Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Auto-Buy Authors




Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I've never participated before, but this is too good a topic to pass up!

Because the question this week is which authors you love enough to automatically buy their books - like preorder them before you even know what they're about - because you love their work that much.

In order to qualify for my list, an author has to have at least three books out (that I've read) and the three can't all be part of a series. Ready? Let's go! In no particular order ...

Top Ten (+1)

AS King
Fabulously innovative and always thought-provoking. I've read all of her published work. Favorites: DUST OF 100 DOGS and VERA DIETZ

Lauren Oliver
LO delivers on high concept premises with emotionally rich executions. I've read everything except THE SPINDLERS (gotta get on that since it is on my shelf!). Favorite: BEFORE I FALL.

Sarah Waters
Atmospheric writing and intricate plotting. Only missing TIPPING THE VELVET and I plan to read that one this year. Favorite: FINGERSMITH

Courtney Summers
Gets to the truth of her characters. Fearless. I've read all her published work. Favorite: SOME GIRLS ARE

David Mitchell
Experimental in a way that breaks my brain in an awesome way. I've read all but one (saving it for a rainy day!) Favorite: GHOSTWRITTEN

Tana French
Insightful and thrilling. I've read all her published work. Favorite: THE LIKENESS

Laini Taylor
Imaginative, lush writing. Though I'm not into her faerie middle grade series (very much an "it's me, not her" thing), I love everything else. Favorite: Goblin Fruit from LIPS TOUCH

Beth Kephart
Gorgeous turns of phrase. I've either read or bought all of her YA books. Favorite: UNDERCOVER

Mary E. Pearson
Excellent plotting and emotionally resonant scene building. I've either read or bought all of her recent books. Favorite: THE MILES BETWEEN

Leila Sales
Leila's writing is so perceptive and funny. I think her upcoming book THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is her best yet.

BONUS:
Ann Bonwill
I adore her picture books! I buy at least three copies of each. Favorite: I DON'T WANT TO BE A PEA

5 others with potential to be on this list (where I have read at least 2):

Megan McCafferty
I've only read BUMPED & THUMPED (fangirled!), but I've no doubt that once I start her Jessica Darling series, she'll be "bumped up" to my main list. 

CK Kelly Martin
I loved YESTERDAY and enjoyed MY BEATING TEENAGE HEART, so I gotta read more.

Diana Peterfreund
Her writing in the killer unicorn series was so intelligent, I need to read her other two series stat.

Gayle Forman
IF I STAY was one of my all-time faves (still need to read WHERE SHE WENT). And I enjoyed JUST ONE DAY and am totes looking forward to JUST ONE YEAR.

Beth Revis
Beth knows how to bring the BIG twists. I can't wait to see what she has for us next!

5 other writers I love (but I have to check them out first):

Jasper Fforde
I enjoy his Thursday Next series and SHADES OF GREY was awesome, but so far I've had no interest in his YA stuff or the Nursery Crimes series.

Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler
The Series of Unfortunate Events kind of fizzled out at the end, and I didn't really need all the cash-in books, but I definitely take notice when he has a new book coming out.

Margaret Atwood
I do love most of her work, but I like to read a chapter first to see if the book is going to gel with me or not. 

Barbara Kingsolver 
Same as above.

Douglas Coupland
He has such great high-concept work, but I've yet to be completely wowed by one of his novels.


I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but let's stop there!

Who are your auto-buy authors?

14 comments:

bermudaonion said...

You forgot Lenore Appelhans - she's on my auto-buy list!

Katie said...

Well I definitely have some new books to check out now. I have yet to read anything by AS King or CK Kelly Martin but I plan on fixing that very soon. Great list!

Lea (YA Book Queen) said...

I totally agree with Lauren Oliver, Laini Taylor (such gorgeous writing) and Beth Revis!

Great top ten! :)

Zibilee said...

I totally agree with A.S. King and Lauren Oliver!! Great list today!

Christina said...

You totally cheated and did a BUNCH of authors. I am so jealous.

Holla for AS King. Haven't read Waters, Mitchell, Kephart or Bonwill. Most of the others I've only read a couple books by, so they don't qualify for me.

Your list of potential ones is totally from my list. Haha! I actually cheated for Courtney Summers, because I've only read two, but she NEEDED to be on the list.

Jasper Fforde's books are pretty inconsistent in quality, so I also have to check them out. Same with Atwood; some of them do not mesh with me. Kingsolver and I got along great until the latest one. Sigh.

Cecelia said...

Diana Peterfreund is on my list! And I really should have thought of Beth Kephart, too... her books always melt my brain with awesome and emotion. Lovely picks!

Emy Shin said...

I have only one author on my list, but Laini Taylor is a close second. I adore her writing so much that if the story sounds remotely interesting, I'd buy the book from her in a heartheat.

LisaILJ said...

I can't wait to read Leila Sales' new book. I really enjoyed the others, but I read them from the library.

LisaILJ @ I’ll Tumble for YA

Kim (YA Asylum) said...

Courtney Summers, Laini Taylor, and Gayle Forman and are all on my list too. I just loved THIS IS NOT A TEST by Summers, it was so different from her other books and -- I must admit -- I love zombie fiction.

Kristen M. said...

Jasper Fforde is actually my number one auto-buy. I love everything he's ever written. Sarah Waters is now on mine too but she's taking so dang long to write that next book!

Melody Simpson said...

You know I love LO!

Just bought This is Not a Test and If I Stay so I'm hoping to have Courtney Summers and Gayle Forman on my Auto-buy list soon!

Can't wait to read more from Beth Revis! I need to start reading Laini Taylor! Great list!

Lola said...

Love Laini Taylor and Mary E. Pearson! Beth Revis made my list! She just has a fantastic voice! Margaret Atwood is one of my all time favorite authors!!!

Miss Scarlet said...

Maggie Stiefvater, Lauren Oliver, John Green. I have some others I love, but they don't meet the qualifications (Anna Jarzab, Lauren Destefano, Deborah Harkness).

Ali said...

I love that you came up with more than 10, while I struggled to come up with 8. I wrote a post on this (http://worducopia.blogspot.com/2013/02/8-authors-id-read-anything-by.html#disqus_thread) but in a nutshell, mine are Ron Carlson, Michael Cunningham, Barbara Kingsolver, and John Green. Then I added a few dead authors to pad my list, though they're highly unlikely to publish anything new.