I will try to enliven the forum with fun questions.
Name your favourite traditional authors and poets.
Best author Jane Austen. As Walter Allen said, 'You don't blunder onto perfection six times' That is why she is my number one. People can argue over the best novel ever written, but as a collection of six books, no-one comes close to her genius.
I did not add authors to my list, that I have only read once.
My list.
1st. Jane Austen
Joint Second place.
Henry James
Joseph Conrad
George Eliot
Thomas Hardy
Charlotte Bronte
Lord Alfred Tennyson
William Shakespeare
Charles Dickens
john keats, carol anne duffy,simon armitage are some off my favorites
Norah Lofts is one of my favourites, a great story teller, rather dark, but not heavy. Not weightily 'literary' enough for some, but a highly intelligent writer, not very well known these days.
A few titles
Crown of Aloes...the story of Isabella of Spain. Why did she not prevent the Inquisition when she had the power to do so? What can you ultimately do to help your children as they wrestle their demons? (she was the mother of Mad Juana and Catherine of Aragon)
Lovers All Untrue...fictional rendering of a true story, a 19th C crime case, Madeleine Smith who poisoned her oppresive father.
The Haunting of Gad's Hall. The most powerful ghosts are in our blood. Things may go bump in the night, but the power of inheritance is a living ghost working within us. How freely self determining are we, really?
Nicholas Sparks is my hero.
Cath Crowley's Graffiti moon and little wanting song are good books and also Gayla Foreman is an amazing author.
William Shakespeare is unbeatable in my eyes. His wit and humor is great.
I haven't read any of Mark Twain's works but his quotes make me want to read some.
Sorry, my favourites are more of recent writers considering my age and liking.