I love to read AND write.  Are most writers readers?  Which came first? The chicken or the egg?  The cart or the horse? Reading or writing? Whatever!

In honor of the recent Academy Awards, I give you my nominees for favorite authors:

Category: FICTION   The nominees are:

Pat Conroy for Beach Music

Nelson DeMille for The Gold Coast

John Irving for Cider House Rules

Wally Lamb for She’s Come Undone

Mitch Albom for the five people you meet in heaven

If I had to pick a winner in this category, it would probably be Pat Conroy.  In my next lifetime, I want to write like him.

Category: NON-FICTION   The nominees are:

Mitch Albom for Tuesdays with Morrie

John Grogan for Marley & Me

Dan Shapiro for Mom’s Marijuana

Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley for Final Gifts

Randy Pausch for The Last Lecture

The winners in this category for me are Mitch Albom and Randy Pausch. Their books contain life lessons that all of us can learn from and be inspired by.  (They probably belong in the “spiritual category”.)

Category: SPIRITUAL   The nominees are:

Debbie Shapiro for The Bodymind Workbook (This is required reading in the Religion of Joan.)

Neale Donald Walsch for his series Conversations with God

Louise Hay for You Can Heal Your Life

Eckhart Tolle for The Power of Now

James Van Praagh for Reaching to Heaven

There are no losers in this group.  They are all winners.

Let me know what books are on your nightstand.  I am always looking for a new, can’t-put-it-down read!