November 1st is National Authors Day in the U.S.

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
12,854
Reaction score
3,054
Location
Not where you last saw me.
It's a day to celebrate authors and their books, and you don't have to be in the U.S. to share who your favorite authors are and which of their books are your favorites.

I have so many favorite authors and books. It's true. And short stories—yeah, those as well.

I mentioned Ursula K. Le Guin a couple of times lately and I probably should start this off with someone else. Not gonna, though. Her books and short story collections are entertaining and meaningful, you can enjoy them for either or both as you wish and as the mood strikes you. Her two-volume collection of short stories The Unreal and The Real, Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin comes up for re-reading a couple of times a year for both and each of those reasons. The first volume, subtitled Where on Earth is supposed to contain "mundane" stories, but are they really? The same applies to the second volume Outer Space, Inner Lands, or Ms Le Guin put it:

Some people will identify the first volume as "mundane" and the second as "science fiction", but they will be wrong. All the science-fiction stories are in the second volume, but not all the stories in the second volume are science fiction by any definition.

I love how her mind worked; I just wish mine was half as agile.
 

Larry M

Banned
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
1,057
Reaction score
331
Location
Texas
Website
www.amazon.com
As with Ari, I also have many favorites. It was Robert Ludlum though, who inspired me to try to write a thriller (my first book and the only novel I have written.)

My first Ludlum book was 'The Holcroft Covenant,' - his tenth book, and an expertly written thriller that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

Wondering if he could possibly be this good in more than one book, I bought his first, 'The Scarlatti Inheritance,' and yes, it was also a page turner.

Then after a few more, all excellent, including the outstanding 'The Bourne Identity,' I read what I think is Ludlum's finest work: 'The Parsifal Mosaic.'

This book was (sorry for the cliche), absolutely riveting. His story had me holding my breath for pages at a time, stopping to remind myself to take a damn breath. I remember thinking, holy crap, how can he keep up this pace? And he did, in what is IMO, one of the greatest thrillers ever written. It is a superb story, and an exceptional read.

All told, Ludlum wrote 27 thriller novels, and I've read all of them.

He died in 2001 - DAMMIT, man, how could you DIE and leave us with only 27 exceptional books!

RIP to a supremely talented man who had a knack for spinning fantastic twists, turns, and unexpected plots.
 
Last edited: