Top Ten Favorite Writers
I decided to make a list of my top ten favorite writers. It changes somewhat over time with discovering new writers, getting into different genres, and whatnot. But here it is, my top ten favorite writers as of March 2008.
1. J.R.R. Tolkien. Gollum scared me when I was a kid, but it made the story stick with me. After re-reading these tales many times, taking a Tolkien class in college and getting caught up in the whirlwind of Lord of the Rings movie madness, this author remains my all-time favorite and the one I respect and admire above all.
This is when it gets tricky.
2. Philip Pullman. I’m deciding to place Pullman second. While there are only three novels to base this upon, he gets this spot because the His Dark Materials trilogy had such a profound impact on me. I enjoy reading all types of writing, but it is few and far between that I run into something that I connect to so emotionally.
3. Joss Whedon. He’s the creator of my favorite television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just for that, I love him. Take that and add Angel, Firefly and incredible comic books like Buffy Season 8, Runaways and Astonishing X-Men.
4. Janet Evanovich. Her lighthearted Plum series is a mixture of mystery, adventure, romance and humor. Even after 13 novels and 2 novellas in the same series, I’m still hungry for more. Part of what draws me so much to her writing is that her books can make me laugh out loud when nothing else can.
5. Agatha Christie. The Queen of Mystery. She is by far my favorite writer of classic murder mystery novels. She weaved clues, suspects and intrique together effortlessly without making it obvious and predictable. She was an extremely talented writer.
6. Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart is one of my favorite stories of all-time. He brings mystery, suspense and creepiness to his stories like none I’ve ever read. I’m not sure what that says about me.
7. Madeleine L’Engle. She is another author whose work had a strong impact on me. I re-read her books recently, and she wasn’t afraid to stretch the imagination and limits in her writing. She really makes you think and uses fantastical elements in order to do so. Her work really means something to me. Means so much that I even attended her memorial service back in November.
8. J.K. Rowling. She really is one of my favorite authors. Anyone who causes someone to rush to Wal-Mart at midnight on the day the fifth in the series releases and then force her boyfriend to drive her to a bookstore in a strange city right before a wedding the day the last in the series releases, well, that writer must be doing something right. I’ve never devoured books so quickly, and I certainly acted quite crazed with this series. And I’m going to read them again and again and again.
9. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite novels of all time. I love the style of writing, the setting and the characters. This is also another novel that I can read over and over.
10. Sue Grafton. My favorite current mystery author. Once again, I can read a dozen books from the same series and never tired of the characters or the premise. Her main character is one of my favorite female protagonists I’ve ever encountered.
Well, that’s it. Like I said, this list changes over time. There are so many others that I thought of including, but this is a top ten list. It would defeat the purpose if I listed fifty writers instead.
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Comments
Hi Jen! Very nice list. I have read something from most of the authors listed. If you are a Tolkien fan, you would love Steven R. Donaldson’s “The Mirror of Her Dreams”, one of my favorites of all time. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you…have a great day:)
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll have to check it out.
Just found your blog courtesy of another and just wanted to stop in and say how much I LOVE it. And also, of course, to sing the praises of Whedon. The man is ridiculously talented.
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