Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Authors I'd Love to Meet


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's Top Ten list is the top ten authors I'd love to meet:

1. Stephanie Perkins
I read Stephanie's blog, I follow her on Twitter, and I will read every book she publishes. I am a Stephanie Perkins groupie. If she ever goes on tour and lands in a spot within 250 miles of my house, I will go see her. Plus, I'm dying to tell her that no one pulls off blue hair like she does!






2. John Green
I think John will be on just about everyone's Top Ten list this week, but for good reason. He's smart, he's funny, and he is fiercely loyal to his fans. Plus, anyone who can have a #1 bestselling book before anyone even knows what it's about is pretty darn awesome.





3. Jackson Pearce
Like John Green, Jackson has quite a YouTube following with her hilarious videos about writing, tidbits of wisdom, or just her crazy rants and randomness. I almost look forward to her videos more than the Vlog Brothers







4. Lauren DeStefano
Lauren is recently starting to show a YouTube presence and she is HILARIOUS! She's definitely someone I'd want to hang with - or at least get her to sign my copy of Wither and tell her how awesome she is.










5. Julie Klam
Julie wrote the book You Had Me at Woof (among others) and it is such a testament to the joy and wonder of having dogs in your life. Julie works with Boston Terrier rescues and I love any dog that has a face that looks like it was hit by a truck. I'd love my dogs to have a playdate with hers.



 
6. Jennifer Donnelly
Revolution was by far one of my favorite books I read this year and I had such a strong reaction to it, that I am DYING to ask Jennifer her inspiration for creating  a fictitious classical composer. She described this composer's music with such detail and passion that I was CONVINCED that he was a real person and went so far as to look him up at the library because I wanted to hear some of his music. Needless to say, I was devastated when I discovered that HE DOESN'T EXIST!



7. Alison Pace
Alison Pace writes chick lit, but there are always lovable dogs in her stories, and anyone who writes books with pugs in them is someone I want to meet. You can tell she is very sensitive and caring about the dogs in her life and about the dogs in her books.




 
8. Maureen Johnson
Not only is Maureen a wonderfully talented author, but she is always giving back to the community and she is fiercely loyal to YA authors and readers. She knocked it out of the park the other day in a radio face-off with erroneous Wall Street Journal book critic Megan Cox Gurdon.




9. Donalyn Miller
Donayln is my teaching idol. She wrote a book called The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child and showed teachers how you can make kids lifelong readers. And let me give you a little hint: it's not by using textbooks and mind-numbing worksheets. I used her reading workshop method for the first time this past school year and can't tell you how rewarding it was. Her book is definitely my literature teacher bible. If you teach reading in any capacity, you need to read her book!



10. Daniel H. Pink
If you haven't read the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, then go to the book store right now, or turn your e-reader and download it ASAP. Anyone who is responsible for overseeing small or large groups of people needs to see that all of the information we originally thought about human motivation is WRONG. This book has HUGE implications for the business and education world. Every politician that is shoving high-stakes testing and merit pay down teachers' throats needs to read this book like YESTERDAY. If I could meet Daniel, I would actually want it to be in a room full of politicians where he shows them all the research and tells them to stop this ridiculous game of undermining teachers' authority by trying to motivate them with carrots and sticks.

7 comments:

  1. I think Stephanie Perkins would be so much fun to hang out with. She just has that quirky, lovableness about her.

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  2. I'm reading Jennifer Donnelly's REVOLUTION right this very minute!! I'm about halfway through. I know what you mean about how Donnelly really makes you believe in the music of this composer. I'm also amazed at the amount of research Donnelly must have put into this novel to make it not only work so well, but also have so many different facets of life and learning mixed in.

    Great list! And thanks for stopping by the book element today. I followed you back :)

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  3. I haven't read many authors on your list. This just means I need to get to it.

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  4. i agree - fantastic list! i've got some new authors to read - thank you!

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  5. I just want to meet Alison Pace's chubby pugs. They could hang out with mine. So cute!

    Come visit me at The Scarlet Letter.

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  6. Hi there! Thank you ever so much for stopping by my blog. I'm stopping by to check out your Top 10! New follower, btw. : )

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