Anonymous wrote:Taylor Jenkins Reid mentioned twice? John Grisham? I mean, I love a good beach paperback for a mindless read, but as your favorite author? I had no idea DCUM was so downmarket

God forbid people read what they enjoy. Take your snobbery elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barbara Kingsolver. Some of her stuff gets a little preachy even for me, but most of it hits just right-- independent women making their way in the world through smarts and resolve, tending relationships, living with nature.
Everyone seems to have read the Poisonwood Bible, which I strongly disliked. Prodigal Summer is one of my all-time favorite books, and seems to be much less well-known. Go get it!

Only book that I did not like by Kingsolver was Demon Copperhead.

That is her best book. Just incredible.

I hated it! And I love her work AND David Copperfield.

I didn't hate it, but I thought that the effort to reimagine David Copperfield by drawing parallels to Appalachia in the age of the opiate crisis often felt forced and did neither justice.

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Anonymous wrote:Joan Didion at the moment but it changes every year.

That's a pretty good one.

What is your favorite of hers?

Favorites - (a lot of them are dead)

Philip Roth
Shakespeare
Seamus Heaney
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Diane Seuss

Anonymous wrote:Currently Elin Hilderbrand.

Call me down market if you wish, but I had fun at this event. I think she's deeper than

Hilderbabes Take Nantucket
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/books/elin-hilderbrand-bucket-list-weekend.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dk8.Gcnq.3D8aSWA2FS56&smid=url-share

No judgement here. I think recreational reading should be . . . fun. I haven’t read Elin Hilderbrand, but I expect that she is probably fathoms deeper than the fluff I generally read. While I can appreciate the merits of fine literature, when I read, I generally want to indulge in escapism with a guaranteed happy ending and ideally some laughs along the way (bonus points for: regency dukes, aliens, magic, alternate dimensions, vampires, shifters, time travel, etc.).

*deeper than you may be giving her credit for

Currently Elin Hilderbrand.

Call me down market if you wish, but I had fun at this event. I think she's deeper than

Hilderbabes Take Nantucket
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/books/elin-hilderbrand-bucket-list-weekend.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dk8.Gcnq.3D8aSWA2FS56&smid=url-share

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elizabeth Strout
Geraldine Brooks

There is sooooo much going on in her books. Especially with regard to empathy, which is the greatest thing a work of art can inspire.

I love Elizabeth Strout too. Other favorites are: Anne Tyler, Jane Smiley, Paul Murray, Richard Russo, Chris Bohjalian, Fannie Flagg, Nathan Hill, Rebecca Makkai, Frederik Bachman, and Celeste Ng.

forgot to mention Ann Patchett!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elizabeth Strout
Geraldine Brooks

There is sooooo much going on in her books. Especially with regard to empathy, which is the greatest thing a work of art can inspire.

I love Elizabeth Strout too. Other favorites are: Anne Tyler, Jane Smiley, Paul Murray, Richard Russo, Chris Bohjalian, Fannie Flagg, Nathan Hill, Rebecca Makkai, Frederik Bachman, and Celeste Ng.

Anonymous wrote:I love Stephen King and I think he's a much better writer than people give him credit for. And I am not a fan of horror/fantasy.

Authors whose wrote has struck me include Robert Penn Warren, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chris Bohjalian (some of his books are phenomenal, others aren't), and Barbara Kingsolver.

There are others but I can't think of them right now.

^^^^^ whose *work* has struck me

I shouldn't try to post while on conference calls, sorry

I love Stephen King and I think he's a much better writer than people give him credit for. And I am not a fan of horror/fantasy.

Authors whose wrote has struck me include Robert Penn Warren, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chris Bohjalian (some of his books are phenomenal, others aren't), and Barbara Kingsolver.

There are others but I can't think of them right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor Jenkins Reid mentioned twice? John Grisham? I mean, I love a good beach paperback for a mindless read, but as your favorite author? I had no idea DCUM was so downmarket

Since when is John Grisham “downmarket??!”

Fully respect everyone’s right to like what they like, but I think we can all agree John Grisham is no literary master.

the question was favorite author not best writer

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barbara Kingsolver. Some of her stuff gets a little preachy even for me, but most of it hits just right-- independent women making their way in the world through smarts and resolve, tending relationships, living with nature.
Everyone seems to have read the Poisonwood Bible, which I strongly disliked. Prodigal Summer is one of my all-time favorite books, and seems to be much less well-known. Go get it!

Only book that I did not like by Kingsolver was Demon Copperhead.

Same

So many right now, I’m loving
Jane Smiley - Some luck (first of all trilogy)
Richard Powers

Amy Tan. Her prose is so beautiful and I love how she weaves in Chinese history into her work. Also, From all the interviews and the 2 books that have come closest to her memoirs, she seems like such a lovely person.