My top 10 authors

My favourite authors are those who have written several amazing books. Because I read a lot, while there are some wonderful writers who have written 1 or 2 books, I can’t put them on my favourites list until they have at least 3 under their belt!

These are the people that if I saw they had written a new book, I would buy it without hesitation. Their books have made me laugh, cry, feel nostalgic, taught me things and enchanted me. I would highly recommend reading all of them.

There were also a few authors who were so close to being on my list, that I may well do a runner up list too at some point. But here are my top 10 – in semi alphabetical order by first name because I like it that way.

1. Amor Towles

I fell in love with Amor Towle’s book ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ when we were living in Sonoma in 2018. Every morning I would have breakfast and read a chapter about Count Rostov being under house arrest in a grand hotel in Moscow during the war. It was charming, delightful, beautifully written and I was devastated when it ended. Amor’s first book ‘The Rules of Civility’ was also an excellent read and one I will read again in the future. His latest ‘The Lincoln Highway’ was pretty good but didn’t have the same spark for me. However I will read anything else he writes, and I am looking forward to re-reading ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ again when I feel like the world is too overwhelming and I need to spend some time with Count Rostov’s again.

2. Anthony Doerr

With Anthony Doerr you’ll get a strange range of topics in his books. ‘All the Light you cannot see’ is his most famous work about a French teenager and a German soldier – and is a beautiful and moving read. ‘Four Seasons in Rome’ is non-fiction about his year living in Rome but I really loved. ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ was absolutely bizarre but I spent 2 days sitting in the sun in Madrid reading it and couldn’t stop until I finished. ‘About Grace’ was probably my least favourite but still a great read. I haven’t read his two short story collections (‘The Shell Collector’ or ‘Memory Lane’) because short stories annoy me (I read fast, and just as I’m getting into the story – it ends).

3. Ann Patchett

In putting this list together I’ve now found that while I thought I had read everything by Ann Patchett, there are a couple of her novels I haven’t read, so it’s a book shopping mission for me. Hooray! But of all the novels by her that I have read, I have really enjoyed each of them. Well written, with complex and interesting characters. The stand-out for me is ‘The Dutch House’ which was brilliant although ‘Bel Canto’ is the one she’s most famous for (about an opera singer trapped in a hostage situation). I also love that Ann runs an independent bookshop which I’d love to visit one day.

4. Aminatta Forna

I started reading ’Happiness’ by Aminatta Forna on a trip to Mexico city and had to stop until I got back to the UK as the book is set in London and it was too strange being taken there so vividly when I wasn’t in the same country (I like to try and read books set in the country I’m in as I find it sort of imbues something into the story when you’re right there. I know. I’m a weirdo). Then I read ‘The Hired Man’ which was about a woman who buys a holiday house in Croatia and hires a local man to help with renovations (I did read this in France, but in our country house which we’re renovating so it felt right!). I’m now onto her second novel ‘The Memory of Love’ and on those three alone, she’s made my list, and I have several more of hers to read!

5. Donna Tartt

I have read all of Donna Tartt’s books and would recommend them, but there’s one that really stands out. ‘The Secret History’ came out in 1992 and I read it a couple of years later when I was working in a bookshop. I absolutely loved it and read it every few years. Each time it changes slightly for me and I take more from it. It’s about a group of classics students at university / college and explores whether you can get away with murder. It’s my favourite book of all time and the one I recommend to absolutely everyone who asks me what they should read. It’s brilliant. So while I haven’t re-read any of her other books, Donna Tartt is still on my favourite author list.

6. Elif Shafak

I brought an Elif Shafak novel by chance on a sale rack at a second hand bookshop in London. It was ’10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world’. The story of a prostitute who is dying on the streets of Istanbul. It was memorising and I immediately set out to read all of Elif’s novels. She takes to you some very unusual places. ‘Forty Rules of Love’ took me on a journey to understanding about Sufism and the poet Rumi. ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ is told from the point of view of a tree and is wonderful. I’m now working my way through her other novels!

7. Haruki Murakami

I read quite a lot of Japanese authors and find it’s like taking a dip in cold water. Often the prose is sparse and ethereal and very clean. I got into Japanese fiction reading Banana Yoshimoto but my favourite Japanese author is Haruki Murakami. If you haven’t read Japanese fiction before then I’d recommend ‘Norwiegan Wood’ as a great start. It’s a bit more comprehensible than some of Haruki’s other works, but then that’s what also makes his other books fun. I remember the weeks I was emersed in ‘The Wind Up Bird Chronicle’. I couldn’t tell you what it’s about, it’s like going into a black hole when you read it that makes sense when you’re in it, but not when you’re out! However I loved reading it. I will put together a post about the best Japanese fiction but for now, get your hands on a Murakami and enjoy! I read everything he writes.

8. John Lanchester

‘Fragant Harbour’ is one of the few books I’ve read several times. It tells the story of Hong Kong but through four different people’s journeys. I’ve also loved several of his other books. ‘The Debt to Pleasure’ is fascinating, ‘The Wall’ which is more sci-fi may end up being fact in a few years if the oceans continue to rise, ‘Mr Philips’ a quiet day in the life novel. I couldn’t get into ‘Capital’ but it got excellent reviews. This still makes John Lanchester one of my favourites.

9. Lauren Groff

I loved ‘The Fates and the Furies’ about the struggles and joys of marriage and went on to read Lauren’s other novels which were all excellent. I had one of those weird experiences with ‘Matrix’. I started reading it while I was also reading about Empress Matilda who lived in France in the 12the century and sent one of her cousins to a nunnery. ‘Matrix’ is the story of that nun! Anyway that sort of thing happens to me a lot (reading a book about something, then starting another just by chance that intersects with it). I’ll write a blog about that one day. In the meantime, go and try Lauren.

10. Sebastian Faulks

My first Sebastian Faulks novel was ‘Bird Song’ which is about WW1 and really made me cry (like snorting sobbing crying). And since then I’ve read almost all of his books. Beautifully written, and often exploring fascinating time periods and characters, I know that I will never be disappointed with any of his writing. And I never have been.

So that’s them. My favourite ten authors. I’d love to hear what yours are and why!