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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I really like the topic for this week's Top Ten Tuesday, especially since it gives me a chance to talk about the authors that I adore and their best books (in my opinion). Many of these books are ones I am often gushing about but I also love talking about books that do not come up as often. Here are my ten favorite authors and my favorite book by each of them.
1. Terry Pratchett: Hogfather (Discworld #20)- One of the harder ones for me because I love so many of Terry Pratchett's books. I decided on Hogfather because it is the book I come back to every year at Christmastime. It has become one of my many traditions during the holiday season to sit down and either read the book or listen to one of the two audiobooks. It brings me absolute joy every single year. Terry was one of the best at writing such a poignant and touching story with so much heart and wit. This is true with all of his books. He was a one-of-a-kind writer who I wish would have had more time.
2. T. Kingfisher: A Sorceress Comes to Call - My second favorite author was really no question. I started reading T. Kingfisher's books in 2024 and instantly fell in love with her writing style. Her wit is above and beyond. A Sorceress Comes to Call was my favorite book of 2024 and I still think fondly of my time reading it. T. Kingfisher does an incredible job blending both fantasy, horror, and humor in a way that makes her books really stand out to me. Hester is one of my favorite characters. I absolutely loved her narration. It surprised me how many times this very dark story had me laughing-out-loud. That is one of my favorite aspects of T. Kingfisher's writing, how much she can make me laugh even at the most unexpected places in a story. She is a wonderful writer.
4. Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles - One of the books that has been on my favorites list the longest from this entire post. I first read The Song of Achilles back in 2016, knowing full well that it was going to break my heart. Greek Mythology has been one of my biggest topics of interest ever since I was a child and the stories surrounding Achilles are very popular. Little did I know how much Patroclus and Achilles's story would touch my heart in this novel. Madeline Miller has one of the most beautiful styles of writing. I love every single thing I have ever read of hers.
5. N. R. Walker: Dear Milton James (Dear Milton James #1) - N. R. Walker is my favorite contemporary romance writer. I have read thirty of her books so far and have enjoyed almost all of them. Dear Milton James is above and beyond my favorite of her books. I loved following the romance between Malachi and Julian as they work together at a Dead Letter Office. N. R. Walker does such a great job setting up romantic leads in her stories while also having an intriguing plot and great secondary characters. Her stories always give me great joy and have me chuckling.
6. Chris Colfer: The Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories #3) - I first got into Chris Colfer's books because of my love of him and his character Kurt on the tv show Glee. When I heard he was writing a fairy tale retelling series, I knew I was going to have to pick it up. Fairy Tale retellings are some of my favorite stories. The Land of Stories is a series I wish I would have had growing up. I know it probably would have been my favorite series back then. The Grimm Warning is the third book in the series and is definitely my favorite of them all. I enjoy the way the Grimm brothers are used in this book and the adventures Conner and Alex go on.
7. Nikita Gill: Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters - My favorite poet is Nikita Gill, who oftentimes uses popular stories in her poems to help express the ideas she is trying to convey. Great Goddesses is a volume of poems which focuses on the Greek goddesses, gods, titans, mortals, and monsters. It is a stunning collection and I have read many of the poems multiple times over the years. Along with poetry, Nikita also has stunning hand-drawn illustrations throughout the entire work. I loved her depictions of these characters and her very different looks at gods who are often depicted in a negative light, such as Ares. So much of Greek Mythology is touched on in her poetry and I cannot get enough of it.
Many of my Favorite Pieces from this Volume:
~ "What it Means to be a Forgotten Magic Maker"
~ "The Titanomachy"- I really enjoyed Hera's depiction throughout this volume.
~ "The Making of a God-Queen"
~ "Athena's Tale"- Such a great piece
~ "War and Poetry"- This and the following piece are interesting takes on Ares
~ "Ares, After"
~ "Hephaestus's Tale"
~ "Apollo to Icarus"
~ "A Friendship: Demeter and Hestia"- Loved their story of sisterhood
~ "Hades to Persephone"
~ "Persephone and Hades, After"
~ "Asterion"- Stunning take on the Minotaur
~ "Athena to Medusa"
~ "Danae, Mother of Perseus"
~ "Penelope, Wife of Odysseus"
~ "Argos, Dog of Odysseus"- This one made me tear up
~ "Iphigenia, Daughter of Agamemnon"
8. Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea- One of my favorite characters from literature as I am often saying on this blog is Hoid/Wit from Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere Universe. This book is a story told by Hoid who is often telling stories to other characters in the Cosmere books such as in Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2). Tress of the Emerald Sea has so much that I love in literature such as adventure, strong characters, pirates, and humor. I knew going into this book that I was most likely going to love it and was not surprised by how much I adored everything about it. It is definitely going to be one of the books I reread sometime this year.
9. Natalie Haynes: A Thousand Ships- Yet another take on Greek Mythology making it on this list because of my great love for them. Natalie Haynes does one of the best jobs at taking such well-known stories in different directions. A Thousand Ships stands out just as much as Madeline Miller's books to me. It is told from the various perspectives of women about the events of the Trojan War and it's aftermath. We get a great mix of perspectives from mortals, goddesses, muses, queens, and princesses. I especially enjoyed Penelope's messages to her husband throughout the entire novel. Also, the way Cassandra's story was portrayed here. Her story has always intrigued me so much.
10. John Green: The Anthropocene Reviewed - My first introduction to John Green was through his Youtube channel he has with his brother Hank called: Vlogbrothers. It's hard to believe that was over 16 years ago now. They are both very special people who care so deeply for the people and world around them. I love their style of videos and I still watch them to this day. The Anthropocene Reviewed is part memoir, part insights into the seemingly random, and part review. It hit me so much harder than I could have believed possible and is one of the best pieces of nonfiction I have ever read. John has such a distinct way of looking at the world and this book is full of essays on so many different and interesting topics.
Two of my favorite quotes from the book:
“... I called my brother, Hank, and told him I was feeling frightened. Hank is the levelheaded one, the sane one, the calm one. He always has been. We have never let the fact of my being older get in the way of Hank being the wise older brother.”
"We all know what it's like to feel alone. We will all call out someday to someone who cannot answer us."
