This week’s appropriate Top Ten Tuesday concerns authors I’m thankful for.
- William Shakespeare: My best moments in the classroom I owe to this writer, who is not only the greatest writer in the English language, but also the most fun to teach. I can return to his plays again and again, and I always get something new out of them. In addition, his sonnets are some of the most glorious poetry in the English language. Don’t believe me? Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORccj9HosA
- Jane Austen: She is my homegirl. Really. I love her. I return to her books all the time. I love her characters, her sparkling wit, and her tangled love stories.
- J. K. Rowling: Some of my best reading experiences have been with the Harry Potter series. If I could read just one series over and over, and no other books, for the rest of my life, I’d choose the Harry Potter series. I find the Wizarding World to be a rich, imaginative place I never tire of visiting.
- Emily Brontë: She gave me my favorite book, even though it was the only book she wrote. I love returning to this book. I always notice something new. I love to hate her characters. I marvel each time I read it at the novel’s beautiful structure. Though I find the characters horrendous, I admit one place I’d love to visit is Wuthering Heights.
- J. R. R. Tolkien: My first major foray into fantasy set the bar really high. I am currently listening to The Hobbit in preparation for the movie. I love reading this series, and I love Middle Earth.
- Judy Blume: I read her books over and over again as a child. I grew up on her stories, and she has been a huge influence over my reading and writing life.
- Jasper Fforde: I have spent many a happy hour giggling through one of his books. He is crack for book and word nerds, and he is utterly charming.
- Joseph Campbell: His enduring ideas and understandings about the hero’s journey enabled me to enjoy literature and film in a new way, and I was able to construct a course around his work.
- Diana Gabaldon: I love her time travel romance/fantasy/historical fiction/genre-bending stories about Claire and Jamie Fraser. She is so much fun, and such a nice lady, too.
- Ernest Hemingway: I love, love, love F. Scott Fitzgerald, but Hemingway has a much larger canon, and I am not done with it yet. I love the way he writes, and I love to read his ideas about writing. I have rarely cried so hard over a book as I did over the end of A Farewell to Arms.
What authors are you thankful for?
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thrilled to be celebrating it this year in the state where the first Thanksgiving took place.
Definitely Jasper Fforde and Shakespeare, Rowling and Tolkien as well. Then I would add Agatha Christie, Salman Rushdie, Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Neil Gaiman. So many authors to be thankful for besides these though. Really, I'm thankful for the variety of genres and ideas and imaginations.
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!
I have not read Salman Rushdie, but I love Neil Gaiman and nearly put him on the list, but I didn't think I'd read him avidly enough to count him. I should have! I read his blog and tweets, and those should count. I need to read Agatha Christie, too. Can't believe I haven't. I liked the Zafon novel I read, but I haven't read more than just the one.
Word to many of these. (but not all) I think I would have too difficult a time making a list of just ten! I would always be second-guessing myself. I am grateful for so many authors who shaped my reading self.
But not all… ooh, has me wondering which ones you don't like!