Favorite Authors List

I read lots of books and always have. There was a time I focused on an author and read everything of his or her that I could find in a book exchange. It's still there, you take in a sack full of books and for less than a dollar you walk out with a hand full. As a teacher with two small kids that's all I could afford at the time. Here are some of the authors I gorged myself on.

Isaac Asimov: I don't think it's possible to read everything he wrote. I grew up on his science fiction, branched out into his history books, anthologies then his science books, read his magazine. Perhaps the greatest author of all time.

James A. Michener: I hit a brick wall with him. I read and read and read, book after book and barely made a dint in what was still out there to read. The books are so long and time consuming I gave up. When I was teaching World History I hit ever used book store I could find and picked up around fifty copies of the book and used it as a text book with a short story over most of the time periods covered.

Harrold Robbins: He was my guilty pleasure. 1950'-60s porn in accompaniment to Playboy. My wife is a huge Elvis fan and when his movies came out on VHS she had to buy them. I was surprised when watching King Creole, considered Elvis's best movie. It was Robbins A Stone For Danny Fisher. It was after reading everything he'd written up to that time I thought I could tackle Michener.

Harlan Ellison: I was going through a divorce and the life I envisioned evaporated. I was depressed. There was a book store across from a park I took my dog to run around and went in. It was a childrens and science fiction store. A wonderful lady, now deceased, recommended Death Bird Stories. It is a collection of the most depressing stories you'll ever find. His words expressed what I was feeling and the weight of my despair lifted. I was hooked on him for life. I have a shelf full of his books and treasure them.