lou's library

Finding a new favourite author is such a delight. Looking forward to new releases from them, reading their entire back catalogue, revisiting their stories and their characters frequently. I love all of that. For me, a favourite author is someone whose work I adore, be that their writing, their way of crafting characters, their wit or the worlds they create. That doesn’t mean all their books are five star reads for me, but that something keeps drawing me back to their work. And that’s certainly the case for me with the following authors!

Bill Bryson

I don’t write about Bill Bryson enough on this blog. In case you’re not familiar with him, he’s a writer focusing mostly on travel writing, but he’s also written books about Shakespeare, history, language, household gadgets and pretty much anything else you can think about. He is best-known for his travel writing, though. Why I love him so much that I will happily have him go on about modern-day toilets for an entire chapter? Because his writing is some of the funniest I have ever come across. Like, laugh-out-loud funny. I was introduced to him when my High School English teacher gave me Mother Tongue, which is Bryson’s book about the English language. I’d had no clue that reading about the complexities and intricacies of a language could be so damn entertaining. I was hooked, and that was before I had discovered his books about exploring the UK as an American. He’s self-deprecating and witty and sharp and seems like a genuinely great guy. He retired a few years ago and ever since then I’ve been hesitant to read any more of his books, because I know that once I’ll have read them all, there won’t be any new ones. Then again, I will always love to revisit his work.

Sally Rooney

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Sally Rooney has a firm spot on my list of favourite authors. Until last autumn, I would have said this woman can do no wrong, but then she released Intermezzo. DON’T COME AT ME, I am willing to accept that I was the problem, and not the book. And even though it wasn’t for me, I can see Intermerzzo being for other people and it still deserves its place in the world of literature. It’s all good anyway, because Sally Rooney will never be removed from this list, as she is the author of Normal People. It’s one of my favourite books, and proof that no one writes about coming-of-age, and love, and Weltschmerz quite like her. Her prose is so simple and yet so beautiful and on point. It makes me feel seen and understood and I will always return to Sally Rooney’s books when I’m yearning for that sort of comfort. She’s a masterful writer and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. I only wish she wrote faster, but I guess you can’t rush genius.

Maggie O’Farrell

A favourite author I did not see coming, Maggie O’Farrell snuck up on me and suddenly had me in her grasp. I’m still there and, to be honest, quite enjoy it. The first book I read by her is Hamnet, the story of Shakespeare’s family that is being turned into a movie starring the one and only Paul Mescal. I really enjoyed Hamnet, but didn’t love it. As I had enjoyed O’Farrell’s writing, I randomly picked up her most recent novel The Marriage Portrait while browsing in a book shop and started reading it straight away. And my god, the grip this story had on me. Since then, I’ve been on a mission to read her entire back catalogue and found my favourite Maggie O’Farrel book to date in After You’d Gone. Such a simple love story that TORE MY HEART INTO A MILLION PIECES. Her books always do, yet it always takes me by surprise. I can’t wait to see what The Distance Between Us by her will do to me. I’m about to start reading it and have a feeling it will leave me in tears. Wohooo!

William Shakespeare

Does it seem awfully pretentious to have Shakespeare as one of your favourite authors? Probably, but it’s true, so what am I supposed to do about it? I’m lucky in that I read quite a bit of Shakespeare in university and was taught how to best approach his work (although I’d argue anyone can enjoy his work with the help of a decent critical edition), which helped massively take away the hesitation I felt about approaching such a prestigious author. And nowadays, I love his work for the way it plays with language and for how its themes are still so relevant to this day. I haven’t read all his plays yet, but am slowly making my way through them. It might not seem like it, but Shakespeare is such fun to get into. So many movies are based on his plays, and the chances are good a theatre company near you is staging one of his plays right now. There are probably thousands of books written about his work, and every time I revisit one of his plays, I discover something new. It’s just a joy to keep exploring his work and to have fun with it, and be open to new interpretations and questioning your own reading.

Kerstin Gier

My German-speaking peeps under 30 will probably know who I’m talking about, but I appreciate that anyone else might not. Kerstin Gier is a German author who used to write contemporary novels but switched to young adult quite some time ago now. She writes fantasy books (usually released in trilogies), with her work focusing on time travel and dreams. Her writing is so funny it equals that of Bill Bryson and her characters are some of my absolute favourites. Her books are the ones I have reread the most, and I have such joyous memories of reading them with my sister and our best friend that I just know she will always have a special place in my heart. As I’m no longer a young adult (tough life over here), I’ve outgrown Kerstin Gier’s target audience. But you best believe I RUN to the book store whenever she releases a new book. They’re the ultimate comfort read for me, gripping and funny and full of fantastical elements that make me yearn to live in the world she creates. Some of her books have been translated into English, so do yourself a favour and plunge right in!

Ken Follett

An author I always associate with my Dad is Ken Follett, as he is the one who introduced me to his work when I was a teenager. In case you live under a rock (or don’t read historical fiction), he writes these massively successful historical novels (sometimes entire sagas), set in all sorts of different historic periods. My favourite novel of his is Eye Of The Needle, a spy thriller set during the Second World War. But I also loved his Century trilogy, I could not put those books down! What’s so amazing about Ken Follett’s writing is the research that goes into it. His books often feature historical figures such as Churchill and whenever that person says something in one of Follett’s book, that will be an actual quote from that person. Obviously, they will have said it in a different context, but I still think that’s some level of dedication I aspire to achieve one day! Also, Ken Follett’s characters are the sort you will never be able to forget, either because you love them so much you want only the best for them, or because you hate them so much you want to see them dead. No inbetween, literally.

There you go, these are some of my favourite authors! There are a few more I could have included on this list, but for some of them I feel like I have not read enough of their books yet to be able to truly call them an established favourite! But once that list will have grown a bit more, I’ll make a second part to this blog post ❤