Do you have a favourite author? Mine is...

Stephen king
I just get lost in his books
I also really like Charles Dickens

Fiction: Kurt Vonnegut, Franz Kafka, James Baldwin, Vladamir Nabokov, George Elliott, Dubravka Urgesic, Marilynne Robinson

Non-fiction: Simone Weil, Zygmunt Bauman, Andrea Dworkin,

I really love Edward St Aubyn - although he can be very dark and depressing, I have also laughed out. His last novel was a complete waste of my time and his talent, unfortunately.

Ian McEwan

Kazuo Ishiguro - although all his characters (middle aged men, young women) have the same voice.

Love Orhan Pamuk although I am suspicious of his translators. Given that I don't speak Turkish, this may be unfair.

Scarlett Thomas
Marian Keyes
Jasper Fforde

Impossible to pick one:
Jonathan Coe
Atwood
Philip Hensher
Kate Atkinson
Lionel Shriver
Maggie O'farrell
Sally Gardner

Like other posters here, I find it hard to pick just one. If I've just read a really good book that stays in my mind, then I might say "So and so is my favourite author", but then I'll read something else by another author and then they will be my new favourite!

Having said that, I do have some tried and tested favourites that I always read such as Harlan Coben, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Jodi Picoult, Jane Green, Mo Hayder, Mark Higgins Clark.....

Has anyone else read Elizabeth Taylor? (not the movie star.) Some of her books have recently been republished by Virago. They're great.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor_(novelist)

Oh - and Rumer Godden, absolutely wonderful

Bunbaker I recently read the fifth Cazalet. It wasn't bad but not as good as the others. Still worth a read though. I also loved "Something in Disguise" which was on tv in the 1980s I think

Mary Renault
Mary Stewart
Taylor Caldwell
Sharon Penman for medieval historical fiction (I can't stand Philippa Gregory)
Simon Mawer
Alan Furst for spy thrillers
Gore Vidal

Lots more probably and just realised half of my favourites above are dead. How depressing.

I would find it very, very hard to name a top favourite but as Rohinton Mistry has not been mentioned I'd like to put in a vote for him for 'A Fine Balance.'

Fay Weldon.

Oh, it was Sheridan LeFanu, not Wilkie Collins, wasn't it?

Rugbychick - if you're re-reading the trilogy, did you know Simons has released two more? They're prequels (if that applies to books!) about Alexander's parents and how they came to be in Russia. I don't think they're as good as the original trilogy and the second one is much better than the first, but if you're a fan, you might want to check them out. Judging by how those two end, I suspect there will also be a third at some point.

MollyBdenum

I've found the same with EJH, Bunbaker. I like her other books but they're not a patch on the Cazalet series. I love those books so much, however, she makes it into my favourites list.

I wept when I read of mice and men, it's gut-wrenching. Have you read Pastures of Heaven? It's not as well known as some of his books, but I love it.

I'm making notes here of authors to try - thanks folks.
Ahhhh so many books, so little time!

Bolshy East of Eden is my favourite John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men is my "life changing" book - I was so moved by it. I loved The Cazalets series by EJH, but found her other books hard to get into. They dramatised The Cazalets 13 years ago and I really enjoyed it. I have just googled EJH and discovered that she wrote a fifth book in the series that was published last year. That will go on my Christmas wish list.

John Sandford, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Bill Bryson, Peter Robinson, Chelsea Cain, Sue Grafton.. Can't pick one

YY to Nancy Mitford!

Mine is Nancy Mitford. Also Jane Austen, Graham Greene, Virginia Woolf, Ian McEwan.

John Connolly is my absolute favourite, but I also love C J Sansome, Agatha Christie and P D James. Ooh and Alison Weir.
Don't read much these days though as it just makes me fall asleep

Balderdaddle, I love The Bronze Horseman trilogy. Will re read them soon, when I've reduced my pile I have already. Again, I couldn't pick one particular author. Love Ian Rankin, Philippa Gregory, Maeve Binchy. Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, James Herbert, Colleen McCulough to name a few

Dorothy Dunnett - if there was one book I wish I could read again for the first time, it would be The Game of Kings - the first in the six volume Lymond saga.

Jane Gardam
Barbara Trapido
Sarah Waters
Anne Tyler

My favourite favourite is John Steinbeck- I love his descriptions and his characters and have read all his books (east of Eden is my all time favourite).

Other favourites are Edith Wharton, JG Ballard, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Barbara Kingsolver.

Love a good thriller too- I'm still mourning the end of Rebus!