Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. They created it because they're "particularly fond of lists" and since I also enjoy lists, I've decided to participate in this fun feature.

This week we're to list the authors or books we're thankful for. Even though I celebrated Thanksgiving over a month ago up here in Canada, I still thought this was a really nice idea and I wanted to take part in this week. Reading has always been such a huge thing for me so I really am thankful for certain authors and books. I decided just to go with authors for this week. Are any of your favourites on this list?

Don't forget to check out their blog for a full list of everyone participating in this week's thankful list!

1. J.K. Rowling
I know she's going to be on lots of people's lists but I couldn't not include her. The Harry Potter series contains some of the best books I've ever read and that's enough to get her on my list. If you also think about all of the kids she got reading because of this series then you've really got an author to be thankful for.

2. Jane Austen
I'm not huge on classics but Jane is one author who I will willingly read. Not only do I enjoy her novels but I love the huge following she has all over the world. She's sort of a cultural icon and I love that.

3. Sarah Dessen
As I've said on here before, she is one of my favourite authors. I discovered her books way back in high school when I was working at my public library. This was a few years after she had published her first two books and I've been lucky enough to sort of grow up reading her novels. I may be almost a decade older than some of her teenage characters but I still love reading her books. When I was still working at the bookstore, I was also always glad to have her books to recommend to those teenagers (or mothers of teenagers) who weren't into the whole vampire thing!

4. Emily Giffin
My favourite chick lit author. Her books are a great mixture of light and dark and I love when she has a new book coming out. For me, her novels have given me hours of fun and thought provoking reading - a great combination.

5. C.S. Lewis
Personally, I can't imagine a world without Narnia. I also have to admit that I haven't finished the entire series (bad Kaley). I remember reading the first few books when I was in elementary school and just being captivated by the story.

6. Suzanne Collins
I was late on the whole Hunger Games phenomenon because I didn't think I'd enjoy the books. Boy, was I wrong. I am so glad she created this series. It was awesome to see a strong female character who didn't care about sparkling creatures romance. Ahem. :)

7. Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was obsessed with her books when I was younger. Just obsessed. My best friend at the time loved them as well and we used to have sleepovers where we'd pretend to be Laura and play by candlelight. Yep, I was a pretty awesome kid :) Her novels opened up a whole new world for me - one that was actually real. I read everything I could about her and her family. Boy, am I glad my mom got the box set for me when I was super young and held onto it for me.

8. Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables was huge for me when I was younger. I have all the books (though it'd be nice to have an actual pretty box set instead of the hodgepodge of books I have at the moment) and loved them. I got through the entire series in one summer years ago. I should really give them a reread. I had read a few of her others and enjoyed them just as much. I had Anne dolls, bookmarks, pictures, and all sorts of other things. Someday I'll get myself out to PEI so I can see the actual Green Gables!

9. Rick Riordan
Seems like an odd choice, I know. I loved his Percy Jackson series and that's why he's on this list. Not just because I loved it but because I saw first hand how much young boys loved the series too. One particular little boy sticks out for me: I was working at cash and a mom and her son (about 7 or 8) come up to purchase some books. The little guy was already reading the Percy book they had picked up and would not relinquish it for me to scan. Instead, he held it up so I could take the scanner, scan it, and not interrupt his reading. It was pretty awesome. Also - the fact that he created the story for his son who loved Greek mythology and was being tested for learning disabilities is just so awesome. Check out the interview on his site for all the background on that :)

10. Helen Fielding
I find it almost odd to have her on this list because I couldn't tell you much about the Bridget Jones books. I read them and I enjoyed them - but I didn't love them. Why, do you ask, is she on this list? Because she was essentially the start of chick lit. As I chick lit lover, I can't imagine a world without this genre and I'm so glad Fielding wrote Bridget's story - and that she's writing another book in the series!