Sphere by Michael Crichton is my all-time favorite book. The movie was good, especially for being an interpretation of a book, but of course the book was a whole hell of a lot better
Crichton has this way of making technical details and nuances exciting instead of boring. He’s written some really great books, but Sphere will always be my favorite of his, and as of right now, my favorite book ever. This puts him at the top of my Favorite Authors list.
Fleshflutter is one of those fanfic writers who can get me to read anything. If a new fic of hers pops up, I start reading it without even bothering to read the description.
The Incestuous Courtship of the Anti-Christ’s Bride is hilarious. It’s odd in a fun way and had me laughing out loud all the way through. There’s also a great plot and the characters are spot-on. Sam is probably my favorite in this. The way Fleshflutter wrote him is just perfect!
Dean Koontz is another of my favorites. Intensity is a close second for favorite book ever, and the way Koontz writes kinda makes me just relax and sink in for the ride.
Soul Survivor is another good one. In fact I kept the hardcover book even though my dog ate the corner of it just because I couldn’t throw it out.
Stephen King has a style all his own. Besides a very interesting and vivid imagination, I love that he shoves you right into the head of the main character. I’ve never experienced a writer quite like him.
Dreamcatcher is one of my favorites, but I’d be hard pressed to name my #1. When it comes right down to it, Nightmares and Dreamscapes is a book I’ve read more than once, but it’s a collection of his short stories, so I maybe I’m just being greedy and wanting a bunch of his stories instead of just picking one!
Simon Singh is an author with a focus on mathematics and has a PhD degree in particle physics, among other things. I’m a geek, and physics (particularly quantum physics) is something I really enjoy learning about.
Singh is quirky and fun, and it really shows in his writing. It was interesting to learn about some of the things most people miss in The Simpsons and Futurama.
Xanthe was someone who caught my attention back when I was new to fanfiction. She’s prolific, yet each fic seems so personal and as if you’re living right along with the characters.
Xanthe’s BDSM ‘Verse has to be one of my favorite fics ever. I was already a huge fan of hers after reading 24/7 and Adversary (among a lot of other X-Files fics of hers), but then a ‘verse where BDSM is the norm and NCIS crosses over with SGA? Yeah, I was hooked!
James Howe was the first author I followed as a kid. Bunnicula was adorable enough, but then the James and his wife wrote more with The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Howliday Inn.
I read each of these books more than once and I still have them sitting on the shelf in my office now. When I was a kid, I read them every year, along with a few other favorites.
Ash-Carpenter is one of my favorites in the Supernatural fandom. Brotherly banter and hotness are things she excels at. The Anti-Kink Series has me laughing hard enough that tears run down my face with nearly every chapter.
Ash’s other fic is really good too, but I’m a big fan of writers who can keep guys real and hot at the same time, and she totally nails it!
Stephen Hawking is not only a genius, but he’s a really good writer. As I mentioned above, I’m a geek. I read a lot of books by people with degrees and IQs that would make Mensa members jealous, but a lot of those writers/lecturers talk to you instead of with you.
Stephen Hawking writes in such a way as to make you feel like he’s sitting there next to you, his arm around your shoulders as he tells you about something he’s hoping you’ll get a kick out of because he just knows it’s really cool!