Top Ten Tuesday: Auto-Buy Authors.

I don't think I've ever participated in a Top Ten Tuesday, but I couldn't resist this one when I saw Allie's! Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, this week is "Who are the top ten authors on your auto-buy list?".

1. Émile Zola. Of course Zola. And it isn't an indulgence, it's a necessity! Go into a charity shop and opt not to buy, say, Pride and Prejudice and change your mind, you can count on another copy of it turning up very soon. But Zola: once it's gone, it's gone. Furthermore, as I'm taking more of an interest in the translators, my Zola needs are very specific. It's no good not buying a Zola when there's one available. Last Zola purchase, which arrived today, was For a Night of Love.
2. Charles Dickens. Since I finished reading his novels, I've been on the look out for lesser known works. My last Dickens purchase was Pictures of Italy. 
3. Henry James. Why, I don't know, but I've been doing this since reading my first James, Turn of the Screw, which I didn't like at all. I think, although when I started I was unfamiliar with him, he was a great author one should know a lot better. Since then I've read The Aspern Parpers, which I absolutely adored (one of my favourite all time books) and Portrait of a Lady, which didn't touch me in the slightest. Last James I bought: Washington Square.
4. Ian McEwan. This I cannot explain this. After inexplicably buying three or four of them, I finally read The Cement Garden, which thankfully I enjoyed very much. Atonement is next on my list (I've been saying this for the past eighteen months). Last Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach, which was because of Charlotte's post.
5. Louisa May Alcott. Did anyone not love Little Women? Last purchase: Jo's Boys.
6. Bill Bryson. I've said that Zola was one of the most successful reads from my 100 Greatest list. The other was Bill Bryson. Very funny, very enjoyable. It's up there with the Jeeves books as my ultimate comfort read. Last purchase: A Walk in the Woods.
7. Anthony Trollope: because of my Anthony Trollope's Major Works challenge. And, of course, I love Anthony Trollope. Last purchase: Lady Anna.
8. John Steinbeck. Since reading The Grapes of Wrath I've been looking forward to read another one, although I haven't yet managed it! Even so, I have a nice little selection of some of the more obvious titles. Last purchase: Canary Row.
9. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Some I've loved, some not so much, but he intrigues me. Not quite sure what my last purchase was, but I believe it was House of the Dead.
10. Jerome K. Jerome. As with Zola, there doesn't seem to be that many about, so best grab them when they are in front of me! I loved the Three Men stories, but no book is funnier than The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.

And with that, I'm returning to The Faerie Queene. Sigh. A third of the way Book V now.