My Favorite Authors
June 28th, 2009 | Categories: Entertainment, Question of the Week | 9 CommentsFor the longest time, my favorite author was Meg Cabot. I was about 12 or 13 when I first discovered her Princess Diaries series, and I thought it was the best series ever. Soon, I was reading everything by Cabot, from her 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series (I was in love with the lead male character, Rob Wilkins!) to The Mediator series, and all of her standalone books, like Teen Idol and All-American Girl. Somewhere along the way, though, I became disenchanted with Cabot and her writing. Change around the character name and the setting, give the main heroine problem like becoming the princess of a foreign country or saving the life of the US president, throw in a love interest that the girl would inevitably get together with at the end, and the premise of the story would always be the same. Once I became familiar with all of her books and her writing style, there were too many similarities with each novel for my liking, so I stopped reading her books.
Now that Cabot has been out of my “favorite author” picture for a while, I have decided on my two all-time favorite authors. My first favorite author is Roald Dahl. I have loved his books for as long as I can remember, and the best part about his books is that they remain timeless. No matter what age you are, you will always enjoy the brilliance that is The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or my personal favorite, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me. Quentin Blake’s illustrations are fabulous, and I love how creative, inventive, and clever Dahl is with his stories. My copy of the Roald Dahl Treasury is well-worn as I’ve gone through it so many times, and I am working on owning every Dahl book that is in print as I love his writing so much!
My second favorite author is Sarah Dessen. I own a copy of every book she has pubished (to date, she has published nine) and am always eager to reread them to escape into the rich, vivid world she creates for each of her characters. I love how her later novels mention some of her earlier characters here and there, such as how in This Lullaby, Scarlett from Someone Like You was a minor character. It helps the feeling that her novels are all in the same world, and they’re so realistic and true that hey, the fictional town of Lakeview, where all of her books are set, could be just only one town away from you. My favorite Dessen novels are Someone Like You and This Lullaby, with Lock and Key a very close second. However, I have yet to read Along for the Ride, Dessen’s latest release, so my favorite could very well change after reading her latest book!
Question of the Week: Who are your favorite authors?
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
As I read so many books by new authors I don’t think I can say. My favourite book is by Jane Austin but I wouldn’t call her my favourite author. I think off the top of my head my favourite authors would be Harper Lee, and Kate Morton. I have never hated a book either have written and for me that is key to me loving an author.
I would perhaps say Marion Keyes but I’m not in love with all her books even though I’ve read all of them.
Augusten Burroughs and Chuck Palahniuk. :) I’ve read almost every single one of their books and time and time again, they always amaze me.
Have you read Dahl’s Boy? If you haven’t, it’s fantastic, you should make it your next :)
For a long time I’ve liked Philip Pullman and that remained even when I started reading books aimed at adults. Others are Lian Hearn, Lisa Jewell and the practically obligatory CS Lewis and JK Rowling
I loved Roald Dahl as well :) definitely one of my favorite childhood authors.
I’d say that my all-time favorite author is Neil Gaiman – I just love his style. His stories are so chilling, but so believable and very entertaining. I always sit down for hours and read them in one go, and if I have to put them down I sort of stay stuck in the story in my head until I can get back to them. They’re wonderful. I think I have just three of his books that I haven’t read, one of which I just recently bought and plan on starting soon (Anansi Boys).
I have a rather large host of authors that I really love, like Brian Jacques and Rowling as well as some classics like Shakespeare and Charlotte Bronte. Gaiman is definitely my outstanding favorite, though.
For now, I’d say Cecilia Ahern. Although I haven’t read all her books yet, I don’t think there’s any author I’ve read more books of, nor liked as much as I like her stories. But I haven’t read all that many English language books, so it might just change some day…
I would have to say Markus Zusak and Bryce Courtenay. I Am The Messenger, by Zusak, is my favourite book of all time (even if I don’t own a copy of it right now…). I read it after taking it out from my local library when I lived in Texas, but have not been able to find it anywhere since. And the Power of One and Matthew Flinders’ Cat by Bryce Courtenay are absolutely exceptional.
I used to love Meg Cabot, too. I still love Roald Dahl! I stopped reading Sarah Dessen’s books because they always seem to involve romance, and it got boring after a while. My favorites of hers are Someone Like You (BEST BOOK EVERRRR!) and the Truth About Forever. She also teaches creative writing at the University of Chapel Hill in NC, which is close to where I live. :D
I think my favorite author would have to be…well, I’m not really sure. I don’t always read books by the same author, but I really like Haruki Murakami. :D
It’s nice to know you love Roald Dahl too because he’s definitely my favorite author as well! He’s currently the only author who has the most works that I’ve read. Usually with the other authors, I’ve only read 2 or just 1. I remember getting The Witches for my 8th birthday. That was the first Roald Dahl book I’ve read. I absolutely loved it and since then, I’ve always asked my parents to buy me his other works. As for other authors, I’m currently loving Chuck Palahniuk. I just discovered his works and I really like his writing style. And speaking of Sarah Dessen, I’ve gotten really curious about her books especially when Angie mentioned them once. I kept looking for her books here the past few months but I was in vain. That is until the other week when I passed by a bookstore I frequent and they finally have copies! Any suggestions on which of her books should I buy and read first?
Roald Dahl is absolutely amazing! His stories are always so refreshing. I remember in grade 5, for parent’s night, our class’ displays were based around Roald Dahl. I was in charge of writing a biography of him and drawing a portrait; honestly, it was the best project ever.
Ahaha, I’ve read most of Meg Cabot’s books, but like you, I eventually stopped reading them because they were all so similar.
I also LOVED Bernard Cornwell’s novels, he writes historical fiction and I was absolutely obsessed with his stories for a while.
I’m not sure what my favourite author would be right now, but I’ve always love Louisa May Alcott, Markus Zusak, and Carol Matas.