Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish for book bloggers to join together and make lists! Everyone likes a good list. No really, it is a great way for us to share some of our favorites and get to know one another better! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Top Ten Authors that I’d Put ON My Auto-Buy List. And our post here on A Midsummer Night’s Read was written by my very good friend, Erin.
Say hello to Erin!
Now, on with the post:
In no particular order or with regards to Genre in any way shape or form:
1. Kathy Reichs
I started reading her novels about Dr. Temperance Brennan mostly because I loved the TV show “Bones”. I do it all the times with movies, the whole book v. movie thing, so I decided to give a shot with TV too. I was pleasantly surprised in the general readability of the novels that they aren’t horribly bogged down in the technical aspects of forensic anthropology, but there is a story that flows through each of the books. The reader is able to learn more about the character with each book as well as her life, she doesn’t spend too much time going back over things from previous books. I like that she expects the reader to follow her and keep up. The story of the novels is much different than the trajectory the show has taken so it’s been a nice surprise to not just read the episodes over again. I also enjoy her descriptions and anecdotes regarding Charlotte, NC and UNC Charlotte (GO NINERS).
2. Gregory Maguire
I mean Wicked. Come on people. It was awesome. Over the years while I’ve waited for the other books in the Wicked series to release I’ve read others written by him and I always love his fresh take on classic stories. Now that the last one, Out of Oz, is out I will continue to read them all over and over again, and look forward to his next books.
3. Sophie Kinsella
I completely devoured the “Shopaholic” series. I know, I know it’s like brain candy but it was enjoyable, tasty, sweet, funny, endearing, brain candy. “Undomestic Goddess” was in the same vein of brain candy. Her stories are always delightful to read.
4. JK Rowling
This is completely true. I immediately bought “A Casual Vacancy” without giving a damn what it was about just because JK Rowling wrote it. If this list were in order she would be at the top.
5. John Grisham
His books are consistently some of the best I have ever read. The story is always engaging with great character development and characters that are easy to relate to even if you aren’t a Lawyer or familiar with the legal system. He has branched out from his previous standard of Legal dramas in recent years and I’ve got them all on my Long Term To-Read List.
6. Dan Brown
I can’t remember now but I think I read “The Lost Symbol” before “Angels & Demons” or “The DaVinci Code” but no matter what order I read them in, I was hooked. Robert Langdon is a great character with an interesting set of flaws and intricacies that make him an unlikely hero. I mean how many Harvard Professors wear a Mickey Mouse watch? I seriously can not wait for “Inferno” to come out in May, I know it has to do with Dante’s Inferno and the 7 deadly sins but he had me at another Robert Langdon book. Actually they had me at Dan Brown.
7. Mario Puzo
The Godfather. Seriously. It was a book first. Mario Puzo wrote the screenplay for The Godfather I and II, which ultimately made the movies so brilliant. Movies aside though the book is phenomenal, once I read my father’s first edition copy I had to get my hands on everything he had ever written. Most of his novels surround stories of organized crime but he has a few departures from the topic that are just as engaging.
PS: I highly recommend “The Fourth K” if you like politics, terrorism, and suspense.
8. Julie AndrewsFor this one I’m not so much talking about the Children’s books written with her daughter, but her autobiography that came out in 2008. “Home” is about the beginning of her life and up to Walt Disney offering her the role of Mary Poppins and there is supposed to be more to come which is why I’m adding her to the list because I will be first in line the day the second volume of her memoir comes out.
9. Madeline Albright
I’ve read several books by the illustrious former Secretary of State including her memoirs “Madam Secretary”, which was amazing. She has a great writing style that is both engaging, informative, and easy to read and I love her take on recent politics, see: “Memo to the President Elect” written before the 2008 election. Next on my list from her is “Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948” where she has researched her own family history during WWII, however I’m waiting for the paperback edition because I’m cheap.
10. Candace Bushnell
I’ve read almost everything she has written, and was on the fence about including her in my list because I haven’t loved everything I’ve read. In fact I kind of hated “Sex and the City”, yes I read it after watching the TV show but the book was still just not that great even when you subtract the allure of the show. However other books of hers such as “One Fifth Avenue” and “Lipstick Jungle” are completely redeeming to me for her as an author. So I’m still including her on my list because I would still give anything else she writes a fair shot.
Moving! 