Your Top Three Favourite Authors

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm enjoying this "three favourite authors" thread (or sometimes more than three!) It's interesting to see which authors have made a real impression on people.

The problem is that three authors isn't really enough to judge an impression. It seems obvious (although, strangely, two people haven't) that Enid will be featured, so it only leaves two others to pick. I have been impressed by many authors, and to get a true flavour, I would probably like to see people's top ten.

I've been thinking about this off and on for the last few weeks, and I find it more difficult to choose ten than I did to choose three! The best I can do is eight, because after that there are numerous other contenders and picking just two more is impossible:

1. Enid Blyton: An incredibly varied output - this author's enthralling books have touched my heart and set me dreaming ever since I learnt to read.

2. Charles Dickens: Gloriously rich prose, riveting plots, marvellous characters and a keen social awareness.

3. E. Nesbit: Enchanting tales with such natural, lively characters.

4. D. H. Lawrence: Full of vitality - his characters and landscapes really live and his writing is hypnotic and poetic.

5. Frances Hodgson Burnett: Beautifully crafted stories with strong characters, vivid images and charming ideas.

6. Evelyn Waugh: A captivating mixture of wit and wistfulness.

7. Dr. Seuss: Scintillating verse, zany yet thought-provoking.

8. C. S. Lewis: Imaginative, stirring stories which take the reader on a journey.


Any of the following could be 9th and 10th:

Julia Golding, Sally Gardner, Philippa Pearce, Robert Westall, T. S. Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Ben Jonson, E. M. Forster, Felix Salten, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Patricia Leitch.

[Farwa]

Very literary choice of books, Anita!
I can't believe that you also like Frances Hodgson Burnett and C. S. Lewis so much that you put them in your top eight books! I also love them both very much. In fact, re-reading the top three favourite authors which I wrote, I was thinking of replacing J. K. Rowling with C. S. Lewis or Roald Dahl.

[Moonraker]

Yes, maybe it is best to list the authors that you enjoy most (providing it isn't hundreds!) rather than a fixed number.

I find it difficult to name my favourite author, it's a case of what suits the mood. If I had to name number one, then it would have to be Enid - not necessarily because she is my favourite, but was my inspiration to read, continue to read and try new authors. With that in mind, I will start a list, but in no particular order:

Enid Blyton
Malcolm Saville
Peter James
C J Sansom
Agatha Christie
John Rhode
John Creasey
Richmal Crompton
Anthony Buckeridge
Charles Dickens

Others hovering under the line include James Herbert, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde (my all-time favourite children's story is The Selfish Giant), JKR (Harry Potter, only) and Wilkie Collins.

I was surprised I made ten so quickly, which suggests there may be others that I have temporarily forgotten! However, the above authors are ones that I immediately buy, if they are still writing, and return to if they're not.

Edit: Due to a flash of memory re-call in the night, I came up with my top three, one of whom I completely forgot when compiling my list:

Enid Blyton
Malcolm Saville
Agatha Christie

[xtine]

depends if we are sticking to 'kid' authors - then that is easy

Enid/Roald Dhal &third place is shared between 'Worst witch' writer (Jill Murphy?) Lewis Carroll & the person who wrote 'naughtiest girl' series, oo could put in Edgar Allan Poe as well as he did stories and poems.

'adult' wise it is harder - agree with Herbert, read most of his Stephen King could be maybe share third with James Patterson as some of their books are decent others are 'rubbish', Tess Gerritesen gets second and again first is hard, as I have many authors I read through, Harlen Coben/Peter James/Kathy Reichs/Dean Koontz/Alex Kava/Thomas Harris/Jeff Deaver/Jeff Abbott/Irvine Welsh/Jean m Aureal (reckon that may be spelt wrong)/Barbra Erskine/Chuck Palahniuk & Hunter s Thompson - all written great stuff and worth checking out if never read them! - I think of any more will add them to my 'list'

[Moonraker]

Yes, you've listed some of my favourite authors, xtine.

[Poppy]

Ten is much easier!

1. Enid Blyton - by a long way
2. Jane Austen
3. Agatha Christie
4. Arthur Ransome
5. Michael Morpurgo
6. Eva Ibbotson
7. Robin Stevens
8. Charles Dickens
9. Edith Nesbit
10. R.L.Stevenson

Charlotte Brontë has always fascinated me with Jane Eyre and as has Emily Brontë with Wuthering Heights - though I could never get into it at first! Those would make my 11. and 12. anyway!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I toyed with the idea of including Eva Ibbotson in my list of "near misses", Poppy, because I love Journey to the River Sea, The Star of Kazan and The Dragonfly Pool. However, I wasn't as keen on The Secret of Platform Thirteen or One Dog and His Boy.

Eva Ibbotson appears to have been influenced by one of my own favourite authors, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it's good to see Hodgson Burnett's name appearing in people's lists. At the moment I'm reading her book The Lost Prince, first published in 1915, and some incidents make me think of Enid Blyton's The Circus of Adventure. A gripping story which I'm thoroughly enjoying. It's a 1986 Puffin Classics paperback and has an interesting inscription written inside the front cover: "No T.V. needed. To help you get to sleep! Love Mummy xxx".

I'm glad you're also a fan of Oscar Wilde, Nigel. Yes, his short stories are lovely even though some of them are terribly sad!

[Maggie Knows]

George Macdonald Fraser - I love the Flashman series and have read them all many times
Ian Rankin - I think the Rebus series is fantastic and have re-read the series several times
Richmal Crompton - I love the William stories, though I still haven't collected them all.
Emile Zola - I read the Rougon-Macquart series avidly, and while there are some truly great novels there are some I wouldn't re-read
Anthony Trollope - I loved the Barchester series, the Parliamentary series not so much

Ian Rankin is interesting because while he wrote a series of 18 Rebus books, the later ones are more complex and satisfying compared to the earliest ones. Anyone reading the first 2-3 books might wonder what the fuss is about and not persist, which would be a shame: from Strip Jack onwards they get better and better...

[Poppy]

I toyed with the idea of including Eva Ibbotson in my list of "near misses", Poppy, because I love Journey to the River Sea, The Star of Kazan and The Dragonfly Pool. However, I wasn't as keen on The Secret of Platform Thirteen or One Dog and His Boy.

I have only actually read Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan but I found both stories extremely captivating and imaginative. Also surpsingly similar which was an aspect I enjoyed. I love Ibbotson's adventurous description of the foreign countries which feature in these books: Brazil, Vienna, and Spittal, in particular, which are portrayed with such exquisite and alluring accuracy. I must look into getting a copy of The Dragonfly Pool, sometime, which sounds intriguing.

[burlingtonbertram]

Anthony Trollope - I loved the Barchester series, the Parliamentary series not so much

Snap. I loved the Barchester series; especially "The Warden" and "Barchester Towers". Have you seen the excellent 1982 BBC dramatisation with Alan Rickman? I couldn't get into the Parliamentary novels at all. "The Way We Live Now" is pretty good.

Good author and the man credited with inventing the pillar box.

[Maggie Knows]

Yes indeed, got it on DVD. Great performances from the whole cast, including a very young Alan Rickman (oops, you've already said that). Nigel Hawthorne and the woman who plays the Bishop's wife also very very good.

[burlingtonbertram]

I can't put these in any order but they are clearly my favourites based on the number of their works that I have:

Charles Dickens
Enid Blyton
Frances Burney
Frank Richards (Greyfriars stories only)
Georgette Heyer (Regency/Georgian novels only)

Oddly though, none of them wrote any of my top three favourite books. Of those three books, not one writer came close to making my Favourite Author list. Strange that.

[Moonraker]

Poppy, if I were single, I might ask you to marry me. However, you might be a bit too old for me.

[Eddie Muir]

I always enjoy reading your posts, which are consistently informative and well-written, Poppy.

[Poppy]

Thanks Eddie!

Poppy, if I were single, I might ask you to marry me. However, you might be a bit too old for me.