Wonderful Wednesdays is a meme about spotlighting and recommending some of our most loved books, even if we haven’t read them recently. Each week will have a different genre or theme.
This weeks theme is favourite authors.
This is such a difficult topic because I could come up with a number of names. Daphne du Maurier springs to mind, but that is because Rebecca is one of my favourite books and I only have read this and Jamaica Inn. There are many more I could be reading, and I have yet to participate fully in Discovering Daphne which is running this month.
I thought I would go and look on Goodreads as it comes up with some silly statistics and I see under ‘ most read authors’ comes Mary Jane Staples and I have read 32 of her books. I have not read any for many years, but I went through a stage of reading them one after the other. She is an author of the genre ‘aga saga’ and I loved reading about the Adams Family from the turn of the twentieth century through the wars. For some reason though I tailed off from reading them. The author is no longer with us but her books still seem to be being printed and I have read that some of her books written under pseudonyms are being reissued. Perhaps this favourite author should remain a memory of the past. Aga saga and ‘village’ story authors feature in my most read authors on Goodreads. But does most read equal favourite. No I do not think so.
I would still from a children’s book perspective say that Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl are favourite authors. I have revisited various different Enid Blyton books this year and I am currently on a bit of a Dahl binge as well. More about that in a later post.
Most recent favourite authors include Patrick Gale, Notes of an Exhibition is an excellent book and I recommend it. I have not read all of his back catalogue (no doubt I will at some point) but I would certainly be interested in his future books. Linda Gillard and Lucinda Riley are new authors to me this year and they have some fantastic books which everyone should read. Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard is a book which explains much about mental health issues but also helps with those who suffer or know someone who suffers. Lucinda Riley’s Hothouse Flower is a great novel to escape into and her new novel The Girl on the Cliff is great and I am over 100 pages in and hopefully Lucinda will pop onto this blog for a chat soon. Other authors that pop into my head; Sharon Owens, Kate Atkinson, Phillipa Gregory, Deanna Raybourn to name a few who write very differing genres.
Oh I could go on (do not worry I will not!) but I think mention has to go to Agatha Christie as she is up there as a favourite author without a doubt. For that passion I thank my mum.
In conclusion I am not sure I have a favourite author and actually I think if I answered this question a year a go it would be a very different post with different names that pop up. As more books are let loose on readers like us all, more authors are discovered and favourites come and go.
Do join in if you want to here and leave link to your post so we can all pop along and read and perhaps pick up some new favourite authors along the way.
The Book Jotter 
I have favourite authors and when I find one I like I tend to read everything he/she wrote. It happened to me with classic like Austen, E. M Forster, Gaskell but also with contemporary writers like Ian McEwan or Nick Hornby. When I like an author, I must read as many of his/her books as I can.
I agree with you in this : if you ask me next year I might answer differently !
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks for mentioning me as one of your favourites! :-))) My favourites have remained the same for years: Dorothy Dunnett, Georgette Heyer, Patrick O’Brian & Mary Stewart. I haven’t discovered a new author in their league, apart perhaps from YA author Gillian Philip. Her FIREBRAND is really special. I also loved UNTYING THE KNOT.
So difficult to choose a favourite author. There is sometimes a favourite book but then that author does not repeat the story with the next one!
Maurier such a versatile author. Fabulous reading there.
Ah, Roald Dahl. He is still a favourite and my class absolutely love him. Nothing keeps their attention during story time like Roald Dahl.
Thanks for taking part 🙂
Rebecca has been a favourite for years, a bit of a comfort read in fact. Otherwise it depends on my mood. Sometimes Anthony Trollope and other time Angela Thirkell. I’m very bad at picking up newer authors though, in fact I’m relying on your recommendations so Linda Gillard is my fave new author this year!
I love Enid Blyton, too. Particularly the St Claire’s and Malory Towers school stories. I also loved the Famous Five and the Faraway Tree stories.
What a lovely little meme, plus a great meaty question! I always find it sooo hard to pin down just one or two authors as my favourite. I do agree though that most read doesn’t always equal your favourite.
Thank you for your mention of Emotional Geology by Gillard, I am currently taking part in the Mental Illness Advocacy reading challenge and this book sounds perfect. Have put a reserve on it at my local library already 🙂
Jessica, thanks for telling us about the Mental Illness Advocacy reading challenge. I’d love to know about this. It sounds like something I should be doing myself. If you need any more suggestions for a book list, you’ll find some on my website under BOOKSHELF (eg A CRUEL MADNESS by Colin Thubron, HOUSEKEEPING by Marilynne Robinson and AN UNQUIET MIND by Kay Redfield Jamieson.)
My latest novel, UNTYING THE KNOT also deals with mental health issues, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder. The hero is a military veteran. (UTK is only available as a Kindle e-book at the moment. EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY is also on Kindle.)
Hello Linda. I’ve really found the M.I.A reading challenge informative and so refreshing, it is run by Amanda of Opinions of a Wolf who has a great suggestion list to help those who would like to take part but I will definitely check out your website as well. Use this link to find out more about the challenge:
http://opinionsofawolf.wordpress.com/mia-reading-challenge/
I haven’t got a kindle yet but am hopeful for christmas so will make a note of your new book so can check it out at a later date 🙂