Favorite Authors of 2014

Just looking through my 2014 reading log, I noted that I had some favorite authors that I read again and again. Some were new, and some were old favorites. Here are some of the authors I enjoyed to a huge degree this past year.

1. Georgette Heyer--Heyer was a British author of both romance and mystery. Her romances were mostly set in Regency England, but several were set in earlier time periods. She wrote from the 1921-1972. I had read a few of Heyer's books a few years ago, but my love for her books really took off in 2014, and I couldn't stop! I mostly read the romances. She was not a Christian author, but her books are clean (other than a small number of curse words common to the era), and the dialogue is superb. I read 29 of her books in 2014.

2. Grace Livingston Hill--Hill was an early 20th-century American author of mostly Christian romance. She wrote over 100 books, and I've been reading them since I was 13. Her romances are very sweet, old-fashioned, and clean, and most of them have a strong Christian message. I got out my collection when we returned to America for 4 months, and I read as many as I could (which ended up being around 22).

3. Agatha Christie--I can't say I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, but when I'm in the mood for a good "who-done-it" book, I check one of hers out of library. I've read a few of her books that I definitely did NOT like, but most of them have been fun reads. I read 7 of Christie's books this past year. If you're not familiar with this author (always that chance), she was a very famous English crime novelist who wrote from about 1919 through the early 70s.

4. Anthony Horowitz--Horowitz is a current British author who writes for adults, teens, and children. I've only read his Alex Rider series (spy novels written for young adults), which my 13-year-old son and I are both huge fans of. We've only read 9 of the 10 novels, the last one being published in 2013 and more of a side story than part of the series about Alex (we haven't read it yet). His stories (which are probably unrealistic but still really cool) are very exciting and hard to put down.

5. Julie Klassen--Klassen is a current American author of inspirational Regency romance novels. Yes, I can't help loving the Regency era (yes, I'm a fan of Jane Austen)! Klassen is one of my best discoveries of the year--I haven't yet read a novel of hers I didn't like. I read 5 of them this year, and I have another one waiting on my Kindle.

6. Karen Witemeyer--Witemeyer is another of my favorite discoveries of the year. She's an American author of Christian novels that are set in the 1800s American West. I've read 4 of her books this year and look forward to reading more.

7. Miranda Dickinson--Dickinson is a newer British romance author. She is a Christian, but her books are not. However, they are clean, and the stories are lovely. I've read 3 of her books and would definitely read more.

8. Elizabeth Camden--I discovered Camden when I downloaded a free novel to my Kindle. She's a newer American author of inspirational romance novels. I've only read 2 of her books, but I enjoyed them enough to read more (she's only written 5 so far).

There were other authors that I read more than once, but those eight were my favorites. This coming year, I have some more new authors to discover (as in, I already have the books, but I didn't get them read in 2014).

One author I just read is Fiona Hill/Ellen Pall. Pall's information was hard to track down, but she's a current American author who happened to write Regency romances in the 1970s and 80s under the pen name of Fiona Hill. I loved the book I read and found it very much like a Georgette Heyer romance.

I also have several Christian novels waiting to be read, and they're by authors I haven't tried out yet--Tamera Alexander, Laura Frantz, Tamara Leigh, and Sarah E. Ladd. If I enjoy them, I'll write about them next year!