Today I wanted to have a little chat about what constitutes a "favorite" author for me! Lately, I have seen quite a number of videos on Booktube where people have been discussing their favorite authors and I realized that the way most people go about this is quite different than my own. Little bit of warning: I am not saying anybody's way is right or wrong, I am just sharing my thoughts on the subject. Anyhow, I noticed a lot of people mention authors and then say that it was the only book they have read by said author. This is probably my biggest difference because I can't bring myself to call an author my favorite unless I have read more than one of their books. I personally feel that with one book alone I don't fully appreciate or understand the author's style or voice. I might dislike every other book that author has written. For example, I read and loved 1984 by George Orwell. It was the book that got me into Dystopians and it is one of my all time favorite books. Then I read Animal Farm and completely disliked it! I wondered how I could have such radically different opinions about two books by the same author. Then I realized that simply liking a book doesn't mean liking all of an author's works. I would feel fairly bad saying George Orwell was my favorite author when I disliked the only other book I read by him so much. But I do feel confident in saying the book itself (1984) is one of my favorites.
Also, in the case of author's who write books in series, I usually will not say they are my favorites unless I have read at least one book in multiple series. What I mean by this is that if an author has written two series I want to have read from both. The biggest case of this is J.K. Rowling. I have read nine books by her but they were all in the Harry Potter world. I have yet to read her adult novels and even though Harry Potter is my favorite series of all time I don't consider her to be my favorite author. I don't know if I love her writing in general or if I am just madly in love with the world she created within the Harry Potter series.
Of course there is so much more to whether an author is my favorite that DOES have to do with their writing, and characters, and world building, ect. but I generally need more to go on than just one amazing book, even if that amazing book itself is a favorite. But now on the FUN part: three of the authors that ARE my favorites! :) (In no particular order)
My first favorite author is James Dashner! The first book I read by him was The Maze Runner and I was instantly hooked. Half way through the book I ran to the bookstore on campus to buy the sequel because I JUST had to continue on right away. I fell in love with this series right away. I love the world and the characters so much. I literally jumped for joy when the Prequel The Kill Order was announced and I devoured that as well. I seriously am keeping my fingers crossed that he writes a sequel to the prequel, there is still so much of this world that I want to know! Since then I have picked up part of his MG series The Journal of Curious Letters which I have really enjoyed as well. And the latest I have read by him is the AMAZING start to a new series The Eye of Minds! I pre-ordered this book and read it in one sitting. It was brilliant and heart racing and that ending! I didn't see it coming. Like my mind was miles away from ever thinking that. The sequel is coming out this year and I can't wait!
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Besides James Dashner being a great writer he is also a great person. He makes this fandom feel like a close knit family. He is constantly communicating with readers and making us feel like we are just as much a part of his books as he is. That is a very rare quality in a person, to be able to step back and show gratitude and acknowledgement for his success to his readers. It means a lot more to us than he may ever know. I hope he continues to have so many of us supporting him because I would love to be reading more of his books 10 years from now. P.S. I am SOOO excited for the Maze Runner movie!!!
The last one I picked up on the day of its release was Fangirl and do I really need to say anything about this one??? Everybody has been raving about it and with good reason! It is the story of US as readers and fans and it is so relate-able. I did not want this book to end at all! I loved the characters sooo much and Levi was just fantastic! I loved his charm and his positive outlook on life. I also loved that Cath was not easily swayed into doing things she didn't agree with like many characters usually are in a lot of coming of age stories. I know a lot of people label this as an all around happy story but it did have some serious issues in it, especially those revolving around the father and mother of the girls. Everything Rainbow touches turns to gold and I am so excited to read Landline which comes out July 8th!!! Not to mention Rainbow is one of the sweetest people ever. She always replies to messages and tweets and is just one of those people that you feel radiate light. I am also terribly jealous of her husbands cooking! I haven't had pho in forever!
Susan also does this great thing where she gets her readers involved in the process of writing her new books and asks them to help name characters and places. It is a lot of fun! I keep trying but I have yet to give a good suggestion! haha
So there you have it! Three of my favorite authors! There are a couple more but I might share those in a later post this is already too long as it is. I want to mention that while these three authors are very active with their readers, I don't hold that trait for or against authors. I love it when authors interact but I also know they have lives of their own and lots of work. There are several authors who I love that don't even have a twitter! So while this can be a plus it should never be a negative in my opinion.
Let me know how you classify your favorite authors and who some of them are!
Happy reading :)
Judith <3
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