My Favorite Living Authors

This is going to sound stupid and nerdy but I love looking at my books. When I am bored I just stare at the shelves and think about the books I've read or books that I still want to read.

Last night, I couldn't sleep so I was looking at my bookshelf and I concocted a list of my top living authors. These are the authors who, if I see a new book of theirs advertised or at a store, I do not hesitate to buy it. These are also authors who have written more books that I like than books that I didn't like. That would exclude, for instance, Mark Danielewski who wrote one of my favorite books (House of Leaves) but his second book was not so good. Also, John Kennedy Toole does not make the list because he only wrote one book. Furthermore, I didn't list authors when I have only read one of their books, like Junot Diaz, Joyce Carol Oates or Paulo Coehlo.

Is this a subjective list? Yes. Is this a pointless list? Probably but I was amused by it and I thought you might be too. It also might give you some perspective on my thoughts on books when I post about things I have read recently.

My Top Living Authors:

Paul Auster
Jonathan Lethem
A.M. Homes
Cormac McCarthy
Ian McEwan
Neil Gaiman
Chuck Palahniuk (he is barely clinging to this list after his last three, not-so-good books but he still meets the rule)
Jeffrey Eugenides
Gabriel García Márquez

Think I am missing someone important? Want to argue about my list? Do you absolutely hate one of the authors I listed or mentioned? Let's fight it out in the comments or on Facebook. Bring it on.

Comments

Spareribs, Sauerkraut and Dumplings

For Valentine's Day this year I cooked a dish that reminds me of home like no other. It's a family recipe that my Mom knows by heart and my Dad gets on special holidays. Spareribs, sauerkraut and dumplings: Here's my plate before I started inhaling it. Not everyone likes it. I didn't like it until I was an adult and came across a very similar dish in the Czech Republic. I craved home-cooked food at the time and I instantly became obsessed with the dish. The tricky part about the recipe is that it wasn't really written down. My Grandmother, Anita, wrote a copy for my Mom a long time ago but my Mom has since changed parts to simplify the recipe. This is the recipe that my Mom told me and I adjusted on my own. For the Dumplings: These are the dumpling when they were boiling, as they start to get done, they float to the top of the water. 3 c bread crumbs (about a half of a loaf dried on a tray for a day and broken up in a food processor) 3-4 c grated r

May 2017 Update

Despite the appearance of my blog over the past year, I am still alive and kicking. I've had a great past year. It was filled with adventures and good times. What have I been up to? 1. I'm walking a ton. At a minimum, I try to walk 10,000 steps a day. When you work a desk job, that is a lot of steps. If I work from home, don't go anywhere, and don't make an effort, I can walk around 2,000 steps in a day. To hit 10,000, I have to make a serious effort. This leads to long rambles to Minnehaha Falls, the Mississippi River, Fort Snelling and circles around the Mall of America. I try to snap cool videos and photos while I walk. I took a short video of Minnehaha Falls this spring: I also snap pictures of the wildlife I manage to stumble across, like this adorable duck family: 2. I've traveled a bit. I went with friends to Massachusetts and Maine a month or so ago. Best selfie from the trip: Brian and I also took a trip to Hawaii in November. I

Halloween Project 2009: Zombie Box

I love zombie movies. My first date with Brian, I made the poor guy watch Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead . A while back I saw a photo of a glass case that held a fake shotgun that said "in case of zombies break glass" (click here for my original inspiration). Of course, I wanted one. However, they were a promotional item for a videogame. Plus, the shotguns were fake, not at all useful if zombies actually were going to attack. I tried to see if I could buy one of those fire cases that hold fire extinguishers and fire blankets and just adapt it. Those boxes, it turns out, cost at least a hundred dollars. I decided to take matters into my own hands and build myself an emergency box to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. I bought a frame for a few bucks from a discount store and hand painted the glass: The objects surrounding the glass were part of my "cat deterrence system." Oddly it worked. Livia prefers to sit on my paper projects anyways. I built a

Put on the Glasses

Search This Blog