Weekly Geeks via Literary Transgressions have a nice little meme going. They ask us to make a list of our favourite authors, one for each letter of the alphabet.
There are other things I should be doing, but a time-waster to take me away from school stuff (that must be done before I go back to work after Easter) is irresistible.
Here are my choices – if I’ve reviewed or mentioned them on this blog, there’s a link. With a couple of exceptions I restricted myself to books where my reading journal shows that I’ve read two or three of the author’s works and that I rated them 8+. This means that there are some debut authors that are not included but will surely become favourites if they get the support they deserve to produce more books!
- A Robyn Annear, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Thea Astley, and Margaret Atwood
- B Geraldine Brooks, Beryl Bainbridge, Sebastian Barry and Honoré de Balzac
- C Brian Castro, Inga Clendinnen and Steven Carroll
- D Louis De Bernieres, Daphne du Maurier and Sarah Dunant
- E George Eliot, and Jeffrey Eugenides,
- F Margaret Forster, J G Farrell, Richard Flanagan and Timothy Findley
- G Kate Grenville, Elizabeth Gaskell, Rumer Godden and Graham Greene
- H Marion Halligan, Jane Hamilton, Shirley Hazzard
- I Kazuo Ishiguro and Frances Itani
- J James Joyce, Susan Johnson, George Johnson, Lloyd Jones and Elizabeth Jolley
- K Franz Kafka, Ismail Kadare, and Christopher Koch,
- L Julia Leigh, Marina Lewycka, Lee Langley, Penelope Lively and Joan London
- M Katherine Mansfield, David Malouf, Alex Miller, H V Morton, Hilary Mantel and Ian McEwan
- N Nerida Newton, and Brenda Niall
- O Kate O’Riordan and George Orwell
- P Orhan Pamuk, Ruth Park, Eliot Perlman, and Marcel Proust
- Q Any author out there with a surname beginning with letter Q? Contact me now!
- R Henry Handel Richardson, Jill Roe and Arundhati Roy
- S Kim Scott, Muriel Spark, Graham Swift and Randolph Stow
- T Colm Toibin, Rose Tremaine and William Trevor
- U John Updike
- V Salley Vickers and Susan Vreeland
- W Mary Wesley, Patrick White, and Amy Witting
- X Gao Xingjian, (and I did have two to choose from!)
- Y Richard Yates and Ouyang Yu
- Z Arnold Zable, Markus Zusak
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Re. Any author out there with a surname beginning with letter Q?
Q is a tough one. I see a couple of Quinns out there, but I haven’t read any of them. (For example: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/authors/50012599/Maria_Quinn/index.aspx) Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch? A Quayle?
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By: DKS on April 26, 2011
at 2:13 am
Hi Deane – I confess to spending a couple of minutes looking around the web for this – and yes, I did come across Quayle, who has written a book, but noooooooo, I don’t think so.
But Quiller-Couch is looking good. I did what I should have done yesterday and searched ManyBooks.net by author / selected letter Q (doh!) and lo! there are plentiful authors bearing the letter Q including Quiller-Couch, all free and instantly downloadable.
Next time this meme comes around, I shall be ready!
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By: Lisa Hill on April 26, 2011
at 8:58 am
There are a few on your list – that are firm fav of mine..
Some are authors I have read years ago – thank for the refresher…
Q – is definately a hard one…
:)
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By: Erotic Horizon on April 26, 2011
at 9:19 am
The only “Q” I could think of was Anna Quindlen, but I’ve only read one of her books and wasn’t wowed, so I thought it would be weird to include her. :)
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By: Corey on April 26, 2011
at 4:37 pm
Hello Corey, thanks for dropping by:)
I’ve got one of Quindlens! It’s called One True Thing. Maybe I should read it…
Lisa (sheepish)
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By: Lisa Hill on April 26, 2011
at 7:40 pm
Pretty impressive that you managed for every letter but Q and most of them even have multiples!
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By: Stefanie on April 27, 2011
at 12:34 am
Project Gutenberg has a list of Q- authors here, if that helps.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/q
Brilliant list! I saw a few of my favorites on there as well.
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By: tolmsted on April 27, 2011
at 2:30 am
Whew, glad to see Balzac mentioned, lol. Eliot and Gaskell are favorites of mine also. And I read and very much enjoyed some Rumer Godden years ago. I fear that there are many, many on your list that are unfamilar to me.
We have read a couple by Raymond Queneau on the FrenchLiterature list. He is apparently quite popular, but wasn’t to my taste.
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By: Madame Vauquer on April 27, 2011
at 4:42 am
I *love* Balzac. I’ve just finished The Two Brothers, and I think it is brilliant. I put my review of it on Good Reads with all the other ones I’ve done – 52 so far! (see http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1758411?shelf=balzac-read if you are a GoodReads member)
Of course, *big smile* I wouldn’t be reading any of them if not for the wonderful volunteers who put them all up on Project Gutenberg for me to get at.
Lisa
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By: Lisa Hill on April 27, 2011
at 8:20 pm
Queneau! Of course! Madame Vauquer, you are intelligent and I have the memory of a flea. How about Eça de Queirós, the 19th-century Portuguese writer who wrote the Maias? I think the secondhand bookshop downstairs off Swanston Street might have a copy. Basilisk used to, but I hear it closed in January.
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By: DKS on April 29, 2011
at 2:06 am
*chuckle* The Quest for these Qs is Quickly becoming a Queue on my TBR!
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By: Lisa Hill on April 29, 2011
at 6:31 pm
I have heard of Eça de Queirós, but not read anything by him. Let us know, DKS, if you find and read one.
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By: Madame Vauquer on May 2, 2011
at 5:47 am
Lots of fun and that elusive letter Q! I’m not sure I have read enough to genuinely complete this but have enjoyed reading your list. I think I would also be able to include Alex Miller in mine, reading Landscape of Farewell at the moment, I’m finding it quite different to Lovesong but still wonderful. Thank you for introducing me to him 0:)
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By: Tracey on April 27, 2011
at 6:12 am
What an interesting post – I can understand the pleasure you found in making the list. I have no Q’s on my list and funnily enough, have only just added the first “N” – I find this hard to understand as their are a lot of authors on my list!
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By: Tom C on April 27, 2011
at 5:26 pm
Thank you everyone for your comments – I think this is the first time I have ‘outed’ my choice of favourite authors like this *grin*.
Now you can all see why Mt TBR grows so alarmingly.
BTW Quiller-Couch is an odd-bod, to say the least. I downloaded ‘From a Cornish Window” for sentimental reasons (having lived there for a while) and it is most bizarre…
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By: Lisa Hill on April 27, 2011
at 8:15 pm
Speaking of odd-bods, I was thinking of mentioning Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a “Q” or not. Project Gutenberg has it under the “D”s.
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By: Madame Vauquer on May 2, 2011
at 5:49 am
Sue from Whispering Gums would be able to tell if it’s a Q or a D but I think she’s in Japan…
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By: Lisa Hill on May 3, 2011
at 12:20 am
I would have placed it under Q myself, but I’m often wrong, lol.
Another that always gives me a problem is Conan Doyle.
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By: Madame Vauquer on May 3, 2011
at 4:24 am
Le Corbusier??
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By: Lisa Hill on May 4, 2011
at 8:27 pm
For Q, the French author Raymond Queneau. I;ve known about him for years though I’m yet to read his work. Also, Horacio Quiroga from Uruguay. Love your list.
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By: Kinna on April 28, 2011
at 9:00 am
I like the sound of these Qs, Kinna! Thanks:)
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By: Lisa Hill on April 28, 2011
at 7:25 pm