Bookish Things

Top Ten Authors I’m Thankful For

Jocelyn @ 52Letters42 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s theme is a Thanksgiving freebie, so I’m talking about the top ten authors I’m thankful for.

1. Libba Bray

Libba Bray is important to me for a lot of reasons. Her stories are complex and imaginative, never staying in the same genre. Her female characters ooze Girl Power. And her writing is hilarious.

2. Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater is the author who convinced me that lyrical writing does not have to get in the way of storytelling. Her stories have amazing world building with sutble fantasy elements and slow burn romances that give me all the feels.

3. Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is the author who convinced me that incredibly complex world building can make a series more dramatic, instead of weighing it down, and that plot twists can be genuinely shocking.

4. JK Rowling

cover-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone

Though I am not the biggest Harry Potter nerd out there, I am thankful for those books. They inspired my love of reading and were the basis of some of my closest friendships.

5. Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss was one of the first contemporary romance books that I read that genuinely impressed me. Up until then, I had enjoyed the genre without expecting much from it, but Stephanie Perkins convinced me that the stories could have substance and emotional impact in ways that I hadn’t expected.

6. Morgan Matson

If Stephanie Perkins convinced me to expect a lot from contemporary romance, it was Morgan Matson that met those expectations. SYBG was one of the first books I read where I deeply empathized with the main character, and TUE has a hilariously unique love interest.

7. Elizabeth Wein

Elizabeth Wein is the author who convinced me of the heartbreaking qualities of historical fiction. Code Name Verity blew me away in a way that no other book has since, and Black Dove White Raven put my soul back together with an adorable story about friendship (and then shattered it again). If you are looking for deeply moving historical fiction with amazing friendship (and no romance!), you need to read her books.

8. Kristin Cashore

Graceling was one of the first YA books that I ever read. It sucked me into the YA fantasy genre, and I’ve never looked back. Even now, her stories are some of my favorites to reread, with their gorgeous world building and heart-wrenching romances.

9. Susan Vaught

cover going underground

Going Underground was one of the first books that ever changed the way I saw the world. When I read it, I hadn’t even heard of the problem the book addressed (I’m purposefully being vague so I won’t ruin the surprise), but its message has stayed with me to today.

10. Megan Whalen Turner

Finally, Megan Whalen Turner is the author that convinced me that slow, carefully written books with hidden meanings are my favorite. Her stories do not race from start to finish, but if you give them a chance, they will blow you away.

Which authors are you thankful for? Have you read any of these books? Do you have any recommendations?

42 thoughts on “Top Ten Authors I’m Thankful For”

  8. I recently finished Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy and oh my GOD, that man has the best world-building abilities I’ve ever had the pleasure to know, and you’re right – his twists and turns are really quite shocking and unexpected. It’s been a couple of days and I’m still in awe, tbh. The series has flaws, but it was really, really amazing still. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yay! I’m glad you liked the series! Brandon Sanderson is in a league of his own for world-building. It’s been almost a year and I’m still in awe, tbh.
      Have you read Elantris? It’s in the same vein as Mistborn and has the same incredible world-building and plot twists. Also, do you think you’ll read the sequel series for Mistborn?

      Like

      Reply

      • I know, I’m forever amazed at how imaginative he is and also how prolific – that man publishes more books in a year than I’ve ever seen anyone does and they’re still SO good.

        Elantris was actually my first read from him! I loved it too, but I think I actually like Mistborn a bit more – it’s great to have three books to completely immerse myself in.

        I think I will, but it’ll be a while still. I’m actually supposed to buddy-read this with my BF but I left him behind ages ago (haha) and I’m waiting for him to catch up before we move on to the next series. Have you read it yet? 😛

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • Yeah I have read all three books of the sequel series that are out. I really love the series, but it’s pretty different from the first trilogy. Less heartbreaking, more funny–if you’ve watched Firefly, it’s a lot like that. But the series still has that amazing Brandon Sanderson world building, and I think I like some of the characters more than I liked the original ones.

          Like

          Reply

            • It is kind of steampunk. Basically, he aged the world a few hundred years, so the world is in the middle of industrializing. And there is still Allomancy and Feruchemy, but because family lines have crossed, the powers have combined. The main character is a Twinborn, so he has one Allomantic power and one Feruchemy power, which is a really cool combo (and leads to awesome fight scenes).

              Like

              Reply

              • That sounds amazing! Reading Mistborn gave me a hangover though and I’m still thinking about the series days after (even though I’ve read some other books). I might wait a while before I get on the continuation, but I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed them so. Have you read his other books/series? 💕

                Liked by 1 person

              • Yeah I put an entire year in between the series, I think. Doing all six at once would be crazy.
                Beyond Mistborn, I’ve read the first two Reckoners books and Elantris. I own more of his books, but they are GIANTS and I am intimidated.

                Like

              • That’s what I thought! I read Mistborn relatively fast, but I really needed (and still need) a break bc it was just so intense. What I’ve read is actually exactly the same as yours, since haven’t read Calamity either. I think I’m picking up The Rithmatist next, though – it seems more light-hearted. 😛

                Liked by 1 person

              • Oh. I’ve actually read the Rithmatist (a million years ago), but I don’t count it because I hated it. I read it before I knew who Brandon Sanderson was though, so idk if I would appreciate it more now. I hope you like it, though!

                Like

  10. Loved this list! I think I will always think of you whenever I see a Libba Bray book now, haha. I don’t know why, I just feel like you’re always recommending her books. And omg, every time you talk about The Thief I run away because I haven’t read it yet. I MUST. Maybe I should make a pact with you that I’ll have it read by the end of the year – maybe I’ll read it next. Your great opinion of it was the reason I got it so I can’t believe I just haven’t picked it up yet, gah!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Maggie Stiefvater and, of course, JK Rowling for sure! I’ve only read the Wolves of Mercy Falls but I hear the Raven Boys is awesome. When it comes to autobiographical pieces I’m a huge fan of Mindy Khaling. Love her humor, and it translates so well to paper. Great list, and nice blog too.

    Would you by any chance be interested in having some of your work shared/featured on Creators.co? I’d love to see more of this kind of content on the platform. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail (you can find my contact details on my blog) for more information. I’d love to expand on that. Hope to hear from you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • You HAVE to read The Raven Cycle!!! And Scorpio Races! Maggie Stiefvater’s stories are incredible. Ironically, the only books of hers I haven’t read are the Wolves of Mercy Falls books.
      I’ve never read anything by Mindy Khaling, but I can imagine it would be hilarious.
      Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested at this time. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Hi
    A very good list, Brandon Sanderson and his lectures have helped improve my writing. JK Rowling is a childhood favourite of mine, and will be forever close to my heart. Kristin Cashore and her books are some of the first books I read when I got back into reading, really good.
    Thanks for your list, and your reasoning, I may have to go reread some of them now. 🙂
    From
    Ru

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Share your thoughts!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s