I Don’t Have a Favorite Author… Yet. Here’s Why.

Traditionally, I have decided on reading a book based on the book’s concept and description, not because I recognize the author. Whenever I like a book, I don’t immediately think, “Now I need to read more by this author,” unless the author is a classic author that is widely recognized for all or most of their works, like Ernest Hemingway and Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

Only in college did I decide to read multiple works by classic authors. I decided to do so for two reasons: I wanted to be well-read, and I wanted to be able to answer the question: Who are your favorite authors? And I generally enjoy classic books more than contemporary works, so my thought process didn’t extend the latter reason to reading multiple contemporary novels by the same author.

I am now more or less able to answer as to my favorite books: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, but I’m not sure if they directly correspond with my favorite authors. I’ve now read three books by Dostoevsky, but only Crime and Punishment can be raised to Favorite status. I’ve read the sequel to Code Name Verity, but those two books are the only books I’ve read by Elizabeth Wein. And I’ve never read anything else by Rachel Kadish. 

In fact, I had to look up if Wein and Kadish had even written any more books. And now that I have, I just want to go out and buy all of Kadish’s novels. While I don’t think I’m in the place to enjoy Wein’s novels as I once was, I just found out that Code Name Verity reached #1 on the NYT Bestseller’s List in March 2020, even though it was published in 2012. I had no idea, and I’m so proud! The adolescent part of me wants to say, “I liked it before it was popular” with a “na-na-na-na-na” accompanying the phrase. 

I’m starting to realize that I’ve been neglecting modern authors recently, which is a shame, because I think I’d really enjoy Kadish, since I adore her writing style in Weight of Ink. 

I thought it’d be fun to find out which authors I’ve read the most throughout the reading career that I can remember. I wasn’t sure if series counted, so I separated them into a different list at the end. But I’m definitely not including the children’s book series I read, like the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish or the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. Who knows how many of those I read as a child? And while I’m sure they were very influential to a younger me, they won’t go down as one of my favorite authors. 

Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By:

Jane Austen: 7

Y’all know I love me some Jane Austen. I have a large book that includes all of her seven completed novels, so it was fairly easy for me to binge read all of them. The only reason I don’t automatically proclaim her one of my favorite authors is that it seems too easy and cliche. Who doesn’t love Jane Austen? Don’t get me wrong, I would proudly proclaim her one of my favorite authors if only I had more authors I could tag along to her name. 

Sarah Dessen: 5-8

I honestly don’t remember how many books I’ve read by Sarah Dessen. I read a lot of her books in middle school (maybe elementary school), and when I looked up her complete booklist, I counted eight that I recognized, but only five of which I could remember the basic plot. I remember at least three of them (Dreamland, Lock and Key, and What Happened to Goodbye) impacting my inevitably melodramatic middle school soul, but I couldn’t tell you anything about Dessen’s writing style or voice. 

John Green and Shakespeare: 4 each

A bit of an odd pairing, but I’ve read four pieces by each: four novels by John Green in middle school and four plays by Shakespeare in high school through college. 

I always thought John Green was awfully funny, particularly in An Abundance of Katherines, and I appreciate his blend of wit and devastation in The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, but while Green’s lighthearted voice is refreshing at times, his books don’t have an everlasting mark on my soul.

As for William Shakespeare, I could care less about all of his plays. I prefer his sonnets. He’s one of my favorite poets, but definitely not one of my favorite authors.

Series

Cassandra Clare: 9

In her Shadowhunter series, I’ve read both the Mortal Instruments (consisting of six books) and the Infernal Devices (consisting of three books). And while I adore the characters in the Infernal Devices, I despise nearly everything about the Mortal Instruments, and I think Clare has a rather strange obsession with incest. So that obviously automatically disqualifies her from being anywhere near the list of my favorite authors.

Ally Carter: at least 7

I read her Gallagher Girl series, which has six books, and then I read at least one book in the Heist Society trilogy, but I don’t remember if I read all of the latter. If I did, then I’ve technically read nine by her. As you know if you’ve diligently followed me, the Gallagher Girl series are my comfort books. However, I’m not the biggest fan of Carter’s writing style. It has never really bothered me or taken away from the plot or characters, and I do respect Carter for her plot development throughout a multiple-book series, but her writing style is too juvenile for my taste (as it should be, since she writes for a younger audience).

J.K. Rowling: 7

I actually didn’t read the Harry Potter series until I was in high school. And I was rather underwhelmed, especially in comparison with the rest of my generation who goes all ga-ga over the series.

Tahereh Mafi: 6

I was actually rather impressed with Mafi’s writing style in the first one or two books of the Shatter Me series. It obviously had thought behind it with the increasing level of the protagonist’s coherence in her thought process, which was consistent with her confidence level. But everything about the books got so much worse as the series progressed. The last three books were lazily written and embarrassingly bad. 

This little experiment has taught me a couple of things. 

1. I need to get over my intellectual snobbery and call Jane Austen my favorite author as of right now, because she’s the only author I’ve read enough of to have an established opinion and the only author I’ve truly enjoyed across all of her novels. It doesn’t matter how common or “cliche” liking her work is. It just proves how her writing style is so fluid and accessible. 
2. I really want to go out and buy all of Rachel Kadish’s books and determine if I can add her to my new list of favorite authors.