Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors

It's a double post day! If you're an A to Z'er looking for my Blogging from A to Z post for letter R...it's over here. If you're still wanting to discover some AMAZING authors and maybe find yourself a new favorite or two, keep reading my Top Ten Tuesday post below!

And for all you Top Ten Tuesday readers, if you'd like to see what I'm up to today for my Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge, today is R day! You can find see today's craft (and links to projects A through Q) here.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, created due to a fondness for lists. Each week they post a new Top Ten topic. After that, it's bloggers UNITE! Participate with your own Top Ten post, have fun, and get to know your fellow bloggers.

There are a lot of great authors out there. I've read more than I can count. But when it comes to picking my favorites, I'm usually pretty decisive. In this case, I picked eight of my ten without batting an eye. The last two were a bit of a challenge as I had to pare them down from a list of six, but it still didn't take me more than a few minutes. When they're your favorites, sometimes you just know. The real challenge was putting them in order from 10 to number 1. They're all just so great!

Ready to see who I picked? I've indicated each author along with my most favorite of their books. Many of the books are in my favorite reads of all time and some have been Book of the Year finalists and/or winners. I've also managed to hit a bunch of different genres, so there should be something for everyone. Oh and (oddly) as I began to grab their photos, I started noticing a trend. A grand majority of my favorites are red-headed female authors. A strange predilection, but what are you going to do?

They're all good, but my top three authors (and books) are especially fabulous. Let's do this!!


10. Jodi Picoult (Nineteen Minutes)

I've read Jodi Picoult's books for several years. (Incidentally, my sister-in-law informed me that I've been also pronouncing her name wrong for several years. It's actually pronounced "pee-KOE". Oops.)

Though a lot of her novels are rated as 3 stars on my Goodreads profile, I think part of that is due to comparing them to one another rather than just other books. She really is a superb writer and I'll try any book she writes. I've been informed that Leaving Time is amazing, so it's been moved up my TBR.

9. Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time)

I first read Madeleine L'Engle's books as an elementary schooler (I think somewhere around 4th grade). I loved them so much. I'm pretty sure I've read A Wrinkle in Time about twenty times. All before the age of 18. It's time to go back and read her books again.


8. Mary Higgins Clark (A Cry in the Night)

She's been called the Queen of Suspense. I love this woman's books so much. I'm pretty sure that she's fooled me in nearly every novel. I never quite know what she has up her sleeve. I've been reading Mary Higgins Clark books since I was in junior high and I still enjoy her writing now as much as I did back then.


7. Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre)

I will confess that Jane Eyre is the only book of Ms. Bronte's that I've actually read thus far. I will someday read the others. But she's on this list because of how much I love Jane Eyre. It is my number one favorite book of all time. I adore this book. If I was to own multiple copies of a single novel, this would be the one.


6. Stieg Larsson (The Girl Who Played with Fire)

When I discovered that Stieg Larsson's Millennium series had been published posthumously, I nearly cried. Those three books were simply amazing. In fact, the second book in the series, The Girl Who Played with Fire, was my 2011 Book of the Year.

Apparently, he designed the books originally to be a series of ten, but passed away prior to their completion. There was a legal battle between his father/brother and his lifetime partner over the right to complete a fourth novel, but it looks like something has been settled as the fourth book (That Which Does Not Kill) has been written by David Lagercrantz (another Swede) and is set to be released in August. Let's hope he does it justice.


5. Philippa Gregory (The Boleyn Inheritance)

When it comes to historical fiction, this lady is my go-to. I was first introduced to her book The Other Boleyn Girl which, yes got turned into a movie with Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johannson. (The book is better than the movie FYI.) Since then, I've read several of her series (some completely, some in part) and I just can't get enough.

My personal favorite of hers is The Boleyn Inheritance, the third book in the series that contains The Other Boleyn Girl (which is book two). It has a three part narration that allows for the examination of the time period from three different points of view (Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Jane Rochford). She's very good at presenting the same story from different angles and yet never letting you get bored.


4. Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Princess)

This fine lady has a book on my nightstand right now. I'm currently reading her City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth book in her Mortal Instruments series. Darian is currently reading City of Bones, the first book in the series. I love her books. She's a master of weaving so much detail into such a wonderfully surprising world.

My favorite of her books (thus far) is Clockwork Princess, the final book in the Infernal Devices trilogy (which, incidentally, is technically a prequel for the Mortal Instruments series). It was a 2013 Book of the Year Finalist, but was unfortunately beat out by Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why.


3. Gayle Forman (Just One Day)

Gayle Forman can write one heck of a heart breaker. Her books are amazing. They're sweet and smart, tragic and wonderful. I've loved several of her books. Many of them have managed to land in pretty high spots in my Book of the Year brackets. This January, my favorite of her novels - Just One Day - was a 2014 Book of the Year Finalist. It even took down one of her other novels - Just One Year - before it was unfortunately beat out by Morgan Matson's Amy & Roger's Epic Detour.


2. J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

I'm sure that J.K. Rowling will end up on several lists today. She's an incredible author with one heck of an imagination. I wish I could come up with things like she does; it's just unbelievable how truly magical (beyond the magic) her books really are. To have the quantity of readership and to have readers of all ages like she does is no small feat.

I have The Casual Vacancy on my TBR, but I will confess that I'm a little worried to read it because (though I've been warned that it's no where near the level of Harry Potter and have thus altered my expectations to some degree) I'm afraid that it won't live up to the standards I've set for her.


1. John Grisham (A Time to Kill)

One of only two men on the list and yet John Grisham gets to take the title of number one. If you're looking for a legal mystery/thriller, these books are the ones you need to grab. I own most of his novels, though I've slacked in the last couple of years. There have only been two of his novels that I've read and haven't loved -- A Painted House and Playing for Pizza. Those were both departures from his usual legal genre, so I'll give him a little leeway. Stick with what you know, Grisham, it's working for you.

One of my top ten favorite novels of all time is his A Time to Kill. It was his first published novel, but the second of his that I read. I started reading his books with the very popular The Firm. If you haven't read one of his books, you seriously need to give him a try. I wouldn't have thought that lawyer/crime thrillers would be my thing, but if it's written by John Grisham, I'll read it.


Have you read any of my favorites? Are any of my favorite authors on your list? Even better, based on my list do you have any good suggestions for me? Heaven knows I love adding books to that gigantic TBR pile of mine...