# Favorite Books/Authors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952 "2002-03-18T23:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mondeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mondeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mondeo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/1 "2002-03-18T23:20:35Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/2 "2002-03-18T23:39:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/3 "2002-03-19T00:02:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/4 "2002-03-19T01:50:17Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![RaCha\_ar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@RaCha\_ar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaCha_ar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/5 "2002-03-19T03:16:22Z")
**Neil Gaiman**. Anything else is uncivilized. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/6 "2002-03-19T03:23:28Z")
A couple of many: Harry Potter stories; Sherlock Holmes stories. ---
**Author:** ![ringmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9e8a1a/32.png) [@ringmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ringmaster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/7 "2002-03-19T03:57:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![secretkeeper78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@secretkeeper78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretkeeper78)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/8 "2002-03-19T03:58:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Willy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sweet\_Willy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Willy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/9 "2002-03-19T04:00:50Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/10 "2002-03-19T05:34:00Z")
Edgar Rice Burroughs 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jonno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jonno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonno)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/11 "2002-03-19T06:19:14Z")
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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mondeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mondeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mondeo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/12 "2002-03-19T10:35:55Z")
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!) ---
**Author:** ![AlteredState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@AlteredState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlteredState)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/13 "2002-03-19T11:33:05Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/14 "2002-03-19T12:11:33Z")
Margaret Atwood and Peter Carey. In particular, I love their short stories (although I often don’t understand Carey). ---
**Author:** ![LiquidLobotomy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LiquidLobotomy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiquidLobotomy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/15 "2002-03-19T13:54:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RaCha’ar \* > \*\ ***Neil Gaiman**. Anything else is uncivilized. \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/16 "2002-03-19T13:55:01Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/17 "2002-03-19T14:13:53Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/18 "2002-03-19T14:35:30Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/19 "2002-03-19T15:49:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WortMeWorry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@WortMeWorry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WortMeWorry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952/20 "2002-03-19T16:27:18Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-authors/98952.md?page=2)