OT: Favorite writers??

[tomcat]

This stems from the reaction of so many BYers to the death of Pat Conroy. And yes, he was one of my favorites, too. Since we have a quiet period of a couple of days, it might be fun to see what writers BYers like to read.

So I'll start, and hope that others join in:

Neal Stephenson. To judge by the length of his books, you'd think he was paid by the word. Broke on the scene with "Snow Crash," described as one of the first cyberpunk novels, but I like his later stuff more. If you're interested in math and crypto, read "Cryptonomicon," For history and history of science, his Baroque Trilogy is wonderful. And for pure science fiction, "Anathem" is one of my favorites.

John Scalzi. This is a science fiction writer with a sense of humor. I have read books by lots of people described as the next Heinlein, but I think this guy is the real deal, minus the pomposity and political posturing that infested Heinlein's later works. Scalzi's writing is just a pleasure to read.

John Irving. Can you be from New England and not read John Irving? Don't think so. "The World According to Garp" is his big book, but I loved "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and was fascinated with "A Widow for A Year."

John Lescroart -- author of San Francisco-based cops and lawyers stories. His stories are fun reads all the time.

Plenty of others, but this'll kick-start the process.

 

[jsss66]

This stems from the reaction of so many BYers to the death of Pat Conroy. And yes, he was one of my favorites, too. Since we have a quiet period of a couple of days, it might be fun to see what writers BYers like to read.

So I'll start, and hope that others join in:

Neal Stephenson. To judge by the length of his books, you'd think he was paid by the word. Broke on the scene with "Snow Crash," described as one of the first cyberpunk novels, but I like his later stuff more. If you're interested in math and crypto, read "Cryptonomicon," For history and history of science, his Baroque Trilogy is wonderful. And for pure science fiction, "Anathem" is one of my favorites.

John Scalzi. This is a science fiction writer with a sense of humor. I have read books by lots of people described as the next Heinlein, but I think this guy is the real deal, minus the pomposity and political posturing that infested Heinlein's later works. Scalzi's writing is just a pleasure to read.

John Irving. Can you be from New England and not read John Irving? Don't think so. "The World According to Garp" is his big book, but I loved "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and was fascinated with "A Widow for A Year."

John Lescroart -- author of San Francisco-based cops and lawyers stories. His stories are fun reads all the time.

Plenty of others, but this'll kick-start the process.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

 

[jsss66]

Well worth your time. You may become Stegner and Berry fans for a very long time.

Crossing to Safety By Wallace Stegner

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

 

[UcMiami]

Oh my! where to begin and where to end!
Classics - big Austen fan. And perhaps my single favorite book - Parades End by Ford Maddox Ford (really four books set in England pre during and post WWI.) Gunter Grass - Tin Drum, John Galsworthy - Forsyte Sage, EM Forster, ...
Love the classic mystery writers - Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, and the American hard boiled variety Dashiell Hammett (The Glass Key is a particular favorite), Raymond Chandler, Nero Wolfe. Eric Ambler
More modern mystery/spy - John Le Carre, Dick Francis, Martin Cruz Smith - all over the place in terms of style from a couple of classic mysteries with a NY gipsy antique dealer as the star, to Gorky Park series of spy novels to 'Rose' set in Victorian England coal mining town - always interesting. James Clavel

Funniest book I ever read - Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (and also by him The Green Man - not funny but good)

Young adult that I still go back and revisit - Hornblower series by CS Forester, Raphael Sabatini (Captain Blood, Scaramouch, etc.)

Always am recommending Neal Stephenson (and even got my 90+ year old mother reading him.) and enjoy John Irving as well.

For good junk reading - WEB Griffin series - though I find the latest stuff a little far to the right wing. Same complaint about Tom Clancy

 

[Wally East]

I recently read the trilogy from Ann Leckie (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy). Well-written, exciting sci-fi based around a really interesting concept. The main is a human that was formerly part of a collective intelligence with multiple bodies but all of the other bodies were destroyed (this isn't a spoiler, I wouldn't do that). The author does a great job of exploring identity and what it means to be human through this while also telling a riveting story involving a galactic empire.

 

[DaddyChoc]

thought this was about UConn Womens Basketball Beat Writers aka "The Horde"

 

[Joe6cats]

Great thread, and some great shout-outs. Not yet mentioned: Geraldine Brooks, Khaled Hosseini, Elizabeth Strout, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, Umberto Ecco, Tony Hillerman.

 

[boontonbomber]

Give me anything written by Ian Rankin, Alan Furst, or Bill Bryson. Of course, Maureen Dowd always gets my Sunday mornings started with a chuckle, or even a guffaw.

 

[bleeckerhusky]

Two female "nature" writers, who literally carved their own way in the wilderness are Anne LaBastille and Louise Dickinson Rich. LaBastille was a PhD ecologist and conservationist, who authored the books in the Woodswoman series along with several others. She describes living alone with her German shepherds in a cabin in the Adirondacks, not far from where I live now. Rich's first book, "We Took to the Woods", is similar, but is set in Maine. Both authors write beautifully about the natural world and are quite humorous, too.

Another favorite, Richard Russo, is from a nearby town. He won the Pulitzer Prize for "Empire Falls". All of his novels are about ordinary people in small town locales. He has a special way with words and can also be pretty funny.

 

[noirwestern]

Loren Eiseley for the quiet moments, John McPhee for the layover in a strange place, Barbara Tuchman for when I just want to know and John D MacDonald for my trashy soul. Oh, and Carl Hiaasen for a laugh.

 

[~*Jen*~]

I like to almost everything. Hubby and I have around 1200 books.

I'm currently doing a 52 in 52 challenge. 90% must be new reads. 10% can be re-reads but not within the last five years. I'm currently reading White Oleander and The Man in the High Castle. I've also read Little Men, The Good Earth (re-read), the Hunger Games Trilogy, four Agatha Raisin mysteries, and A Study in Scarlet this year. I love Amy Tan, Pearl Buck, Doyle, Janet Evanovich, Jean Auel, Sidney Sheldon, Mary Higgins Clark, MC Beaton (I can thank the Babbidge Library Leisure Reading Room for getting me hooked on her books)... I just got a copy of The Murder at the Vicarage. I've never read Agatha Christie before. Toni Morrison. Fitzgerald. Hemingway. Austen.

Mini Chick has developed a recent interest in Harry Potter so we're reading Chamber of Secrets together right now.

 

[Bonpland]

Agree with most of what has already been posted but I'll add a few less obvious choices in fiction.

First Peter Mattheissena National Book Award winner who is not as well read as he ought to be. His At Play in the Fields of the Lord was a cult classic for young men my age 45 years ago.

John Williams (not the composer) wrote a book (Stoner, and no it's not about drugs) that was "lost" for thirty years until it gained a kind of off-beat popularity about ten years ago.

And my newest addiction, the writings of Adrian McKinty a crime mystery writer from Northern Ireland. I've never been drawn to murder mysteries but the crimes portrayed in his novels are only a small part of why his work is so satisfying. Reading and listening to his Sean Duffy series (Gerard Doyle reads them and he has made it difficult for me to now listen to a lesser talent. His presentations are like spending a night in the theater) has, for me, become a major indulgence.

Serious creative non-fiction has exploded in the last forty years following David McCullough's outstanding work. There are some great reads out there but Timothy Egan's work and Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Herietta Lacks ( it operates on at least three levels as a narrative and should probably be required reading for budding scientists). stand out for me.

 

[Bigpetunia]

My all-time favorite...William Faulkner.

Yes, he can be challenging in the extreme, but the powerful imagery will stay with you forever. I can recommend especially one fascinating reading exercise for anyone with the time and inclination to so indulge:
As I Lay Dying is, of course, one of Faulkner's most unforgettable classics, probably already read by many of you as a required task, which is the kiss of death. Reread it just for pleasure, and follow it up with a much more recent classic, Last Orders by he great English novelist, Graham Swift. Swift won the Booker Prize for this effort while being simultaneously (and unfairly, I think) accused by some of plagiarism of the Faulkner novel. A particularly fun summer project that may sound daunting but really isn't....just rewarding in the extreme!

 

[~*Jen*~]

My all-time favorite...William Faulkner.

Yes, he can be challenging in the extreme, but the powerful imagery will stay with you forever. I can recommend especially one fascinating reading exercise for anyone with the time and inclination to so indulge:
As I Lay Dying is, of course, one of Faulkner's most unforgettable classics, probably already read by many of you as a required task, which is the kiss of death. Reread it just for pleasure, and follow it up with a much more recent classic, Last Orders by he great English novelist, Graham Swift. Swift won the Booker Prize for this effort while being simultaneously (and unfairly, I think) accused by some of plagiarism of the Faulkner novel. A particularly fun summer project that may sound daunting but really isn't....just rewarding in the extreme!

That's in my queue! No joke! <3 I loved The Sound and The Fury. I always think of A Rose For Emily every time I see the video for Bad Romance. ~shifty eyes~

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Cormac McCarthy

 

[meyers7]

Back many years ago when I used to read books, (can't remember how many years it's been since I read one???) my favorite was Fyodor Dostoevsky. Also liked some of James Michener's stuff.

 

[boontonbomber]

One David, McCullough, already mentioned, and another, David Halberstam( raised in Winsted, CT., classmate of Ralph Nader) never fail to educate me about historical and sports figures in this country. Very sad was the passing of Halberstam, and the way that it happened.

 

[johnnyc]

Some recent reads.....

Exiles by Ron Hansen
Father Elijah by Michael O'Brien
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (again)

I always enjoyed James Michener, David McCullough and Louis de Wohl's historical novels of famous saints.

I'm gearing up to read the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset (translated by Tiina Nunnally).

 

[BigBird]

As an adult, I'll choose Shelby Foote and James McPherson for their Civil War history. But it was Walter Lord's "Midway," that got me interested in history in the first place and was my favorite book read in high school.

Alvin Toffler, "Future Shock" for favorite book read in college (1970)

Career changing books: Reasoning with Statistics, by Frederick Williams, and Introduction to Logic, by Irving Copi

Life changing book: The Book of Common Prayer

 

[Bonpland]

Loren Eiseley for the quiet moments, John McPhee for the layover in a strange place, Barbara Tuchman for when I just want to know and John D MacDonald for my trashy soul. Oh, and Carl Hiaasen for a laugh.

The trouble with this thread is that for those of us who value reading (that's everyone isn't it?) is that it could go on forever, but I have to comment on John McPhee.

He has had the career that many writers would have loved to have experienced. While writing for The New Yorker to support himself and his family, he began (in 1966) writing a book every two years, spending half, or a little more, of the interceding time between publication dates researching, and then several months recording, his latest narrative.

Most of his books work as metafor (read Looking for a Ship and then ask yourself if that's not what you're doing everyday).

 

[bags27]

Give me anything written by Ian Rankin, Alan Furst, or Bill Bryson.

Great thread! i read widely, but especially love mysteries and espionage for escape (Alan Furst is wonderful!). Here are two under the radar that merit sampling. Peter May is a gifted writer. I got interested in him because of his three mysteries that take place in the Scottish Hebrides (where we're going this summer). Wonderfully evocative stuff. Also the great Japanese mystery writer, Keigo Higashino, whose works (so far as I can judge, which means not at all) are splendidly translated: morally and intellectually engaging. I'm always looking for out-of-the-way espionage/mystery writers, as I go usually go through their entire corpus in a couple of weeks. So, please suggest!! Thank you, Bonpland: I just bought the latest McKinty on Kindle because of you!

Just to say for "tough guy" writing under the radar (not the obvious Ross McDonald, Hammett, etc) my all-time fav is Donald Westlake's Parker series. Read them in order. He's a very very bad man....

And another series that could take several years is Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, etc.. If you like the first, you will like all 20 of them.

The last time I was envious of people who hadn't yet read something that I had already finished were the two (final one in the works) great books on Thomas Cromwell by Hilary Mantel that form the incredible BBC Wolf Hall TV series. Not easy reading at the beginning, but once you get used to her style, positively enthralling. Read the books, then see them faithfully adapted. An amazing treat.

 

[bags27]

Oh my! where to begin and where to end!
Parades End by Ford Maddox Ford (really four books set in England pre during and post WWI.)

there is a British (BBC?) series based on it, I think it's Tom Stoppard who did the screen play! Available on either Amazon Prime or Netflix (I forget) with Benedict Cumberbatch. Seriously wonderful.

 

[noirwestern]

The trouble with this thread is that for those of us who value reading (that's everyone isn't it?) is that it could go on forever, but I have to comment on John McPhee.

He has had the career that many writers would have loved to have experienced. While writing for The New Yorker to support himself and his family, he began (in 1966) writing a book every two years, spending half, or a little more, of the interceding time between publication dates researching, and then several months recording, his latest narrative.

Most of his books work as metafor (read Looking for a Ship and then ask yourself if that's not what you're doing everyday).

I'd read that McPhee was hard at work on yet another foray into the heart of the thing but he found writing at 85 to be a bit harder than he remembered it

 

[Kibitzer]

For current affairs commentary I enjoy Gail Collins and (as a counterweight) David Brooks. I recently finished a definitive biography of President Roosevelt (FDR) by Conrad Black and I am in the midst of "Passage of Power," Volume 3 of Robert Caro's epic bio of LBJ. I had earlier read Caro's bio (1,400 pages) of Robert Moses. I neever tire of Bruce Catton's accounts of The Civil War, old sports columns by Red Smith and anything by America's greatest writer, Mark Twain.

But most of all I am constantly enthralled by reading Boneyard analytics posts.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

Cormac McCarthy

stole the words right out of my mouth. probably my favorite author. what's your favorite book by him. the more well known ones (border trilogy and no country for old men) are great but I also love suttree.