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Top Ten Authors |
| Date: |
21/09/01 (472 review reads) |
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You're probably wondering just how many of my favourite authors will be true crime writers, especially as I freely admit that the majority of books that I read nowadays are from that genre. Well, read on - I may just surprise you.
Here, in no particular order are my personal top ten authors. Their only qualifications for inclusion are that they write books that I read over and over and over again. Some are old friends from childhood, some are newer acquaintances, but all are very much loved.
1. Ruby Ferguson.
You're probably even now racking your brain trying to think of the name of the great literary classic written by Ruby Ferguson. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but unless you were like me, a pony mad child, then Ruby is unlikely to have a place on your bookshelf. But maybe she should...
Ruby Ferguson wrote a series of children's books about a girl called Jill and her ponies Black Boy and Rapide. As a child, I wanted more than anything else in the world to be Jill. I wanted a "Mummy" who was absent minded and who wrote childrens books for a living. I longed to be friends with the owner of the local riding school - friendly enough to be left in charge when she went away. I yearned to meet an Olympic showjumper like Captain Cholly-Sawcutt. I probably even wandered around saying "Gosh" and "Crumbs" as Jill and her friends do a lot.
Naturally all my friends read "Jill" too and here is my first confession. On the front of all the "Jill" books were photographs of "Jill" and her friends and their ponies. And "Jill" herself looked a lot like me. She really did, we could have been twins. And I ...er... might just have led people to believe that the cover model and I were one and the same person. It was just something that I wanted so very, very badly.
The shame I now feel as an adult has not diminished the pleasure I still get fro
m the "Jill" series and although the books were first published in the 1960's, I still read them today, even though my copies are decidedly tattered and dog-eared. They are books about a time of innocence and the freedom to roam around the countryside on horseback that today's children so rarely get the chance to enjoy. I guess there is still a part of me that longs to be "Jill", even after all this time.
2. Alida Baxter.
The inclusion of this author was by no means a foregone conclusion since she has, in her time, written some books which I would class as utter drivel. On the other hand, she has written a trilogy of books about her life that I turn to to cheer myself up again and again and again. And, at every reading, I always find something fresh and new to chuckle at.
You see, if I spent my childhhod wanting to be Jill, then Alida was probaly more the woman I grew up to be. She is tremendously accident prone, and perhaps even a bit of a hypochondriac. Things 'happen' to Alida. Funny things, although perhaps you need to know someone like Alida (or me!) to find them truly believable. My best friend calls me a "natural disaster looking for a place to happen" and so it is for Alida. "Flat on my Back", "Out on my Ear" and "Up to my Neck" are the titles of her books about her marriage, life with and subsequent divorce from "my husband" ("the accountant", Hairy", "the company man", "Monarch of the Glen" - he is never actually named.)
Make a note of the titles for when you next need cheering up.
3. J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Has to be American with a name like that, doesn't he? He is - and he writes extremely detailed 'warts and all' biographies of some of the U.S.A's biggest stars. (Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Cher etc).I'm never sure how much of his books are actual fact and how
much are pure supposition, but they are undoubtedly entertaining. Gossip, yes, but whispered secrets are always so much more fascinating than bland niceties, don't you think?
4. Stephen King
You knew it was coming, didn't you? It was just a question of when. I discovered King when I was a teenager - in fact (confession number two) - I stole his first book!
I was on my last ever holiday with my parents, and short of cash. The guest house in which we were staying had a large revolving stand of paperback books for sale and, being a quick reader, I would 'borrow' one last thing at night and return it unnoticed the following morning. Except when I 'borrowed' "Carrie", I loved it so much that I couldn't bear to return it. Since then I have read every Stephen King book on the day of publication. In hardback.
I just adore his style of writing, the way he takes the supernatural, the beyond belief and makes it believable. He is a writer who fires my imagination. Reading one of his books, I can smell the smells, taste the tastes and see the world through the eyes of his characters. Its as if the book is unfolding like a film in glorious technicolour, a private screening just for me.
King entraps me, engulfs me and swallows me whole. I don't think he has ever written a bad book, although I would concede that some are not as good as others. Pushed to choose my favourites, I would probably plump for "The Stand" and "Dolores Claiborne". But then again, tomorrow I will probably have changed my mind.
5. Maureen Lipman.
Welcome back, jillmurphy. You're just in time to hear that dappy, ditzy Maureen Lipman makes me laugh. Hysterically.
6. Roddy Doyle.
A writer of the people, for the people, Doyle fuels my love of Ireland and all things Irish.He is probably(for me) the greatest writer of the 20th / 21st century, capable of handling humour an
d pathos with equal dexterity.No pretension, no flowery language - he just tells it like it is.
7.Ann Rule.
There had to be one true crime writer in my top ten and Ann Rule is she. Rule has a background of both journalism and law enforcement which are evident in her comprehensive yet sensitively written accounts of some of the USA's grisliest murders. If I were to recommend one true crime writer it would be Rule, since she more than any other seems to care about her craft. Behind every crime is a victim and, for Ann Rule, concern for the victims and their families is uppermost. She gives the victims a voice and, in the bloody world of true crime, is thus a rare find.
She remains the only author to whom I have ever written a fan letter. I am just one fan amongst millions worldwide, yet her reply to my letter, which I cherish, was both personal and sincere. Even now, she still sends periodic e-mails asking about the progress of my studies.
To me, she will always be the Queen of true crime.
8.Anthony Buckeridge.
Sorry, I'm reverting to childhood again. No, actually, that's not strictly true, since I am still an avid collector (and reader) of the "Jennings" series of books written by ex teacher Buckeridge. I delight in the adventures of schoolboy J.C.T. Jennigs and his milksop sidekick Darbishire and, if you've never read them yourself, then you must.
9. Enid Blyton.
Do kids today still read Enid Blyton? Is she now to politically incorrect for a readership of easily influenced minors? Or just not 'cool' nowadays? Not having any children of my own, I'm not sure, but I know I still read her books regularly.
Only a couple of years ago, Mr. nikkisly and I became involved in a bitter argument about the name of the auntie in the "Famous Five" series. It took a sortie around the second hand bookshops and a long session of re-reading to settle the d
ispute, but it reawakened a love for Blyton that I thought had died when I got my first pair of high heeled shoes. Her stories were a mixture of modern fairy tales and true to life stories about schools and clubs and secret socities - the sort of things that were all very relevant to a whole generation of children of the 50's and 60's.
Enid Blyton nurtured my lifelong interest in books and reading and for that I will be eternally grateful.
So, you've had nine and now I run into difficulty. Not who to choose, but who to leave out. Am I allowed poets? (If so they would be Wilfred Owen or e.e.cummings). Am I allowed to select Tawni O'Dell, writer of my current favourite book? No, since she has only written one novel to date, she must be classed as a 'potential future favourite'. Pauline McLynn (aka Mrs Doyle from Father Ted)? No, I love her style of writing but dislike her books if that is possible. Number ten has to be...
10. Erin Pizzey.
No, not her novels, but her factual work, written at the very beginning of her career a an author. Ms. Pizzey was instrumental in setting up the first refuge for victims of domestic violence in the U.K. and her tales of the damaged women and children who beat a path to her door never fail to move me. "Infernal Child", "Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear" and "Prone to Violence" are all harrowing yet, at the same time, inspirational. One woman CAN make a difference.
There you have it. My favourite writers are a mixed bunch who amuse, inform and entertain me - or even just keep alive my inner child.My apologies for having rambled on for so long.
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