Imp-ish photo of me as a kid

JoJo's Favorite Authors and Books

I love to read. The best vacation I ever had was spent reading. My parents were living in Bolivia and I went to visit them for two weeks or so for the Christmas holidays. Hmmm...it must've been about 5 or 6 years ago. I took 4 or 5 books along with me. I shamefully ignored everyone and spent 8 hours or more almost every day swinging in a hammock out on the patio reading. I quickly pollished off the books I'd taken with me and started in on whatever I could find on my parents' shelves that looked even moderately interesting. I think I ended up reading 12 or 13 books. When I got home I decided that was the way to spend all my future vacations. Alas, that hasn't happened.

And, sadly, I don't give myself nearly enough time to read these days. I say I'm too busy but, really, I know I could take the time but I choose to do other things. It's a shame. But, I do manage to get some reading time in and still have some favorite authors.

I started reading in earnest when I was about 10. I guess it was when our family first moved to Bolivia and we didn't have endless Gilligan's Island and Bewitched reruns on TV every afternoon when we got home from school. In fact, at that time, there was only one TV station in La Paz and it was only on the air for three or four hours each evening. And, frankly, it didn't offer anything of interest to me...they ran the news and innocuous variety shows for the most part. They did eventually start showing episodes of Dr. Who (dubbed into Spanish, of course) which I loved. But, back to reading... I discovered the Hardy Boys mysteries. Good ol' Frank and Joe. No Nancy Drew for me...only sissies read Nancy! I think I managed to get my hands on all but about 4 of the entire series...of course, there were "only" about 45-50 books in the series waaaaaaay back then!

I think it was during the 6th/7th grade summer break that I spent a few weeks with my grandparents (my mom's folks) at a ranch they were working in New Mexico. The woman who owned the ranch must've been a huge fan of Harlequin Romance novels because that's all she had on her book shelves. In a desperate attempt to find something -- anything -- to read, I attacked her collection. And, was hooked. So, I read romance novels for awhile.

At about the same time, I discovered Agatha Christie. I'm not sure what got me started with Agatha. But, I loved her. I loved Miss Marple. And, Hercules Poirot. A French-Canadian priest who lived next door to us in Bolivia even taught me the proper way to say his name which made everything oh-so-much better! And, then I discovered spy novels. I'd stay up 'til 2 or 3 in the morning regularly...even on school nights. And then I started reading everything. Things like Anthem and Atlas Shrugged. Michener's books. And, Ludlum's. Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter was one of my favorite high school reads. I think it was 'cause all my friends were reading it in class and hating every word of it (I don't know why I was in a different class but I was) and I got to read the book for fun. No plot and character analysis for me...just pure story. High school English classes ruined a lot of books for me. I just didn't get it. I didn't want to delve into the "big" picture. I just wanted to enjoy the story. That remains true to this day.

I guess I still enjoy a good suspence novel or mystery (recent find: Barbara Burnett Smith, check her out) more than just about anything else. But, I'll read almost anything if it's well written. And so...a list of some of my favorite authors and books...

  • Agatha Christie...I've read most of her books but could read any of 'em again and enjoy them almost as much as the first time around.

  • Anne Tyler...Ladder of Years and Breathing Lessons are my favorites.

  • Fannie Flagg...Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man may well be the funniest and most poignant book I've ever read.

  • Sarah Bird...she's a "local" author. I read Alamo House a couple of years out of college and loved it...she'd been where I'd been. Cool.

  • Anna Quindlen's Object Lessons was great.

  • Gilda Radner's It's Always Something is an incredibly touching and funny book.

  • Katharine Hepburn's Me (her autobiography, natch) is a great read for anyone who's a fan of Ms. Hepburn. I could hear her voice in my head narrating the whole thing.

  • 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a classic example of how fun Latin literature can be. I love the way all things bizarre are taken for granted. 'Tis fun.

  • Tom Robbins' Skinny Legs and All was one of the books I read on that wonderous vacation I mentioned at the outset. I was fascinated. So, I bought copies of all his books. Then, I read one (I think it was Another Roadside Attraction) and wasn't quite as impressed. Then I read Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and decided that it would've probably been best for me to have stopped with "Skinny Legs". I guess the novelty wore off.

  • Jane Austen...Sense and Sensibility is probably my favorite.

  • And, I'll read just about anything these folks churn out: Jeff Abbott, Tony Hillerman, Jonathan Kellerman, Sue Grafton, John Grisham ...

So there you have it. I'm sure I'll be modifying this list as time goes by. By the way, if you know of any good links related to the authors above (no bookstores, please), drop me a line. Thanks.

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Last updated: November 23, 1997