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I love reading! Anyone else? If so who are your favorite authors and what genre do you prefer?

CollegiateJules 5 Mar 12
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6

For me, I'm an avid reader but if I have to chose a genre it would be either fantasy or horror and my favourite authors for both categories are Anne Rice and Stephen King for horror and Marissa Meyers and George RR Martin for fantasy

I love king and rice! I am in the middle of reading the Game of Theones now

Which book are you on in the series? Or have you already finished it?

I've never read Marissa Meyers, but as I love the other authors you mentioned I will have to look into it.

Marissa Meyers is the author of the Lunar Chronicles, it's a very interesting series

5

I love fantasy and mysteries. Jim Butcher,Tolkien, Charlaine Harris,Sarah Caldwell,Donna Andrews among others.

5

Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, too many others to mention.

Just picked up Gaimens "Trigger Warning". Love it.

@Blindbird I haven't heard of that one, but I'm sure I will read it at some point. A few years ago I went to a book signing for "The Ocean at the End of the Lane". He was signing books past midnight.

Terry is a blast 90% of the time! I have only read Neil once when he wrote with Terry.

@Holysocks Shortly after I read "Good Omens" I found a copy of Neverwhere in the library. Then he wrote "American Gods". Both great books, among of my favorites.

George, I've read Good Omens and enjoyed it. Thanks for the other recommendations!

5

I love reading also. Will read lot's of different genres but my favorites are Scifi and fantasy. Stephen King, Terry Brooks, Isaac Asimov are a few.

Love Stephen King! I think the last science fiction novel I read was Andy Weir's "The Martian." I wasnt a big fan of it, but I am going to try the genre again. I picked up a book this weekend that looks promising. 🙂

@CollegiateJules I liked The Martian book and also thought the movie was pretty good. What book did you pick up?

@ronnie40356 The Diabolic by SJ KINCAID

@CollegiateJules Thanks. I haven't read it, title sounds good. Will ask Google.. 🙂

4

For me, Lord of the Rings and the other works of Tolkien are set on a pedestal above all other works of literature. They're just so amazing, Middle Earth is easily my favourite fictional universe.

As you might be able to guess, my favourite genre is fantasy, but I'm also quite fond of historical fiction.

Top authors for me are... obviously, Tolkien. Robin Hobb as well, in the fantasy genre; her Farseer saga is masterful.

In historical fiction, I'm most fond of the works of Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, Bernard Cornwell and Robert Fabbri.

Honourable mention must also go to The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

I havent read much fantasy in my life, but I am a HUGE historical fiction reader. I love the Outlander series. I tend to gravitate to the novels taking place in WWII or during that period. 🙂

@CollegiateJules Oh, no. Greek and Roman history for me, sometimes branching forward to the medieval period or the Napoleonic wars.

4

Carlos Castaneda, Chris Hitchens and Jim Butcher. All types of genres.

I'd love to see a another Harry Dresden novel.

Good choices!

@zeuser Coming out in December, I think its going to be called, "Mirror, Mirror".

@CollegiateJules Thank you, Ma'am.

Whoa, no kidding!! Best news I had all day!!

3

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

"Who wants to see the Future, who ever does? A man can face the Past, but to think - the pillars crumbled, you say? And the sea empty, and the canals dry, and the maidens dead, and the flowers withered?" The Martian was silent, but then he looked ahead. "But there they are. I see them. Isn't that enough for me? They wait for me now, no matter what you say." ~Night meeting, The Martian Chronicles

Ray Bradbury.

Dear god that man scared the pants off me.

3

John Irving (even though religion is a part of most of his stories... He's a master of the craft)
Lawrence Block
Jonathan Ames
Robert Parker
Are some of my favorites.

I havent read any of those authors. I will have to check them out. I enjoy Mitch Albom, though her also has some aspect of belief in his books too. 🙂

3

Pulp. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Mickey Spillane, Robert Howard. I used to like Mercedes Lackey books but she just tanks in ever third volume of a series.

velk Level 4 Mar 12, 2018

I havent read any of those authors. I love reading book series also, that way i don't have to deal with a book hangover too early..lol

When I was a teenager, I was a huge fan of Burroughs' Tarzan novels, and I enjoyed a few of the Martian novels too.

I like pulp because it tells a good story in usually less than 200 paperback pages. Tarzan, Conan, Mike Hammer, even the boxing fiction of the era is still a lot better to me than a 500 page book that is part of a 20 book series.

3

Dean Knootz, James Patterson, Stephen King, Mark Twain many others

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Stephen King. I read his Bachman novels when I was 12...The Long Walk has to be in my top ten tales I ever read. 🙂

The Long Walk is the only King book I've liked. Oh and his guide for writers.

@CollegiateJules Four Past Midnight was my first novel I ever read completely still remains one of my top reads. Dean Koontz False Memories was hard to put that one down. Loved James Patterson The original Maximum Ride. The adventures with Alex Cross.

@velk Yes! I enjoyed his "On Writing" also..That is one book I will never get rid of, and read over and over

@CollegiateJules You got my reading juices flowing. Kind of hard right now because I have 7 year old twins that demand a lot of attention. I did recently rejoin Amazon kindle reading club. Sitting here listening to Chopin, I could pick up a novel and go on a reading marathon.

@azzow2 You really should! Twins, sounds like a cute handful 🙂

@CollegiateJules Was reading the original Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum the differences such butchery Hollywood did to the story.

@azzow2 I boycott all Frank Baum novels...he was a huge genocide promoter of Native Americans but I have seen the movie when I was young

@CollegiateJulesDid not know have several Apache friends a Navajo and Am trying to get in with the Hopi to better understand their time concepts.

@CollegiateJules Twins raising kids as a single parent All the jobs I have had in the past including the military are pail in comparison.

@CollegiateJules reading the post below mine reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle the professor leaving his wife a tip on the breakfast table.

3

Fantasy and science fiction. Jim Butcher, Terry Goodkind, Brandon Sanderson, Frederick Pohl, the late great Richard Jordan, and Kurt Vonnegut come to mind.

I read Slaughter House Five by Vonnegut. I can see where that would be considered science fiction, but I especially enjoyed "Mother Night" by Vonnegut which I think is more pure good old fashioned fiction. 🙂

Mother Night was a good representation of the idiocy of anti-semitism, and I would call it close to alternate history. I just love his writing style. If I could write like that, I'd never stop writing.

Yes, the Trout persona was his vehicle for straight ahead SF, like Venus on a Half Shell.

3

Nora Roberts, Linda Leahl Miller, Rc Ryan,Dan Brown--sometimes even the backs of cereal boxes--reading is my sanctuary

Lol, me to. I'll read shampoo bottle labels, nail polish remover labels, parts catalogs, recipe books, Medical magazines in medical waiting rooms, everywhere..

Lol yep! I am a fill out bibliophile!! Good to see so many out there still love books!! And cereal boxes ????

2

Did anyone read "Fifty Shades"?

Nope. Did you? (no judgement intended. Am genuinely curious).

yes I did--interesting--not as stupid as I expected. I also saw the first movie--now that was stupid--terrible

2

There are as many answers, as there are contributors, every one valid, its good to hear that so many people are still reading so long, and thanks for all the fish !

2

Authors: Me, Hemmingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Asimov, Dick, Heinlein, Clarke, etc.

Genres: Hard/Soft Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Urban Paranormal, Urban Horror, Urban Fantasy. Those are the favorites pretty much in order, but I enjoy any well written fiction and much non fiction.

My latest novel (actually a severely edited and rewritten round robin), Heaven Help Us, hopefully to be released this Fall, is an Urban Fantasy in which the main protagonist accidentally winds up in Heaven and is promptly arrested as an illegal alien.

1

Little patience here for entertainment fiction but it isn't entirely excluded. My favorites are writers displaying courage and pioneering spirit in non-fiction and they include sociological, scientific and political realms more heavily.

Top ones are:

Sciences

Wilhelm Reich, M.D. - 'Ether, God and Devil, Cosmic Superimposition', 'Character Analysis', The Function of the Orgasm' and 'The Mass Psychology of Fascism'.

Arthur Koestler - 'Janus'

Eric Fromm - 'The Art of Loving' and 'Anatomy of Human Destructiveness'.

Lewis Thomas - 'Lives of a Cell'

Candace Pert - 'Molecules of Emotion'

James DeMeo, Phd., - 'Saharasia, The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence, In the Deserts of the Old World'

Ashley Montagu - 'Touching, the Human Significance of the Skin"

Sociology

H.L. Mencken - 'Treatise on the Gods' 'In Defense of Women' and other socially critical writings.

George Schuyler - 'Black No More'

Mark Twain - ....anything!

Christopher Hitchens - .... ditto

Political and Historical

Ilan Pappe, Phd. - 'The Ethnic Cleansiing of Palestine'

Miko Peled, - 'The General's Son'

Alice Rothchild, M.D., - 'Condition Critical'

Alison Weir - 'Against Our Better Judgment'

J.M.N. Jeffries (1939) - 'Palestine the Reality'

Rashid Khalidi - 'Brokers of Deceit'

Norman Finkelstein, Phd., - 'The Holocaust Industry' and 'Method and Madness, The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza'

History/Biography/ Fiction

Zora Neale Hurston - Anything!

Myron Sharaf, Phd., - 'Fury on Earth' Biography of Wilhelm Reich,, M.D.

Flavius Josephus - 'Wars of the Jews' and 'Antiquities of the Jews'

Leon Uris - 'Mila 18' fiction

Chaim A. Kaplan - 'The Warsaw Diary of Chaim A. Kaplan'

Max Dimont - 'Jews, God and History'

Ethel Waters - 'His Eye on the Sparrow' autobiography

Sophie Tucker - 'Some of these Days' autobiography

Robert Penn Warren - 'All the King's Men' fiction

Many more but special affection for these.

1

Ursula K. LeGuin, Nell Irvin Painter, Marilyn Frye, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley to name a few.

1

I am a voracious reader. I read both fiction and non-fiction. My favorite books are Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Shipping News by E Annie Proulx, I also love anything by Barbara Kingsolver, Debbie Macomber, I loved Mean Streak by Sandra Brown. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, Romances by LaVyrle Spencer, especially Hummingbird and The Hellion. Also by Rosamucd Pilcher and a couple of other British authors. I love Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, and Patricia Cornwell

1

I would read all day every day if I could get away with it. (Well, maybe that's not true but I don't get nearly as much time to read as I'd like). I mostly like non-fiction -- books about cosmology, archeology, evolutionary biology. I like biographies if I'm interested in the person. My fiction tastes are kind of all over the place. Loved everything Anne McCaffrey wrote (by herself; some of the collaborations not so much). Love Diana Gabaldon (but no, I don't watch the Outlander series on TV). I don't generally like mysteries but just read all 13 of Louse Penny's books and loved them -- her characters are terrific. My book club gets me to read things I would otherwise not read, which is good for me.

1

I love historical fiction. Phillippa Gregory is a favorite. And I like the Outlander series a lot. I've also read a lot of books about JFK's murder and his presidency. I read a lot of nonfiction books, too, especially stuff on prehistoric culture and neuroscience.

1

I love reading non-fiction. The best book I have recently read is: David Benatar (2006). Better Never To have Been. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

1

Ok, I'll be bold and admit to enjoying romantic fluff... Current faves: Karen Moning, Robin D. Owens, Sky Purington, Maya Banks , G.A. Aiken, Jean Johnson, Bianca d'Arc, Sara Humphrey, Tanya Crosby.

Zster Level 8 Mar 12, 2018
1

Oh, haii!! Voracious reader here!
I love me some romance and I read all flavors, depending on what mood strikes or what kind of kick I'm on: paranormal, romantic suspense, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, rockstar romance, xters with disabilities, M-M romance, other lgbtqia etc.

Have you ever read Outlander? Such a great series of books! Thanks for contributing to the post! Love the choices of genre

@CollegiateJules No, I haven't. Sounds like a historical romance title. Who's it by?

HUGE Gabaldon fan here. I nearly had kittens when they took the series to the screen AND did so rather well. "Outlander" is one of very few books that I've read repeatedly.

1

Paolo Coelho, Rumi, Terry Pratchett, James Alexander Thom, Dave Barry, Ogden Nash, Robert W. Service, the list goes on.... Genre doesn't matter to me as long as the mind is stimulated.

1

My favorite GENRE is short stories. Garcia Marquez, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Evan Connell, Richard Burgin.... the list could go on!

klm50 Level 3 Mar 12, 2018
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