It’s the second day of the week! It is a new day to do another bookish post, particularly the Top 5 Tuesdays post. Top 5 Tuesdays and their topics are brought to you by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm. Do check out her blog, she’s got an awesome one. For the list of topics in March, click on this page.

This week’s topic: Top 5 Authors from F to J

I’ve had a challenging time completing the first five (A to E) in this series and I am having an incredibly challenging time with the second set of this series as well. I initially that that having read over 700 books from nearly 400 different authors would make it easier. But I thought wrong. Haha! Enough with the drivel, here’s my Top 5 Authors from F to J. Happy reading everyone! Have a blessed Tuesday and a blessed week ahead!

F_Scott_Fitzgerald_1921

F is for Francis Scott Fitzgerald ((Image from Wikipedia)

“There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.” And thus commenced my love for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works. Despite his flawed personality, he was greatly renowned in the world of literature for his classic works that gave life to the Jazz Era. Who didn’t fall in love with Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby? Leonardo Di Caprio did give such a rousing portrayal of the famed literary character. Fitzgerald’s other works include This Side of Paradise, Tender is the Night, and The Beautiful and Damned.

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G is for Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Image by Wikipedia)

I was originally planning on putting John Grisham here but then I remembered Nobel Prize in Literature winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His magnetic epic, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is one of the first books that has introduced me to the world of magical realism. His brand of surrealism is outstanding, a true Scheherazade and literary genius even though he tends to take on difficult subjects (read my lips, Love in the Time of Cholera).

H is for Ernest Hemingway (Photo by Wikipedia)
H is for Khaled Hosseini (Photo by Britannica.Com)

Okay, to avoid conflict, I picked this two writers for letter H. Ernest Miller Hemingway is one of my uncles in the world of literature. His A Farewell to Arms is one of my favorite reads and even though I barely had any iota on what it was about back then, his writing captured my interest and imagination. He has such a distinct voice that pulls the reader in. I look forward to reading more of his works.

Of todays current field of writers, Khaled Hosseini simply stands out for me. He drew the rough contours of his native country of Afghanistan that I instantly fell in love with it despite the tumult. He painted a picture of Afghanistan and its people that is a stark dichotomy to how it was painted in the media. The Kite Runner, And the Mountains Echoed, and A Thousand Splendid Suns were all outstanding reads.

Kazuo-Ishiguro_3177067b

I is for Kazuo Ishiguro

For letter I, I am settling with yet another Nobel laureate in Literature (the third in this list) in Kazuo Ishiguro. His diverse literary ensemble is one of the reasons to love Ishiguro. From dystopian/futuristic (Never Let Me Go) to historical (The Remains of the Day) to fantasy (The Buried Giant), he has demonstrated his flexibility and his unmatched capability as a writer. Of his seven novels, When We Were Orphans is the only book that I am yet to read.

th

J is for Zeyn Joukhadar

It was quite a challenge picking one author out for letter “J” (I can already imagine how challenging it would be more for letter “X”). Anyway, Zeyn Joukhadar’s The Map of Salt and Stars is one of those pleasant surprises which you just randomly pick up from the bookstore sans any expectation but then, it will captivate you. His debut is such a rousing tale that I am looking forward to reading more of his works.