Favorite Author-Sterling Paulson

Unfortunately, I have let my reading for pleasure fall by the wayside as I've moved through high school and began college. However, one of the first authors that comes to my mind when I think of literature that I enjoy is JK Rowling. While she may not have the most formal style, I honestly loved her books. I think that she is an example of how a good author addresses his/her audience. She didn't put forth literature that will be pored over for years and studied in classrooms, but what she did do is create thousands of pages of writing that readers could relate to. In fact, her writing was so attractive to an audience that I included myself in that people waited in line for releases of her books way in advance. By use of imagery and good descriptions she created a vivid environment that I could almost put myself in when I read her books. Her writing also included suspense and situational set-up that made you not want to put the books down. She was also quite adept at creating situations with her characters that I could relate to as if they were my real-life peers. I think that this is what is attractive about her style. It is relatable, and in making the reader relate to characters, the reader becomes more engaged and feels an emotional investment to the characters.

Favorite Author

I have to admit, I do not read much. I could be considered to be one of those people who only read because it is assigned. Very few times have I taken the initiative to sit down and read just to read. The last time I did that I was reading a book by John Bytheway. I read the book because I wanted to and a friend wanted me to. However it was a fun book to read because of how the author engaged his readers. John Bytheway, by reading that book, is now one of my favorite authors. I know he’s a comedian (it takes skill to be funny) but he also makes his writing funny as well while managing to get his point a crossed. Reading his book was one of the few times I have actually liked reading because he made it entertaining. John put a positive outlook on everything he wrote. I also liked his style because he teaches values and lessons throughout his pieces of work.  John Bytheway’s diction plays a huge role in how he makes his points comical but clear. It is possible to enjoy reading and everyone has their preferences. I, personally enjoy more laughable and uplifting novels or articles. I also enjoy writing pieces that cause the reader to think. The best way a writer can do to make sure their audience will be interested in their writing is the writer also needs to be interested in what he/she is writing.

Chris Stewart

So all of my life I have been a bookworm. My parents would come into my room on schoolnights {typically around 12 or 12:30} to find me wrapped up in a new book, with bloodshot eyes reading by flashlight and tell me to go to sleep. I read everything in my sights. Even still, walking through a bookstore is comparable to tweedle dee in a candy store. The idea of taking in how other people feel about this in the world, or being immersed in a world they created is amazing. Given all of this, picking favorite author was extremely difficult! But one series that have read kept coming into my mind.
By no means arenthey works of literary genius, or shocking, or anything along those lines but the Great and the Terrible series by Chris Stewart honestly changed my life.
It is very heavily based in beliefs of the LDS faith, which sometimes detracts from the appeal of books to me, but this was a wonderful exception. The first book begins in the premortal existence with a family and their experience in the war in heaven. This is obviously not doctrine, but is still very spiritual and increased my testimony. The rest of the series follows this "family" through the earth life, based in modern times and very heavily centered around the war in the middle east.
While I am still quite uninformed about issues in the middle east this book opened my mind up to the people in that area, and I believe this book was a great influence on my decision to become a middle eastern studies major.
Chris Stewart just painted everything so vividly and kindly that it truly opened my heart to things that it was previously closed to. Any book that can make such a deep impact is something special, and I absolutely loved it.

-Ashley.

Favorite Book

I’m not one to read very often and I’ll be the first to admit it! But when I do read for fun I find myself enjoying non-fiction more so than fiction. I’m not sure why that is but I have always enjoyed learning and reading about historical events. However, one series that I read recently and enjoyed was “the Uglies” by Scott Westerfield. The way he describes the scenes in his book really painted a picture for me. The book takes place in the future in a society that is based on the way you look and at the age of 16 everyone undergoes a surgery to be turned from the normal “ugly” to pretty. He does a great job at really helping you visualize exactly what is happening. For instance, the main character enjoys hover boarding and a large portion of the book is based around her on her hover board. Westerfield really helps you imagine her flying through the air with her friends in the ruins of the old world. By doing this it keeps the reader entertained. If I can’t picture what the author is writing about than it is impossible for me to read the book. Another thing that this author does well is conveying the under lying message. Without actually giving an opinion you really start to understand that he is talking about the emphasis we give to looks in today’s society. It’s like he’s telling you that someday we will all end up like this awful society if we continue to focus so heavily on appearance instead of things that actually matter. I really enjoyed the series and I think he has a great style of writing.

Favorite Author - Harper Lee "To Kill a Mockingbird"

My favorite Author is Harper Lee.  My most notable experience with his writings was from high school when I read his book, "To Kill a Mockingbird".  It is a great piece of literature, with amazing characters and plot.  I like the diversity that is shown: sadness and happiness, racism and equality, immaturity and maturity, injustice and redemption. Each time I read this book, a different “universal truth” jumps out at me. When I was younger, I pondered the themes of prejudice, kindness, and dignity that run through the book, but now that I have read this as an adult, I am able to see new perspectives and themes of innocence.  It helped shaped my views as I gew up about race and relations.  I like the author writing style because she uses such strong imagery, that really engages the reader.  It often draws powerful emotions that promote self-awareness.  Her word choice is simple, but that makes the book easy to read.  The author also uses humor alot to connect with her audience.  This is apparent because as we read, the narrator is a little girl who has  a child-like perspective and often makes witty observations.  Another tool the author uses is symbolism, to create those universal truths.  All of these things really leave a lasting impression upon the reader and leaves them craving for more. To me that is what makes the novel so great, there is no beginning, middle, or end, it is like a snapshot of life.  A story that continues forever.  This is why in my opinion this book is a timeless classic, it's an american novel.  

Why I love Ender's Game

There's only one author that I would consider my favorite would be Orson Scott Card, especially in his book Ender's Game. While I must admit that some of his later books drag on, his style of writing has been a consistent favorite of mine since I first read the book in elementary school. In analysis of why I like the book so much I can see few reasons. First and foremost he nearly tells the full story from Ender's eyes which accomplishes two things. First it makes Ender feel much more of a real character; you can feel his feelings, know his thoughts, and stay current to his every move. Second, this allows for information to be carefully controlled, which means that you are unaware of things happening in the book until Ender himself finds out, which creates small surprises that keep the story suspenseful. Card also develops Ender into a very deep character who has many moral conflicts within himself. You can see throughout the book how Ender's thinking process works  and how he deals with the challenges that were placed in front of him throughout the book.
The book deals with many topics of humanity, war, and interpersonal conflicts explained through throughout, and contrasts between characters with other characters providing clear contrasts in thinking and development. Peter, Ender's brother, provides somewhat of a villain, but also an antihero. He is portrayed as an evil child who plots to seize power, yet at the same time has opinions and principles that you can't entirely disagree with. It creates a paradox of Peter being evil, yet at the same time liked as a character. For these and other reasons, Ender's Game has been my favorite book for years.

Favorite Author J.R.R. Tolkein

J.R.R. Tolkein has become my favorite author because of his series the "Lord of the Rings". He also did a very good job writing "The Hobbit". I enjoy his writing because of how well he composes his novels. He has a strong talent with getting the readers engaged into the story. This is due to how much detail he includes into his writings. When reading in Tolkein's books he very well paints a picture so that his readers see exactly what he wanted them to see. He also does a good job at creating different characters. These characters that he creates are very well distinguished one from another. As a reader i was able to see the personalities of each character and what made them different from all of the other characters.Another trait of Tolkein's writing that i enjoy is his use of words. Even though he is a intelligent person he does not try to include fancy words to try and prove a point. The diction is very well done and not too hard to understand. With the word choice that Tolkein has he can easily persuade readers to feel a certain way. He does this through the emotional appeal that is evident in his writings. When there is an intense part in the story it builds up to the event so that the readers can almost feel like they are in that same moment with the characters. Last of all i enjoy his old style in writing because it gives the book an old feeling which helps the readers think back as if this story was written a long time ago.