Top Ten Authors I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

In honor of Thanksgiving, this week we're listing the top ten books or authors we're thankful for. I'm going for authors, because most of the topics are book-specific, and I want to do something a bit different. Before I start, though, I'm basically thankful for all authors, except for a few who have made a career out of being jerks. For the most part, though, even if I hated your book, I'm still thankful for you, thankful that you have a vision and got it onto paper and brought joy into people's hearts. A lot of the books I hate are much loved by many people, and, while I may judge them a little bit, I'm just happy they're reading. So, thank you, all of you, for writing books for me to read and review, to escape to on a vacation from daily life. Thank you for putting my life into perspective when I'm being melodramatic, for taking me on journeys to places I may never get to go, for melting my hard heart, for making me laugh, for keeping me entertained while waiting at the DMV, and for decorating my house.

Special apologies to all the debut authors I love dearly. I'm going more for impact on me, so no one with one book is going to make it onto this list. Basically, I'm going to go down my Most Read Authors list for the ones that I want to thank. Also, as much as I want to thank people like Roald Dahl and Jane Austen, I'm going to keep this to living authors.

1. Meg Cabot
Listen, y'all, Meg Cabot may not be the best author from a technical perspective or anything, but she almost never fails to entertain me. I mean, some of her books super did not work for me, like Abandon and The Princess Diaries, but a lot of the others will always be dear to my heart. She writes funny books with quirky characters and sexy menfolk. Anytime a new Meg Cabot book comes out, I am over the moon about it, and always will be. She pretty much had to head up this list because she's also my most read author, with a whopping 38 books, or so Goodreads tells me.

2. Janet Evanovich
My number two most read author with 37 books (watch out, Meg Cabot, she's coming for you) is Janet Evanovich. I will read anything this woman writes. Even the books that aren't that great are bound to make me laugh maniacally like a crazy person multiple times. She does a lot of things I find frustrating (like not letting Stephanie just choose Morelli already, goddammit), but I can always trust her to make me laugh, and that is a powerful thing. I dearly love to laugh.

3. J.K. Rowling
Believe it or not, but when I was younger I had a lot of trouble choosing books to read. I was insanely picky and my mom would take me to the library and I would regularly wander around for an hour, unable to locate anything that looked interesting to me. Of course, now I go to the library and walk out like a pack mule, laden with as many books as it is humanly possible to carry. Back when I was harder to please, Harry Potter waltzed into my life and bespelled me forever. I suspect my love of fantasy may stem at least in part back to HP. The amount that I loved Harry Potter, which I hadn't really heard of when I first picked it up, reminded me the importance of trying all the things, because you never know which ones will be glorious inside.

4. Maria V. Snyder
Guys, I am just so thankful for authors that I count on to be consistently amazing. If I pick up a Maria V. Snyder, I know I'm going to like it, and that is invaluable. I know there will be a powerful heroine, a swoonworthy guy who is incredibly attracted to women who speak their mind, and wonderful kissing scenes, all with a backdrop of fantastic world building.

5. Stephenie Meyer
Surprise! People probably know that I'm not a huge Twilight fan, but I have to be thankful for Meyer, because, without those books, I don't think I would be the reader I am today. I'd read a bit of YA, but it wasn't really a big thing for me when my friend Katelyn loaned me her copies of the first three books in the Twilight series and told me I had to read them. They enraptured me and opened up my mind to young adult literature. I will always be thankful for that, no matter what I think of her books themselves now.

6. Gina Damico
Alright, I wanted to be able to share my love for at least one debut author, and Damico managed to get two books I loved out in one year, so she earned the slot. Damico's books are dark and hilarious and full of kissing. Also, she has a very unique style, which is always awesome. What's not to like, am I right? If you haven't read her books, get on that. I think she deserves far more acclaim than I've been seeing. Also, if you like the show Dead Like Me and haven't read this, seriously, do it.

7. Mira Grant
Listen, Mira Grant's Newsflesh Trilogy lies under the category of books I feel so strongly about that I'm going to need to not hear too much criticism about them, because they're so incredibly wonderful for me. It's just that when I read them, I feel like Seanan/Mira totally gets me...even though she's never met me. Like the sarcastic, cynical, acerbic tone that Georgia, and to a slightly lesser degree, Shaun, have is exactly what it's like in my head. So, I guess I'm thankful both for how good they are and for knowing that I'm not alone in my crazy.

8. Laurie Halse Anderson
A couple of days ago, Laurie would not have been on this list, because I'd only read Speak and that was a couple of years ago and my memory of fail didn't remember it too well. However, I just read Catalyst, and it was so good! Her writing is completely amazing, and she loves to gut punch her readers right in the feels. I pretty much need to be reading my way through the rest of her books ASAP. Also, I'm thankful that I have two more of them sitting on my shelves right now.

9. A.S. King
Speaking of glorious writing, I also love A.S. King's. For whatever reason, her writing just talks directly to my heart. When I was reading Ask the Passengers in Florida, I kept nudging my friend so I could read her quotes or just to go "DUDE, WHAT JUST HAPPENED. I CAN'T EVEN." Then I made her read it. I've only read two King novels, but she's already firmly on my list of most beloved authors.

10. John Green
In this case, I'm not just thankful for the books, though I do love some of them with a fiery passion. He has one of my very favorite writing styles and if I highlighted the quotes that spoke to me in his books, there would be more highlighted text than unhighlighted. However, I'm also just glad that he exists in the world. He's nerdy and cute and totally in love with his wife and hilarious and advocates for guys to appreciate the bookish girls of the world. Yes, please. Yes to all of this. Thank you, John Green, for being marvelous all around.

Alright, I know I've left out so many wonderful authors and I'm sorry for that, but I just don't have the space!