I’m curious what are your favorite books and authors?
I guess some of my favorite books are Dune, Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or Cold Case.
And my favorite authors, hmm maybe Johnathan Kellerman, John Grisham, Edgar Allan Poe.
For me these are constantly changing, what I’m thinking are the best today, might be completely different tomorrow!
Tell me what you think!
I like John Irving (especially A Prayer For Owen Meany), John Varley (The Titan Trilogy and Steel Beach), Dan Simmons’ Hyperion/Endymion saga, Orson Scott Card (Ender saga), older Stephen King (Dark Tower saga), and Alan Dean Foster.
I like A. Manette Ansay, Barbara Kingsolver, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Anna Qundlen, John Grisham, Nelson DeMille, and Ken Follett are some authors whose books I will buy right away.
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver is a great book.
One of my favorites is A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, by Betty Smith.
I love This Perfect Day by Ira Levin. I saw it mentioned here a while back and want to read it again.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch is a great book.
I used to like Jonathan Kellerman, but got tired of the same plot recycled over and over again.
I like about 4 or 5 Stephen King novels (Bag of Bones, The Stand, The Green Mile and Salem’s Lot) and about 4 or 5 Dean Koontz books (Lightening, Strangers, Watchers and The Bad Place)
I know I’ll have to chime in with a “Oh, yeah me, too” when I see more names mentioned in other posts.
Well, George Orwell is my idol. Favorite book is 1984. My greatest purchase ever was an American first edition of 1984 for only $30. It’s because of a small black dot in the back that it’s marked so low; it would have been worth up to $300. Drool…
Neil Gaiman. Anything else is uncivilized.
A couple of many: Harry Potter stories; Sherlock Holmes stories.
I like Sci-Fi mostly. Ben Bova - Venus is probably my favorite book. My most read author and possibly favorie would have to be Michael Critchton.
oohhh, white oleander is one of my FAVORITE books. i lent to a friend wholoved it and never gave it back and i wanted to read it again. um… she’s come undone by wally lamb. I know this much is true, also by wally lamb. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I read it twice.
a confederacy of dunces by john kennedy toole, the book of ruth by jane hamilton THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by ken follet.
this book was slow to start, but it takes place of many decades… I was so glad I made myself stick through the slow parts…
I read beach music, by pat conroy. it was OK. had some good parts… might be worth a read…the lost boy by noel hynd
a room for the dead by noel hynd.
I have bog of bones and a bad place some other dean koontz novels on my shelf… I haven’t read them yet… i read the green mile… it was great… the movie was almost exactly like the book.
Richard Bach is my favorite. Illusions, Bridge Across Forever, Jonathan Livingston… I always liked Hugh Prather too, I think the first one I read was " Notes to Myself" then “I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me”.
Edgar Rice Burroughs 
Tom Robbins. My favorite of his works is Still Life With Woodpecker, but anything he’s written is well worth the effort.
And thanks for starting this Mondeo. I now have a new list for my next book buying trip.
Illusions, yup I always liked that one, also the older Stephen King! Although he has gotten to wordy in recent years! Dean Koontz! Dick Francis, who also recycles his plots a bit, but still entertaining, and lets not forget Elmore Leonard or Walter Mosley (love the Easy Rawlins charachter!)
Currently heavily into Jeffrey Deaver but others include Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block, Christopher Fowler, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub and Armistead Maupin.
You can’t make me choose a favourite…please…no…too many choices…
Margaret Atwood and Peter Carey. In particular, I love their short stories (although I often don’t understand Carey).
Finally someone with some taste! He is absolutely one of the greatest authors out there.
I also like Koontz and King, but I find they very often have weak climaxes to thier novels. Midnight and It to name two of said novels.
I’ve enjoyed quite a few of Robin Cook’s works.
Favorite Books:
The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
McTeague by Frank Norris
Favorite Authors:
John Barth
James Morrow
Tim Powers
Neil Gaiman
Harlan Ellison
MEEEEEE! Me, me and ME.
Well, other than ME, I like forgotten novelists; people who were popular 50 or 100 years ago, but now are only found in dusty used-book shops. Booth Tarkington, Olive Higgins Prouty (she wrote great “woman’s novels,” very intelligent), Tiffany Thayer (hard-boiled crime stuff), J.P. McEvoy (1920s humor), Elinor Glyn (the Jackie Collins of the early 20th century).
Favorite authors:
Abbie Hoffman
David Feldman
WIlliam Poundstone
John Waters
Cecil Adams
Books?:
Revolution For The Hell Of It
Birchism Was My Business
Biggest Secrets
Exit 2007 by M.J.Agee
High Weirdness By Mail
The Clothes Have No Emperor
and many more
Raymond Chandler
Dashiel Hammet
Elmore Leonard
David McCullough
Shelby Foote
Percy Walker
The first three are all crime novelists who create great characters and keep the pace moving. Tight, compact, concise writing is their hallmarks.
McCullough writes biographies, which I am partial to. Foote and Walker write/wrote both history and novels set in the South, which are also subjects that I favor.
Science fiction and fantasy don’t do anything for me.
Jack L Chalker
Robert E Howard
H.P. Lovecraft
Dean Koontz
Frank herbert
Brian Jacques, I 'll read Any & All of the “Redwall Abbey” books.
My favorite is The Long Patrol, " Hares are mad and perilous beasts."
Alan Dean Foster, especially the " Flinx " books. My favorite is, For Love of Mother Not.
Julian May, the " Piliocene Saga ". My favorite is The Adversary.
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, my favorite is The Relic. If you saw the movie read the book. It will make much more sense, and the ending is completely different.