Like most writers I know, I am an avid reader as well. I don’t have near the time I once did for indulging in it. I have many fond memories of being a teenager with a four paperback a weekend habit. At that time, my pleasure reading was almost exclusively fiction. Today, my reading is a healthy mix of fiction and non-fiction, books, magazines and newspapers. Some of the non-fiction I read is research for the current book. Others are simply to follow an interest. Most of my fiction reading is within the genre, and encompasses the magazines as well as forthcoming books. Sometimes I am offered the chance to read a book before it sees print, and offer a cover ‘blurb’ or recommendation for it. I am often asked who my favorite authors are. Answering that question would take up an entire website, and it would become outdated as soon as I discovered my next favorite writer. This list will, however, be an attempt to share some of my favorite books with readers. I’ll also hope to find a place for book reviews on the site from time to time. Here, in no particular order, are some authors that I’ve enjoyed, that I’ve returned to read over and over, and that have earned permanent places on my very crowded bookshelves. I’ve only listed one book by each. That doesn’t mean it’s the only one I like. This is a quick and partial read off the bookshelf in my office. Steven Brust Jhereg Emma Bull War For The Oaks Marion Zimmer Bradley Hawkmistress Orson Scott Card Alvin Maker Barbara Hambly The Ladies of Madrigyn Fritz Leiber Ill Met In Lankhmar Charles deLint Yarrow Guy Gavriel Kay Tigana Lynn Flewelling The Bone Doll’s Twin Lois McMaster Bujold The Warrior’s Apprentice Lucius Shepard Life During Wartime Nicola Griffith Slow River Robin McKinley Beauty Peter S Beagle The Last Unicorn Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Robert Holdstock The Hollowing Robert Howard Conan Frank Herbert Dune Mary Stewart The Crystal Cave Saki Short Stories Vonda McIntyre The Moon and the Sun Robert Heinlein Glory Road Roger Zelazny Nine Princes in Amber Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures of Sherlock Holmes John Steinbeck Cannery Row Anne McCaffrey Dragon Riders of Pern Harlan Ellison Shatterday Jack Vance The Dying Earth Theordore Sturgeon E Pluribus Unicorn Greg Bear Blood Music David Feintuch Midshipman’s Hope Michael Marshall Smith Only Forward George RR Martin A Song of Ice and Fire C. J. Cherryh Port Eternity Fiona Mcintosh Myrren’s Gift Jude Fisher Fool’s Gold Jack London The Sea Wolf Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings |