Top 5 Wednesday #17: More Books by These Authors, Please

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by GingerReadsLainey and now managed by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. For more information on this meme, visit the Goodreads group.

This week’s topic:

Authors you want to read more from

I went crazy with this list at first and then had to remind myself that we’re limited to just 5; so I chose 7.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Bujold is first, of course. So far this year, her Curse of Chalion is the best book I’ve read. I was so hooked on that story that upon completing it, I bought the book (I’d read a copy a borrowed from the library) and the following two books in its series — Paladin of Souls and The Hallowed Hunt. I must read at least Paladin of Souls this year.

With Curse of Chalion, I was immediately drawn to Bujold’s writing and was sucked in by her storytelling. The fact that the story mixes magic with religion was icing on the top. I can’t wait to get stuck in the other books.

Muriel Barbery

Barbery is second because I’m as eager to read another of her books and I am to experience another Bujold story. I read The Life of Elves last year and despite being confused the majority of the time I read. I was in love with the writing. It was so descriptive. I greatly admired it and regretted not purchasing the book so I could highlight all the passages that stuck out to me.

Because of that, I bought The Elegance of the Hedgehog (which I heard is better than The Life of Elves) and am looking forward to experiencing more of Barbery’s beautiful writing.

Rachel Hartman

I’m a fan of Hartman’s YA fantasy duology, Seraphina, which is set in a world where dragons can take on human form. I’d love to read another story set in that world. I enjoyed Hartman’s two books for different reasons. In Seraphina, Hartman’s writing really stood out to me and I admired how descriptive it is. In Shadow Scale, I appreciated that the world Hartman introduced us to broadened, providing lots of potential for her to spin other stories set in that world. 😉

I do hope she will write other books in which we’ll explore more of the other lands surrounding Goredd and even further out.

Erin Morgenstern

I could not do a list like this and not mention Morgenstern, who wrote one of my favorite books, The Night Circus. It’s the only book she has published and I hope and wish and wish and hope that she’ll grant us another novel. I don’t care where it’s set, I just want to experience more of her writing and visit another place she has imagined — or the same place. I don’t mind returning to the Night Circus, that awesome place of wonder.

It was Morgenstern’s writing that first called to me when I cracked open The Night Circus and slowly I began to fall in love with the circus. I’d like to have that experience again with another book by her.

Dan Simmons

I read my first Simmons book last year. It was his horror novel Song of Kali, which is about a horrific trip an American writer takes to Calcutta, India, with his wife and new-born babe. The story was more unsettling than scary, but I liked the pacing and Simmons’ writing. He’s a good storyteller and I could tell that he got better at it since everyone gives Hyperion high praises.

Now, I’m trying to decide whether to continue reading his books in publication order to see how Simmons’s writing progressed over the years, or just satiate my curiosity by immediately jumping to Hyperion just to see what it’s about.

Gavriel Savit

I loved Anna and the Swallow Man, Savit’s debut novel that was published last year. It’s a YA historical fiction novel with a hint of magical realism set during World War II. As with the authors above, it was the writing that drew me to the novel, but the plight of the characters, the storytelling, kept me reading. I became so invested in the characters that I was a sad when I completed it. I wanted to know more.

I’d love to read another novel by Savit, no matter what genre it is. I’ll be on the look-out for what he drops next.

Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner was such a wonderful, heartrending read. For this one, the storytelling hooked me from the first sentence. There are times when I start a story and can tell from it’s first sentence/paragraph that I’ll be hooked, that I’ll love it. That’s how I felt when I started The Kite Runner. It’s another favorite of mine.

I’d love to try another of Hosseini’s books to see if I’ll have a similar reaction to how he tells another story. I’m curious to see if it was his style of storytelling that hooked me to The Kite Runner or something else that’s unique to that story. I bought A Thousand Splendid Suns a couple weeks ago and am looking forward to trying it.