My Top Ten Favorite Authors

When I saw this week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt, I couldn't help but smile! Who doesn't like reeling off their favorite authors? This was probably the easiest post I've ever written, and one of the funnest. I hope you pick up a few new books/authors to check out as you read through here. I tried to include a few favorites from each author so you can check them out if you're interested.

1. Margaret Peterson Haddix

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my review

If I had to make a list of one, and choose a single favorite author, I wouldn't even blink before choosing her. She has written over 30 books, and I have read every single one of them. I adored some, I loved others, and merely liked others, but I have never actually disliked a book by Margaret Peterson Haddix. And after so many books, I find it extremely unlikely that this trend will ever change.

2. E.D. Baker

She does some great fairytale retellings. Her Frog Princess series is one of the few series that can get away with having eight books all about the same characters, and not get boring. I also love her book Wings, which isn't so much a retelling as it is a modern continuation/reinterpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

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my review

3. Gordon Korman

He is hilarious. Hilarious. I fell in love with his books years ago, and got my next oldest brother hooked as soon as he reached middle school. I am determined to foist his books on my youngest two siblings once they get old enough too, because his books are awesome entertainment. Even the names are charmingly silly: two that come to mind are The Chicken Doesn't Skate and No More Dead Dogs (incidentally, two of my favorites!).

4. Andrew Clements

Most of his books are for elementary and middle school kids, and that's where I was when I fell in love with them. Somehow I never really fell out of love with his books, and I still turn to them when I need a break from my normal fare. He also has a phenomenal YA book called Things Not Seen, which is just amazing.

5. Wendy Mass

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my review

She has a few books for older and younger people that I'm not a huge fan of (the older books are too racy for me, and the younger ones too slow), but the rest of her books are amazing. She always comes up with compelling, unique story ideas that keep you on your toes. Some of my favorites of her books include the Willow Falls books, the Twice Upon a Time series, and The Candymakers.

6. Angie Sage

Two words: Septimus Heap. It's one of my all-time favorite fantasy series, and is just all-around amazing. She's writing the spin-off series now, called TodHunter Moon, and it's one of the few spin-offs I've read that actually maintain a significant amount of the charm of the original series.

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my review

7. Jennifer A. Nielsen

I fell in love with Jaron from The False Prince back in 2013, and haven't looked back since. I devoured the rest of the Acendance trilogy and moved on to her Underworld Chronicles. It's for younger kids, but I enjoyed it and my middle-school-aged brother liked it even more than I did. Just recently I read and loved Mark of the Thief, the start of her new series, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next. She has a World War II book coming out that's centered around the Berlin wall, which I can't wait to read. It's called A Night Divided.

8. Rick Riordan

Yes, he still goes on this list. I'm not a huge fan of the Heroes of Olympus books, so I may come across as kind of negative toward his books on this blog (in fact, I even did a post listing his most-used cliches!). However, I really do love the Percy Jackson series and that will never change. Those books are hilarious, heartwarming, and altogether charming, and will never lose their space on my bookshelf. And for that, Riordan gets a spot on my "favorite authors" list.

9. Jessica Day George

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my review

This is another author whose books I absolutely love. I'm the kind of person who hunts down as many books as I can when I like an author, so after finishing her amazing Dragon trilogy I moved straight into her Princess books and the Castle Glower series. I have never met a Jessica Day George I didn't like, and I don't believe I ever will!

10. James Riley

Riley is a master at fracturing fairytales. His Half Upon a Time books are hilarious, and so heartwarming. On the surface his writing style feels kind of juvenile (read: lots of exclamation marks), but this style of writing becomes part of the overall feel/humor of the books. I love how he takes all of the fairtyales and sets them in an alternate universe to our own.

Those are a few of my all-time favorite authors! What are yours?