Favorite Mainstream Authors

[JenNipps]

I thought of how to word this, because just a listing of mainstream/contemporary authors wouldn't accomplish much. And there's too many to just list. :)

So...

Who is/are your favorites? Why? Can you learn/have you already learned something from them?

[maestrowork]

Mitchell Albom's "Five People You Meet In Heaven." Very Hallmark, very short, and to the point. Very focused story with a good but flawed protagonist and a kick-*** opening. The section on WWII is very gripping. Vivid writing and characterization. A consistent tone through and through.

[JenNipps]

Mitchell Albom's "Five People You Meet In Heaven." Very Hallmark, very short, and to the point. Very focused story with a good but flawed protagonist and a kick-*** opening. The section on WWII is very gripping. Vivid writing and characterization. A consistent tone through and through.

I've heard a lot of good things about that book. I keep thinking I need to buy it next time I go to the bookstore, but so much time passes between the thought and the event, I forget about it.

I've been trying to think of mainstream authors that I read myself. Everything/everyone I've thought of that might possibly qualify is actually more chick-lit than anything else. I didn't think I read that much chick lit. Heh. Actually, I don't. It's just the last two or three books I've read.

[maestrowork]

Chick lit. Ah... is it a sub-genre of mainstream/contemporary or women's fiction? I don't know.

Nick Horby is another "mainstream" author whose books are a cross between contemporary and chick-lit (or male chick lit when his protagonists are male, such as High Fidelity). I find his books fun to read, and his style is very funny. But as novels I find them a little slight. Who knows? Hollywood keeps making movies of his books...

[JenNipps]

Chick lit. Ah... is it a sub-genre of mainstream/contemporary or women's fiction? I don't know.

I have no clue. I've heard it's a sub-genre of contemporary/mainstream, women's fiction, or romance. I guess it depends on where you think it goes/want to put it until there's actually something a bit more definite.

I picked up a couple of them because a friend recommended a few titles. I like Jennifer Weiner's and I'm not really 100% sure you could classify them as chick lit. One thing that I know for certain doesn't mix -- IMO, of course -- is chick lit, airheads, and vampires. Yuck.

[Soren]

Hello...virgin post here.

I guess my current favorite mainstream writer is Patrick O'Brian, the auther of the Aubrey/Maturin series of novels set in the time Napoleon. I guess that's mainstream. His are novels of manners rather than of action although they all contain episodes of the sort of naval warfare that one expects from the Age of Fighting Sail as well as a the adventures of Doctor Maturin as a naval intelligence operative. O'Brian's novels are the basis for the popular movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe as Captian Jack Aubrey. Great stuff!

[maestrowork]

Wouldn't you consider them historical fiction?

One definition I've read stated that mainstream is usually about everyday life of common people (the "extraordinary things happening to ordinary people" thing), usually set in a time within a generation of "now."

[wurdwise]

My favorite mainstream authors are: Elizabeth Berg, Alice Hoffman, T.C. Boyle, Anita Shreve, oh, well, I could go on all day, I suppose, Barbara Kingsolver, so many great ones, really. Ann Marie McDonald, a must read, "As the the Crow Flies." I guess all these are considered contemporary.

[JenNipps]

Hello...virgin post here.
Hello, Soren. Welcome to AW & to this particular little section. :)

I guess my current favorite mainstream writer is Patrick O'Brian, the auther of the Aubrey/Maturin series of novels set in the time Napoleon. I guess that's mainstream. His are novels of manners rather than of action although they all contain episodes of the sort of naval warfare that one expects from the Age of Fighting Sail as well as a the adventures of Doctor Maturin as a naval intelligence operative. O'Brian's novels are the basis for the popular movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe as Captian Jack Aubrey. Great stuff!
I've heard of most of the books & authors you're talking about, but I've heard of them mainly in a historical context. Are they historical or are they more mainstream?

[JenNipps]

My favorite mainstream authors are: Elizabeth Berg, Alice Hoffman, T.C. Boyle, Anita Shreve, oh, well, I could go on all day, I suppose, Barbara Kingsolver, so many great ones, really. Ann Marie McDonald, a must read, "As the the Crow Flies." I guess all these are considered contemporary.

Do you have any particular recommendations from any of these? Not that I need more books, but what can I say? :Shrug:

[wurdwise]

Do you have any particular recommendations from any of these? Not that I need more books, but what can I say? :Shrug:

I thought you'd never ask! The Tortilla Curtain and The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle. The Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, every single book written by ALice Hoffman and Elizabeth Berg, my public library has probably every one.

Anita Shreve wrote The Pilot's Wife and though I've read one or two more, I can't remember the titles. (as you can probably tell, I read a lot, or at least i did until I started writing! EEEKKK) Now it's harder to get lost in a book, and if I do, that author has got the goods.

[JenNipps]

I thought you'd never ask! The Tortilla Curtain and The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle. The Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, every single book written by ALice Hoffman and Elizabeth Berg, my public library has probably every one.

Anita Shreve wrote The Pilot's Wife and though I've read one or two more, I can't remember the titles. (as you can probably tell, I read a lot, or at least i did until I started writing! EEEKKK) Now it's harder to get lost in a book, and if I do, that author has got the goods.
I'd heard of The Poisonwood Bible before but had forgotten who wrote it. I'll be going to the library this weekend, so I might pick up a couple then.

Er... ON second thought, I might need to wait until after the end of the month since I don't have much time for reading -- or, sadly, even writing -- until then.

[Soren]

I think you can consider them historical novels and be very confident in your catagory. On the other hand, another poster mentions T.C. Boyle. I've read two of his - Water Music and the Road to Wellville. Both are concerned with historical characters and settings but I haven't seen them classified as historical novels. I guess I was using mainstream in that way.
This genre business is pretty confusing to me but bookstores, agents and publishers and not least of all - most readers - must love it! Not sure all writers love as much as the others though clearly a great many do. I've heard actors talk about not wanting to be pigeon-holed but on the other hand if you consistently fit comfortably in your pigeon-hole you probably shouldn't complain until you try to stretch your wings and find no one wants to go with you. Shrugs shoulders.

[Soren]

Hi, Jen. Thanks for your welcome.
I'm not sure. O'Brian seems to be a genre buster to my way of thinking. I suppose most would put him in the historical group.

Great looking site here. I've been looking for a really good site dedicated to writing for quite some time.

[Angel-Lija]

I favorite mainstream author is James Patterson. A lot of his stuff was made into movies and from what I hear, there are new movies being made. The books are better then the movies, of course. Anyways, I like his stuff. They're easy to read and somewhat suspenceful.