favorite author
 

Does anyone know any good authors or reading material they would recommend?

ahhh, good question. I have many a favorite author.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Willa Cather
Sherman Alexie
James Baldwin
Ambrose Bierce
James Hall

there are a few others, but I will refrain from typing a whole freaking list LOL

Fitzgerald and Hemmingway are my two favorites. I have a pretty broad range though as far as reading goes.

Collin

Its been a long time since my american lit class in college but I would have to say that my list would be

Robert Frost
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Thoreau
There was a women writer from the late 1800s I liked too but I
cant remember her name.

When I did European Lit in H.S. I enjoyed reading Caterbury Tales, Macbeth, and Homer.

Kurt Vonnegut,
Jack Kerrouac

and

Bill Bryson who writes extremely funny travel literature

Ivan Turgenev. I was an English major and didn't encounter Turgenev until I started working on my master's degree. What a shame! His writing is so beautiful and poetic. He's generally lesser-known than Russian literary giants Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, so I think he gets overlooked.

Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood

Some of the classes I've taken at UH have exposed me to a lot of Asian-American and local Hawaii authors. Y'all probably haven't heard of these two authors, but I'd definitely recommend them:

Lois-Ann Yamanaka & Chris McKinney

My favorite Yamanaka book is "Blu's Hanging", a novel about a 13 year old girl growing up in poverty, dealing with growing up in the darker side of Hawaii.

McKinney's "Tattoo" and "Queen of Tears" show a struggle with finding one's own identity. Hawaii's definitely a "melting pot", but McKinney illustrates some of the racial and class tensions that take place here.

Hey Y'all

I love to read -

Favorite authors are:

Rebecca Wells
Alice Munro
Hemingway
JD Salinger
Thomas Pynchon
Wally Lamb
John Irving
David Sedaris is hysterical - try reading Holidays on Ice or Naked

I like a mix of contemporary and classic authors. Again, I love to read!!!! If you've read any good books lately, please PM me because I'm always looking for interesting new finds!

Thanks,
TriDelta4ever

Well, THAT's really helpful! lol (I only bother picking on people I like, Kevin ;) )

My all-time favorite is F. Scott Fitzgerald. NOBODY writes like he can, IMHO. On a more contemporary note, I have become a fan of Coerte Felske (Millennium Girl) and I love Jay McInerney (Story of my Life, Brightness Falls, Bright Lights - Big City). Although the latter might appeal most to people of "my" generation who were out and about during the '80's. Otherwise, a lot of the references might be lost on the reader.

Another vote for F. Scott, and he is one of the best writers of all time (get his collective short-stories, they're amazing, yet insane)


but far better is JD Salinger. I've got everything he's ever written including every magazine piece and it's just brilliant. He's not the pyscho-'f'-up the everyone who cannot comprehend literature thinks he is.

Read "Zooey" & "Teddy" that's two of his greater ones.

Also Marlo Morgan's "Mutant Message from Down Under"...it's one of the best reads I've ever had...I had to finish it in a day because I couldn't stop reading it.

Robert M. Persigs "Zen & the art of Motercycle Maintenance" is phenominal as well...it could very well change your outlook on life...it has mine.

have fun....

Not classics, but I like them...

James Patterson
John Sanford
Leon Uris
Gregory Maguire

Two words: Dave Eggers. Aside from that, of course JD Salinger is the most amazing writer, ever. For poetry, I like A.R. Ammons. Also, The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon is great. Of course, it's my dream that someday when people are sitting around discussing authors, *I* will be someone's favorite. ;)

Top 3...
 

Stephen King
James Patterson
Patricia Cornwell
:D :cool: :)

Ray Bradbury and John Steinbeck are my faves.

Steven Ambrose

mine aren't classics, but still good..Katherine Neville and Anne McCaffery

I guess that would all depend on what you like to read!!

Books I recommend to just about everyone:

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith

HOLES by Louis Sachar

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by J.K. Rowling

BARREL FEVER by David Sedaris

ONE FOR THE MONEY by Janet Evanovich

THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe

Let me know if you want anything else...I am a librarian (but I specifically work with teens) and will send you a list from our Reader's Advisor if you let me know what you like.


always happy to help a reader in need

hmm . . .

Try Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn - a very bizarre, nearly-essay book that really makes you think about the role of humans in the world. Sort of like Stephen Jay Gould but in fiction form.

I also love Fitzgerald, also Vonnegut and Joseph Heller . . .

I love books!
 

Some favorites:

Jack Kerouc
Douglas Coupland
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ray Bradbury
Susan Douglas
J.D. Salinger

Also, if you're looking for a quick, fun read, I love the Harry Potter books (J.K. Rowling).

I just read American Gods by Neil Gaiman. A lot of the guys I know love his stuff. I thought it was okay (wasn't really impressed), but then I loved the end. I hear Neverwhere is better.

I also love Shel Silverstein's poetry and books! :)

I'm not much of a reader anymore, been way too busy.

I did just pick up the Princess Diaries at B&N. It was a very fun, easy read. Too quick though. I did the whole book in ~1.5 hours.

Helen Fielding is also good - she wrote Bridget Jones' Diary and Bridget Jones on the Edge of Reason.

My all time favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. He was an amazing Louisiana author that comitted suicide prior to the publishing of his book. His mom finally got it published and he won a pulitzer for it. Its hilarious, and hits SO close to home for anyone who knows and loves New Orleans.

A book I read many years ago but that is still really cool is The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo. Its an awesome book :)

I know it's girly, but I love Robert James Waller books (he did Bridges of Madison County).

But, Eric has turned me on to Ayn Rand. Finished Fountainhead and am starting Atlas Shrugged. Amazing.

Within the past couple of weeks I've really been thinking about gettign back to reading some real literature (I bet my HS english teachers would be surprised to hear that!!! In all truth, I think that their classes are the reason why I feel that I need to get back to it since I havent' taken an english class here at college)

Anyways

Another vote for Fitzgerald - Gatsby is one of my favorite books ever.

Also, I love Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Right Stuff by Thomas Wolfe
Invisible man by Ralph Ellison
anything by Steinbeck
A clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (get a Nadsat dictionary online to help you with the dialect)