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Okay, you have let us know about your favourite Aussie author and we love hearing about those. Now it's time to tell us who your other favourite author's are. Maybe you need to break it down by favourite author within each genre. It's always hard to stick to one. What is it that appeals to you about them?

Hi, I'm Brenda. Thanks Mandy for the invite.:)
I have recently read 'Border Watch' by Helene Young. It's her first book, and it was amazing, had me unable to put it down! She has her second one due out in March next year, and I can't wait! She's also a 'goodreads' author, so you can follow her blogs if you want.

Welcome to the group Brenda, there are some awesome new authors out there. I'll have to keep my eye out for Helene Young.

I find it very hard to pass any Terry Pratchett book without picking it up. I am very envious of the immense feat of imagination that created Discworld, but also of his humour and lightness of touch. I can recommend his vampires and werewolves (Mandy please note) who are much more convincing than the wishy-washy American versions.

He also comes out with some things that I wish I had said - like :

"Witches are naturally nosy,� said Miss Tick, standing up. “Well, I must go. I hope we shall meet again. I will give you some free advice, though.�
“Will it cost me anything?�
“What? I just said it was free!� said Miss Tick.
“Yes, but my father said that free advice often turns out to be expensive,� said Tiffany.
Miss Tick sniffed. “You could say this advice is priceless,� she said, “Are you listening?�
“Yes,� said Tiffany.
“Good. Now...if you trust in yourself...�
â€Ô¨±ð²õ?â€�
�...and believe in your dreams...�
â€Ô¨±ð²õ?â€�
�...and follow your star...� Miss Tick went on.
â€Ô¨±ð²õ?â€�
�...you’ll still be beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy. Goodbye."
� Terry Pratchett (The Wee Free Men)

Jacqueline wrote: "I find it very hard to pass any Terry Pratchett book without picking it up. I am very envious of the immense feat of imagination that created Discworld, but also of his humour and lightness of tou..."

I love that quote Jacqueline. It made me laugh out loud! I can see I'll have to give Terry Pratchett a go.:)

I'm trying to think which one to recommend as a starter. Men at Arms is a good introduction, but beware! One book can be the start of the slippery slope to addiction.

Pratchett's Discworld series is better read in order, imo. I know people, including the author, say that each can stand alone, but I get confused by all the shenanigans even though I have read them mostly in order. Some people also say the first couple are 'dated' (whatever that means when you're talking humorous fantasy!) - if you're concerned about that I'd say start with Equal Rites.

Or, you can start with the Tiffany Aching trilogy, from which that quote was taken. The Wee Free Men is aimed at the YA market. Or, for an even quicker introduction, try the 'juvenile' trilogy that includes Truckers.

I've been lately realizing how very impressive Peter Dickinson is. I've not read any of his adult works yet, but I am enjoying most of his children's and YA.

I love a lot of old science fiction, for example Asimov, Simak, and Sturgeon. The ones who newer or are still writing generally don't engage me as much. Exceptions include James Alan Gardner and Charles Sheffield.

Mine are more YA authors: J.K Rowiling (kinda obvious), Suzanne Collins, Ally Carter, James Patterson, Christopher Paolini, Alison Weir, Sally Gardner (great books) and Cassandra Clare.

Got to say I am a big fan of Laurell K Hamilton, J.R. Ward, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, Steig Larsson, Stacia Kane... Ahh... could keep going really... hehe... as you may be able to tell, I am a bit of a Paranormal/Supernatural/Fantasy/Romance fan...

Sophie wrote: "Got to say I am a big fan of Laurell K Hamilton, J.R. Ward, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, Steig Larsson, Stacia Kane... Ahh... could keep going really... hehe... as you may be able to tell, I am a bit of ..."

Welcome to the group Sophie. I like your style! :D

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Got to say I am a big fan of Laurell K Hamilton, J.R. Ward, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, Steig Larsson, Stacia Kane... Ahh... could keep going really... hehe... as you may be able to tell,..."

Thanks Gail! So happy to be able to talk to fellow book-a-holics!
May have to compare notes on fave authors/books if you enjoy the same genre :D always looking for more!

Me too. Thats the great thing about Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, so many books and authors are opened up to you. So many book-a-holics to talk to. My TBR shelf is growing at a very rapid rate. Hope you find something on my shelves. I'll be checking yours. :D

I'm a big PNR/UF fan as well Sophie. Some fave authors are Meljean Brook, Kresley Cole, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Vance, Alastair Reynolds, Linnea Sinclair, Stephen Fry, Robert Wilson (his west africa books), Shelly Laurenston, Jordan Castillo Price, Kim Stanley Robinson, Loretta Chase, Lisa Kleypas, Ilona Andrews, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.R. Ward, Douglas Adams and everything that Joss Whedon has ever written!

··¤(`×[¤ Jem ¤]×´)¤·· wrote: "Mine are more YA authors: J.K Rowiling (kinda obvious), Suzanne Collins, Ally Carter, James Patterson, Christopher Paolini, Alison Weir, Sally Gardner (great books) and Cassandra Clare."

Do you think they'll ever make The Hunger Games into a movie?

Mandy wrote: "··¤(`×[¤ Jem ¤]×´)¤·· wrote: "Mine are more YA authors: J.K Rowiling (kinda obvious), Suzanne Collins, Ally Carter, James Patterson, Christopher Paolini, Alison Weir, Sally Gardner (great bo..."

hmmm probably... would be a pretty easy series of books to convert into into film... but i always have to say that the films never do the books justice...

Two series have been mentioned here that I have had my eye on for a while without persuing,

1.Terry Pratchett Disc World and
2.Suzanne Collins Hunger games

I am sure I am going to love them when I get to them.

My favourite Non-Australian Authors won't surprise anyone.

Sci Fi and Fantacy -
Tolkien, J.R.R. Lord of the Rings
Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series
Stephen R. Donaldson Any thing by.
Classics
Charles Dickens
Emily Bronte
Charlotte Bronte
Jane Austen

Modern Author I am enjoying is
Barbara Kingsolver

Brandon Sanderson is fantastic. Love Stephen King, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Tolkien... An old writer, recently discovered and loved, is Mary Luke. Her book 'The Nonsuch Lure', from the 1970s, is absolutely magical.

Amber wrote: "Brandon Sanderson is fantastic. ..."

Amber have you read the Robert Jordans 'Wheel of Time' Series? Brandon Sanderson, is writing the final three books to finish off the series after Robert Jordan died. He is doing a brilliant job. I haven't read any of his other books but will get to them also.

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Amber wrote: "Brandon Sanderson is fantastic. ..."

Amber have you read the Robert Jordans 'Wheel of Time' Series? Brandon Sanderson, is writing the final three books to finish off the series aft..."

Hi Gail, no I've not read the Robert Jordan series...They're on my 'to-read' list, along with about a million others! In Brandon Sanderson's case, I started with Elantris, and I couldn't put it down. When I finished the book, it left me with a sense that it hadn't lasted long enough - it was such a good read, for me at least :-)

Thanks for the tip Amber, it's always good to know where to start with an Author. My TBR is looking so healthy.

No worries, Gail...shameless plug here, but do you have Enchantment's Deception on your TBR? (It's my book, which I'm sure wasn't obvious at all!) I've had some really good reviews so far, so if you like Fantasy/sci-fi maybe you'd like to give it a try...?

Adding it now. I am open to the shameless plug. :D

Lol thank you! I've been out all day today handing out bookmarks promoting E.D.; they've been really popular! In 2 weeks we've managed to hand out almost 500 of them...my sister made them up for me as an 'idiot-proof marketing strategy' as I'm pretty useless on the Internet :-)

No problemo. :)

I like reading books from Michael Grant and Scott Westerfeld. I also like R.L. Stine's books too

Laurell K Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Michelle Bardsley
Yasmine Galenorn
Anne Rice
MaryJanice Daidson
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Kim Harrison
Anne Bishop
Jacqueline Carey
>... snip...<

>...snip...< Heh. Agreed. Oh, I finally thought of an adult one! Tracy Chevalier moves me, even though I can't see myself reading the stereotypical historical fiction at all. I think maybe somebody should educate me - I'll take this over to that "if... you'll" thread.

Virginia Andrews, Stephen King and Craig Russell :DD

These are the authors I actually do recommend to total strangers:
Jasper Fforde of the Thurday Next and Nursery Crime series as well as Shades of Grey.
Eoin Colfer especially the Artemis Fowl series.

I also like Terry Pratchett, Charles Dickens, Douglas Adams... I could keep going but those are my absolute favourites.

Tick ,tick, tick, tick,tick. All favourites of mine Sarah. :)

Neil Gaiman
Lee Child
Philippa Gregory
Tobsha Learner
Victor Hugo
Terry Pratchett

My non Aussie favorite would have to be:

Jonathan Franzen
Khaled Hosseini
Haruki Murakami
David Mitchell
Margaret Atwood
Michael Chabon
Jhumpa Lahiri
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Milan Kundera
Naguib Mahfouz

Some great choices there Dhitri. I have just finished reading David Michell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, I loved it. I also love Jhumpa Lahiri. Some of the others I'm not as familiar with so I'll have to check them out.

I have had a couple of Haruki Murakami's books on my TBR for a while, I have been trying to get them to the top of my list but I haven't managed to get to them yet unfortunately.

I love the kind of fiction that lets me travel to other parts of the world without me having to leave my bedside. Naguib Mahfouz' The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk; Palace of Desire; Sugar Street transported me to Cairo's colorful marketplaces and its dim and narrow alleys, whereas Gabriel Garcia Marquez' epic tale One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera took me through the sometimes imagined history of Latin America and its people.

Khaled Hosseini has done more to help people understand Afghanistan's wounded soul and blood-stained history more than any news story ever could through his books The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns while Jonathan Franzen takes reader into the mind of the members of the American dysfunctional family in his two bestsellers The Corrections and Freedom.

And I can go on and on... :) Do check out all of them!

My number one favorite author at the moment is, in fact Australian: Markus Zusak.
However, all my other favorite authors are not. Right now I love:
Stephen King
Roald Dahl
and Patrick Ness

Carl Barks
±á±ð°ù²µÃ©
Amy Tan
Don Rosa
Garth Ennis
Bill Watterson

Lee Child
JD Robb
Jack Higgins
James Patterson
Danielle Steel
Kathy Reichs
Tess Gerritsen

I really wanna get into 'Kathy Reichs' overal but since I watched BONES before I dunno if I will get an 'odd feeling' as in she is a fan writer..LOL I know kinda silly ^^;; We've collected a few books of hers so maybe when my TBR and Summer Challenge are dwinderling I will pick her up and give her a go!

Try her new YA novel 'Virals' Laura. It's her first venture into YA, and it was brilliant! I didn't know it was YA till I got it from my library...just got it cos it was her new one...:)

Sweet as! I will most certainly do that :D!

Marion Zimmer Bradley
Jodi Picoult
Rumer Godden
Nelson DeMille
Robert Goddard
Cristian Jacq
Murari, Timeri N
AMIRREZVANI ANITA
Sundaresan, Indu
Jane Goodall
which doesnt mean I spend all day reading these people, but their work is amongst my most favourite of all times

Carmel wrote: "Maggie, I'm a bit of a Jodi Picoult fan. But I haven't read one for about 6 mths as I needed a break, sometimes you can get a bit much JP & need a rest, have you found that."

Mmm...I agree. I find I enjoy her work but don't feel the need to immediately read the next book as soon as it is released. Her novels are ones I come to now and again. Love the moral dilemmas. Heard her interviewed on ABC, a very interesting, funny woman.

It was one of literary lunch ones they play on latenights local ABC (the latenight is national one with Tony Delroy). Think this might be it:
1. American author Jodi Picoult - Radio National Breakfast - 16-May-2008 -
Over the last two decades, American author Jodi Picoult has become something of a publishing juggernaut. She has written fifteen novels and has sold more than 1.5 million books in Australia and New Zealand alone. For the most part, her novels deal with the moral and ethical debates of the 21st century; issues like stem cell research, highschool massacres and, now, the death penalty. Her latest book, - 16 May 2008

Favourite Non Aussie Authors, there are so many
Maureen Lee
Jennifer Donnelly
Sheelagh Kelly
Luanne Rice
Elizabeth Adler
Lesley Pearse
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Penny Vincenzi
Most of this authors write family sagas which I enjoy
I also read chick lit for time to time

Belinda. wrote: "Laurell K Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Michelle Bardsley
Yasmine Galenorn
Anne Rice
MaryJanice Daidson
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Kim Harrison
Anne Bishop
Jacqueline Carey
>... snip...<"

I would have to agree with this list almost too though there are a couple there I have not read yet but I would also have to add Nora Roberts, Teresa Medeiros, Debra Mullins, Teresa Medeiros and Lisa Kleypas

I would have to say I have to all-time favourite international authors - The Prof and Uncle Stephen.

J.R.R. Tolkien - the Prof will always be remembered as the grand-daddy of modern fantasy. His creations of earth, sea and creatures - not to mention mythology and folklore - have oft been attempted by many authors and not one - not one - comes close to The Prof.

Stephen King - Uncle Stephen (I call him that because he has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember - more than some of my real relatives) has never once failed to entertain me with his work. Whether it be scary, westerns, crime stories or short stories, he knows how to tell a tale. And in the end, that's is what we read for - it's all about the storytelling, and this man is a genius.

Wally Lamb :D

Nancy C. wrote: "Wally Lamb :D"

Oh man that reminds me. A friend of mine loaned me a copy of a Wally Lamb book about 5 years ago. I still have it and it is still unread. The friend moved away and I lost contact with them. :S