Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week we're asked to list the top ten authors on our auto-buy list (or basically authors we love enough to buy anything they write regardless of genre or subject matter).
I love classics so, unfortunately, many of my favorite authors are long dead. However, there are still plenty of contemporary authors whose work I will purchase and read automatically.
1. Jonathan Franzen - People either love him or hate him; I'm one of the former.
2. Amor Towles - After Rules of Civility, I will read anything this man ever writes.
3. Jhumpah Lahiri - She is the queen of contemporary short stories.
4. Anna Quindlen - A personal favorite for nearly 30 years, her latest nonfiction, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, should be required reading for every woman over 50.
5. Elizabeth Strout - Two words: Olive Kitteridge. I loved her earlier novels, too, and can't wait for the upcoming release of The Burgess Boys.
6. Wally Lamb can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned, but it's been far too long since we've heard from him.
7. Stewart O'Nan - My relationship with O'Nan has been well-documented here, here, here, and here.
8. Richard Russo - I love Russo's fiction (especially Bridge of Sighs and Empire Falls) and plan to read his new memoir, Elsewhere, soon.
9. Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were both favorites. Now I'm counting the days until And the Mountains Echoed is released.
10. Ann Patchett - I've read all of Patchett's work and will continue do to so. I also love the fact that when Nashville lost its in-town bookstores, she stepped up and opened one herself.
Do you have an auto-buy author list?
Visit The Broke and the Bookish for more Top Ten Tuesday posts.
Some great authors here! I'm planning to read Empire Falls soon and I'm excited to get to know Amor Towles, too. I have Rules of Civility on my TBR shelf. So many good books make me very happy :)
ReplyDeleteTrish - Amor Towles' writing is so gorgeous and elegant. You're in for a treat!
DeleteI haven't read any of these authors. Not.A.Single.One. (though I do have Rules of Civility waiting (and waiting) on my Ipod. Hope we're still friends.... :)
ReplyDeleteAre you enjoying your time with Wilmet? I find her alternately endearing and exasperating.
Audrey - LOL, yes... we're still friends. Can't wait to hear what you think of Amor Towles writing though.
DeleteMy time with Wilmet is drawing to a close far too quickly. Glad I'm not the only one flip-flopping on my feelings about her. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's the 1950's and cut her a little slack.
It's funny, NONE of them are on my auto-buy list (which I don't actually have except maybe in theory) but I can definitely see the way the authors on your list are related and why they might be together on someone's list! Interesting!
ReplyDeleteJill - After I put the list together, I can see definite similarities. Except for Amor Towles, these are all writers I've been reading for years.
DeleteWow, I haven't read anything by those authors. I'll need to check them out! Great list :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Ten!
Jessica - I've discovered quite a few new authors looking through the posts today, too!
DeleteI love A Thousand Splendid Suns and I can't wait for And The Mountains Echoed... so tell me why I haven't read The Kite Runner yet?
ReplyDeleteLoni - You really need to read The Kite Runner ;-)
DeleteI know!! :)
DeleteI did my list today. We share Patchett but that is it. These lists are giving me ideas to expand my 21st century reading options. Like you, I read a lot of dead authors.
ReplyDeleteThomas - This list was actually a lot harder to put together than I thought it would be. I've been reading most of these authors since the 20th century, but it might be fun to limit it to 21st century favorites!
DeleteI also enjoyed your list, though we have no overlap. I really like Jhumpah Lahiri's books, but I'm happy to get them from the library. And I still need to read that Quindlen book. I think it's on my library list for after the Double Dare ends.
ReplyDeleteLisa May - Only another month for the TBR Double Dog Dare. I think it would be fun (when we get really close to the end) to list the books we are most excited about reading when it's over.
DeleteI'm right there with you on Lahiri, and a couple of others COULD potentially be on an auto-buy list based on what little I have read. But definitely O'Nan and Franzen would NOT be on my list. I'm kind of ashamed to say who would be on my list...alot of murder mystery series.
ReplyDeleteSandy - I know O'Nan didn't do much for you. He might just be too quiet for your tastes. Franzen is definitely a love him or hate him type of guy ;-)
DeleteI have a bunch of these authors waiting on my shelves, and Ann Patchett's a big one on my auto-buy list. My mom loves Wally Lamb. I think I've heard that both of them have new books coming this fall, so it should be a good year for us! :)
ReplyDeleteMegan - Oh, I hope Wally Lamb has a new book this year - that would be the best news I've heard all week!
DeleteI've really enjoyed books by both Anna Quindlen and Ann Patchett. I don't know that they're "auto-buys," but they're definitely "auto-reads," if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have found you via TTT!
Susan - Now that you mention it, I'm not sure anything is an auto-BUY for me these days, but they are definitely auto-READ. I know exactly what you mean! Thanks for visiting - it's nice to 'meet' you.
DeleteI seriously thought about adding Towles & Quindlen but I thought perhaps I should have read another book by each of them first. I do have two of O'Nan's books - clearly I need to get to them soon!
ReplyDeleteLisa - Which O'Nan books do you have? I really loved Emily, Alone - and it does stand alone - but think it's every better if you understand the family background from Wish You Were Here (also excellent). Last Night at the Lobster is a gem, too.
DeleteSadly, I can't think of a single live author whose work I will automatically buy. I'm more likely to buy based on the publishing house (Broadview, Oxford, etc.) because I trust their care and treatment of dead authors. Clearly, I need to read more contemporary fiction!
ReplyDeleteDiana - That's an interesting twist on this question. There are certain publishers and imprints that can do no wrong for me!
DeleteI love, love, love Anna Quindlen! I can't believe I forgot to include her in my TTT. Great Top Ten.
ReplyDeleteI would buy anything that O'Nan puts out.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list. Although I haven't read a few of them yet, I'm familiar with all of these authors and would gladly read their books. I'm not sure who would be on my list but I know I would have difficulty sticking to just ten especially day after day! I adore Russo, Lamb and Strout. I still need to read Nan and Hosseini and will do that this year. I'm curious who your favorite clssics authors are!
ReplyDeleteAmy - I love so many classic authors from Austen, the Brontes, and Elizabeth Gaskell to 20th century Americans Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Richard Yates, Wallace Stegner. Oh, and Willa Cather, Emile Zola, Henry James, Edith Wharton, E.M.Forster, Pearl S. Buck... too many to name, LOL!
DeleteGreat list - many of my faves are in here too. I would have had Colm Toibin on my list for sure.
ReplyDeleteColleen - I love Toibin's writing and was thinking of putting him on the list, but I have only read Brooklyn and some of his stories.
DeleteKhaled Hosseini! You remind me, I still need to read The Kite Runner.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, a few of those are favorites of mine too- Anna Quindlen, Richard Russo, Khaled Hosseini. I have quite a few now that I'd make a point of reading and I keep meaning to read O'Nan after so many rave reviews.
ReplyDeleteDarlene - I hope you get a chance to read O'Nan soon. Last Night at the Lobster is very short and a wonderful introduction.
DeleteThere are many authors on your list that I enjoy and some that I've read because of your enthusiastic reviews of their work. I have two books by Hosseini and I need to read those!!!
ReplyDeleteStaci - Read those Hosseini novels right away... you will love them!
DeleteQuindles is a relatively new discovery for me. I'm not over 50 so I may catch up with her other books til then :)
ReplyDeleteWhere HAS Wally Lamb been lately? I do hope he's working on another novel. I love his stuff!
ReplyDeleteKathleen - It looks like Wally Lamb has a new novel coming in October. I can't wait!
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