So who’s your favorite author?

October 1, 2008

Talking to a student tonight brought up the “You teach English, what should I read next?” conversation. And I hate it, not because I don’t have 32 books on my “Mustreadrightnow” bookshelf but because I will fail you. Rarely do I suggest something that they fall for. So today I will share a few things. If it weren’t late and I wasn’t tired, I would almost drag my MacBook Pro into the office and list the titles on that shelf right now, but I’m tired. So here’s my list.

Coupland, Douglas. Because he’s wild. He rocks. He’s my popculture zeitgeist incarnate and he wrote my favorite book, Girlfriend in a Coma. Not everything he writes rocks my world, but most of them do.

Picoult, Jodi. She wrote my second favorite book, Nineteen Minutes. I like that she wrote to me. I emailed her a review of that book and she responded! Also, she’s my ex-student teachers aunt’s kid’s kindergarten teacher’s daughter! Yes, seriously. And yes, I followed that. I’ve read about a dozen of her books (in a row!), and she got my sister to read books!

Morrow, James. An old favorite from college. I use to drink with him. Well, once, I did. I like his take on religion, but I will say I’ve not read him in probably a decade. His Godhead Trilogy is the best three books about religion ever written since John was on Patmos.

Pahalniuk, Chuck. Adore him, but can’t get through his sicker works (like Wanted). Loved Diary, Survivor, Choke (making a movie!), etc… but I am two books behind. Sorry, Chuckie.

Gaiman, Neil. I have no idea why more people don’t adore the master.

I won’t go on here, but I will tell you a couple more who I like and why. I like Stephen King’s nonfiction (his fiction is just ok for me). I like Donald Hall’s poetry. I adore The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. I have a strange desire to read more William Golding right now. I love Into the Wild, but I couldn’t read Into Thin Air.

And don’t even get me started on non-fiction books.

Posted in books