Paulo Coelho. So far I have loved all of his books. I recently discovered Gregory Maguire too. I have also read a bunch of Adriana Trigiani novels as well.

[Kataklicik]

Oooh! I love Adriana Trigiani too! It really is amazing that she's virtually unknown in this part of the world...

[Mona]

You know, I have not met someone other than my best friend who gave me Big Stone Gap to read know much about her. What have you read by her?

[Chloe]

I will read any/everything by Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Neil Stephenson, Robert A. Heinlein, Graham Greene, Louis de Bernieres, Kurt Vonnegut, Fyodor Dostoevsky or Salman Rushdie.

Luckily for me, I've already read everything released by Gibson, Sterling, Heinlein, de Bernieres and Vonnegut. Otherwise my list would just be insurmountable.

[Macy]

In line with my typical genres:
Stephen King
Tom Robbins
JK Rowling (hopefully there will be more!)
Stephen Lawhead
Anne Rice (even though some are disappointing)
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Herman Wouk

[Chloe]

I can't believe that I forgot Tom Robbins. All of his books are smiling down at me from the top shelf as I type this!

[Charity]

I've only read Jitterbug Perfume and thought it was pretty profound.

[Chloe]

You should read either Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates or Even Cowgirls Get the Blues next. He's a beautiful writer and those three make a trifecta of books that win from beginning to end. I always have one of his books open somewhere in the house that I can dip into for one or two pages.

[Macy]

Logan - What's your favorite Tom Robbins? I haven't read them all yet, but my favorite of his (and one of my favorite overall books) is Fierce Invalids. I find it interesting how most people I know have different favorite books of his - there's probably some sort of interesting sociological study there somewhere...

[Charity]

What about Still Life with Woodpecker? Any thoughts?

[Chloe]

My favorites have to go as follows:

Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates- It was the first of his that I read and it still claims the top spot.
Jitterbug Perfume
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Still Life With Woodpecker
Another Roadside Attraction
Villa Incognito
Skinny Legs & All
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

I don't know where I'd put Wild Ducks Flying Backwards since it's a collection rather than a novel.

[Chloe]

Charity, you can't go wrong with Still Life... I should actually re-read that one soon. I always see Drew Barrymore reading it in 50 First Dates and it makes me remember how much I liked it.

[Macy]

I did like Still Life, not as much as Cowgirls or Skinny Legs though. Fierce Invalids just has such a great view of life and our purpose here - it stood out the most to me.

[Angela]

1) Harlan Coben (except I do not like his books with the Myron character because they are all sports related)
2) James Patterson
3) Joy Fielding
4) Jodi Picoult
5) Erica Spindler
6) Jane Green

[Stephanie]

1: Jodi Picoult
2: Harlan Coben (I'm a recent convert!)
3: Tiffani DeBartolo
4: Wally Lamb
5: Khaled Hosseini

...off the top of my head.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Great, another author that I havent read anything by and now must add to my list to check out!!! Just what I needed. Really. :)
--Tom Robbins that is!---

(i feel a splurge coming on, its been too long!)

[Kataklicik]

Mona, I've read Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler - have Lucia Lucia stashed somewhere but haven't started yet (truth is, I can't figure out exactly where I stashed it!).

[Dianne]

Let's see -

Adriana Trigiani - I felt like I knew her characters from the first pages of each book. It's like I want to go home to her world when I see a new book on the shelf.

Maeve Binchy - even if the plots seem to be written to a formula at times, I want to get into her world and meet her characters.

Jodi Picoult - I just love her work!

Diana Gabaldon - I love her characters and really get into the stories - I want her world to be real! Just a shame the books are so long - it's difficult to carry them around to read but at the same time I like them long as I don't want the stories to end either...

Helen Forrester - I think she's had a very interesting life.

Dianne Ascroft,
'Hitler and Mars Bars'

[[deleted user]]

Yeah Ken! Another John Irving fan!!!

[Charity]

I own all of Irving...right there with ya both!

[[deleted user]]

There is no questioning Irving's love for wrestling. He did make fun of Maine wrestling I think in the autobiography portion of Trying To Save Piggy Snead. If not for Irving I might not have picked up Graham Greene, might have avoided Dickens (although I doubt that), would not be so interested in Gunter Grass and might not have heard of James Salter (heavily promoted in Son of A Circus.) I think it is neat how his characters are reading his favorite authors.

Hey, I didn't realize that he played the referee. I'll have to watch that movie again!

[Charity]

Jeremy, don't forget Nathaniel Hawthorne (particularly The Scarlet Letter). Big Irving influence.

[Charity]

Just FYI...

John Irving has a new book coming out in 2009 called Last Night in Twisted River...a fugitive novel about a cook and his son, who are forced to go on the run—due to events following a logging accident in northern New Hampshire in 1954. The story spans fifty years.

Edit: I guess the title comes from Bob Dylan's 'Tangled Up in Blue'.

[Kathy McC]

Charles Martin
Jodi Picoult
Scott Turow
Pat Conroy
Khaled Hosseini

[[deleted user]]

Holy Cow, did I not bring up Scott Turow as a never listed author just today?? Which is your favorite Kathy? I've only read Pleading Guilty which appears to be one of his least liked books.

Charity, I completely missed your responses on Irving. 1) Forgot about Hawthorne...that must have come up in Piggy Snead? b) I've been meaning to check out when we'd see something new. I may have to get on an advanced waiting list for that. III) Tangled Up in Blue is my favorite Dylan song.

[Charity]

1), b), III) ha ha ha!

[Julianne]

I like the fact that you mentioned "whether you liked the last novel you read..." I have several like that on this list:

1. James Patterson--some stuff just makes me want to scream, yet I keep coming back
2. Stephen King--though I like the stuff he's written after his accident, rather than before.
3. Janet Evanovich--Stephanie Plum is my ultimate guilty pleasure!
4. Nicholas Sparks--why do I keep buying his books when I get soo mad at him? Personally, I think if you've read 3 Weeks with my Brother you'll be compelled to see what he comes up with next.

I've only read one of Jodi Picoult, and liked it well enough (Nineteen Minutes), but it didn't give me the "OMG I have to have something else of hers". Since I'm in the medical field I've got Mercy and My Sister's Keeper on my to read list.

Ever since joining GoodReads, I've been adding more of each author I like, but don't get an opportunity to read the same person back-to-back...I've just got too much on my to reads!

I hope to post here in a decade or so ;-) when I can catch up on my "classics" authors

[[deleted user]]

Julianne. I like just typing that name. It's a beautiful name and the chosen name for my daughter. Jules for short. And you are a Stephen King fan! You are a good person indeed. :)

[Diana]

1. Nora Roberts / J.D. Robb - I'll buy it as soon as it comes out
2. Laurell K. Hamilton
3. Elizabeth Lowell
4. Iris Johansen
5. Nelson DeMille (I'm still working my way through his, but so far they're all great reads)

Pretty eclectic mix, but I read everything from urban fantasy to romance to thrillers and murder mysteries.

[Kathy McC]

Jeremy- Turow's first book, Presumed Innocent, is still my favorite. I even enjoyed the movie, even though I knew the ending. I really love his writing style and there are always unexpected plot twists, so his storylines are never predictable.

[[deleted user]]

I guess I'll put that on the ol' TBR list then.

[Brenda]

1. Janet Evanovich--I've even read her old romance novels.

2. Lee Child--Jack Reacher is such a great character

3. Dean Koontz--anything by Dean

4. Julie Kenner

5. Jacqueline Winspear

[Rebecca]

Again, way late to this thread...

1. Curtis Sittenfeld
2. David Sedaris
3. Kate DiCamillo
4. Lauren Weisberger
5. Gigi Levangie-Grazer

[Kathy]

I would read anything by the following:

1. Stephen King
2. Jodi Picoult
3. Joe Hill
4. Richard Matheson
5. Charlaine Harris

[Julianne]

Cool! Yep, King fan since early high school--though, looking back on it, I don't know if Christine was an appropriate read for a confused teenager. And, after listening to "On Writing" by King, he is a genuinely funny, scary guy.

Favorite King book?

[Nancy]

1. Lynn Flewelling
2. China Mieville
3. Peter S. Beagle
4. Brian Keene
5. Tim Lebbon

[Macy]

Julianne - Just to get in on the topic of King books...

The Gunslinger series is definitely my favorite, although I loved Bag of Bones and Insomnia. So many of his books are just wonderful, I love how he develops his characters.