Favorite Authors. Who do you have named in your LT account as favorite authors? Why did you choose them? How many people share your choices? Can you share a picture of one of them?
Okay, this is where I admit I've been slacking a bit over at LibraryThing and need to add some more of my favorite authors. As it stands now, here's my list:
Sharon Kay Penman (shared by 4,462 other readers). In my mind, she is the definitive writer of historical fiction. The first Penman novel I ever picked up was Here Be Dragons, the first in her Welsh Trilogy. I had picked it up with great skepticism because the convoluted and confusing Welsh names and history made it impossible for me to keep up with a story. But Penman made it enjoyable, intelligent and thoroughly addicting. All of her books are a true delight!
Jean Plaidy (shared by 8,070 other readers). This woman was so prolific it still amazes me. Her real name was Eleanor Alice Hibbert and she had quite a few pen names, including Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Elbur Ford (!), Ellalice Tate (I love that name), and Kathleen Kellen. In all, the woman wrote around 200 novels. Can you believe that!? My personal favorites are the historical fiction novels she wrote under the penname Jean Plaidy, though. Even after all these years, she still is a leader in the genre.
Shel Silverstein (shared by 13,069 other readers). I've always loved his books because they inspire a love of reading in young people. Books full of silliness like Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up have made generations of kids -- and adults -- laugh out loud. And poignant books like The Giving Tree teach valuable lessons without being preachy. Love him!So who are some of your favorites?
I have Jean Plaidy on my list, too. But I've only read her Victoria Holt books - I was a huge gothic romance fan when I was a teenager.
ReplyDeleteGothic romance is such a great genre. I freely admit to never having read one of her Victoria Holt novels, but boy howdy, do I ever remember the first time I read Wuthering Heights. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteShel! That's a great one!
ReplyDeleteI love Jean Plaidy's books too! I am a huge Tudor fanatic and the first book I ever read about them was her writing as Victoria Holt, "My Enemy, The Queen".
ReplyDeleteI love Penman!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Penman, but I have 4 of 5 Plaidy books on my bookshelf just waiting to be read!
ReplyDeleteAh....Penman is a true delight. More in-depth than Plaidy, very intelligent, but still very pleasurable to read. And it seems like there is so much by Plaidy that the well will never go dry! (Thank goodness!)
ReplyDeleteMichele, I recently read my first Plaidy and enjoyed it. It was obviously well-researched, the dialogue was authentic, and she stuck pretty close to the facts but still kept it interesting.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am absolutely amazed at the sheer number of novels this woman produced!!!
I'm planning to read something by Penman soon!
gotta love Shel Silverstein! :-)
ReplyDeleteShana - if I may be so bold as to recommend a Penman book? Start with 'When Christ and His Saints Slept,' which was the first in her current trilogy. 'Time and Chance' was next and then in a couple of weeks the third and final installment of the series, 'The Devil's Brood' will be released (hooray!).
ReplyDeleteIn fact, if you're really interested, shoot me an email with your snail-mail address and I'd be happy to send you one of my copies of 'When Christ and His Saints Slept.' Yes, I loved this book so much that I actually have two copies, so I'd be happy to part with one!
Marie - I've often wondered if it's the kids or the adults who love Silverstein more??? Must be the adults!
My favorites are Sharon Penman, Margaret George, Jean Plaidy and Elizabeth Chadwick. Outside of historical fiction I read Dean Koontz, Gregory Maguire and Neil Gaiman.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your user name on Library Thing - I would like to add you as a friend.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm going to admit sacrilege here... (whispering)...I've never read Elizabeth Chadwick. No, really! I keep my eyes open for any of her books at used book stores, but she must be very popular because her books are never available.
ReplyDeleteI'm lookingforpenguins on LT...oooh goody, a friend!
As of now you can only purchase her books from the UK. I believe she just got a US publisher to distribute some of her books here. She is awesome!
ReplyDeleteHave you been to historicalfictiononline.com?
It is a super historical fiction forum and Elizabeth Chadwick, Michelle Moran and many authors are on there as well. It's so cool the way they are available to us common folks. When you do go to the forum my user name is amyb.
Michele, Chadwick is quite hard to find in the US I believe. Try Amazon Canada, or The Book Depository. I believe that a couple of her books are going to be released in the US some time next year.
ReplyDeleteAmy - I zapped you a message on Historicalfiction.org!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marg, I'm heading over to The Book Depository right now (oooh, an excuse to buy more books!)