Jan Karon - Not only has she written the amazing Mitford books, she has also written a bunch of absolutely favorite children's books. If you haven't read anything of hers, you should. They're all absolutely brilliant but still easy to read and don't make you think too hard. They are sweet and you may cry a little, but it's a good thing, I promise.
Joann Fluke - I like her murder mysteries because they aren't scary mysteries. They aren't always predictable but they are fun. And there is a romantic element, but they aren't romance novels. It's a nice balance. And they come with recipes!
Janet Evanovich - I have literally read everything of hers I could find. I love it all. The Stephanie Plum novels are hilarious, but I think the Alex Barnaby books were my favorite. There's only two of them and I wish there were more. I would like to re-read "Full Scoop" because I read the full series out of order (Full Scoop was actually the first of her books I ever read). At one point I had two copies of that one and now I can't find either of them! And if you don't want to get sucked into reading a series, try some of her re-released romances like Thanksgiving or Manhunt! Jeff calls these my "red shoe" books, but I have caught him reading one on my kindle before.
Anne George - Her books are called the "southern sisters" mysteries. They're very funny murder mysteries all set in and around Birmingham (which is probably why I love them). The author was a retired English teacher from Birmingham and the former Alabama State poet and I'm all about supporting my local folks, too! I never really read the books in order and it didn't matter too much, the story lines aren't totally dependent on one another, but I do want to go back and read them all in order some day. The series feels sort of incomplete because she never intended it to end. You could tell it was leading up to another book, but she died before it was ever written. Part of me would love to do a few more myself just because I want to know what happens next! She does have one book not related to the series that I haven't read, so it's on my list!
C.S. Lewis - The Narnia books are awesome. If you haven't read them do it now. I'll wait. And while the movies do a good job of telling the stories, it's still not the same thing. His other stuff is also good. I'm not a big sci-fi fan so I haven't read those yet, but I am very partial to The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters. Read those too, while you're at it.
Alton Brown - I know he's not a "traditional" author, but he is an author of cookbooks. I really like his books because they focus more on technique than on particular recipes. I don't think I ever realized that's why I liked them until recently. I'm currently reading "Think Like A Chef" by Tom Colicchio which is shaping up to also be excellent. And yes I do just read cookbooks. You learn a lot that way.
So topic for comment today is obviously what are some of your favorite books and/or who are some of your favorite authors and why?
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