 Hello everybody, E here. Welcome back to Top 5 Friday. Today we are talking about my Top 5 Female Authors. This is notable because if I were to go through my Top 5 Authors period, most of them would be female. I think there's only two men on the list, so three of them. In fact, I would probably go as far to say that if the Honorable Mention today keeps on going the way it is, there's going to be four females and one male. And of course we all know my favorite is Stephen King. So I'll do a Top 5 Male if you want me to. Or a Top 5 Authors, but I'm just going to be repeating myself pretty much. But if you still want to see that, let me know down in the comments below. Right off the bat, I have an Honorable Mention, so this is kind of like a Top 6. The Mere Wife by Maria Davana Hedley. I think it's Davana. I'm not sure. Davana, I'm not quite sure. So I am 170 pages into this roughly, and this book is fantastic so far. It might end up, if it keeps up the way it is, she might end up taking the spot for number two on this list. If it keeps up the way it's going. I don't see any reason why I wouldn't, but her writing, I've never read anything like it. Her prose is perfect. If you have any problems finding, like editing down, if you're a writer, finding the exact perfect word, the top two on this list and this lady right here are perfect examples of how you should be doing it. So that's the Honorable Mention at number six of the top five. Number five is, and this is literally only because I haven't read anything else from her, Mariana Enriquez. This is her story collection, Things We Lost in the Fire. This has one of the best short stories I've ever read, period. It's called Under the Black Water. This is a magnificent collection. If you have not read it, I mean this is better than Clive Barker's stuff in my opinion, and I think Clive Barker, before I read her, Clive Barker was probably my favorite short story writer and now that goes to Mariana Enriquez. I can't wait to, she's an Argentinian writer, author, and I can't wait to read a novel or something longer form and sounds like we got a cricket in here. If you guys can hear that, I apologize. Okay, so number four is a brand new edition. It'll probably end up being number two. If the mere wife stays as good as it is, that's going to end up being my book of the year. But my book of the year right now is actually from the same company, McD Books and FSG. It's Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall. This book is fantastic. It is a perfect response to the Gone Girl sensation. How the woman in the situation is the villain and you can't trust anything she's saying. This is a perfect response to that whole string, the psychological thrillers that came after Gone Girl. All the ones that say, well, I actually chili and fling, blurb this one says, I loved it right down to the utterly chilling final line and she ain't bullshitting. But Araminta Hall is not only a terrific author. She's a down to earth and wonderful person. I follow her on Twitter. I've spoken to her a couple of times. Amazing, amazing author and I cannot wait to read more from her. So at number four on the list is Marisha Pacelle and I have loved two of her books. Her most recent one, not so much, but we're not here to talk negative stuff. Special topics in Calamity Physics was a terrific take on the college, high school, kind of YA serial killer vein. She went far beyond that. It's a very intellectual book. It was also a study in movies and how the literature tied into the story. Every chapter heading I think was a different piece of literature. This one, however, is my number three favorite book of all time hands down period over and done with. The lore and everything around the director in here, Stanislaus Cordova, is amazing. And the main character is an unreliable narrator only to the extent that he has no idea what the hell is going on. And you're going along with this guy and Pacelle really gives you the feeling that you are inside this story. And that's one of the things that she does really, really well is stories within a story and puts you there, makes the confusion real, but it doesn't make you feel like you're missing something. You're just as confused as her characters are. So number three for my favorite female authors, Marisha Pacelle. This is turning into book reviews, too. I apologize. Let's just talk about the author. So next up, I have number two spot is Jesmyn Ward. This is my first book. Also, I'm picking the books that not necessarily my favorite from them, because my favorite from her is where the line bleeds, but I'm picking my introduction to them. And this is a sing and buried sing was my introduction to Jesmyn Ward. The only thing that puts the number one spot above Jesmyn Ward is plot and character development. Jesmyn Ward is great at all those things, but there's only one person that is above her in my eyes, in my view. But Jesmyn Ward, what she does really well is the perfect word choice and thematic elements. She really brings theme full circle in her books, especially in where the line bleeds. That's one of my favorite parts of that book is how it begins and ends in almost like the same scene, and she brings everything back around. So if you're looking for a amazing literary experience, you can't go wrong with Jesmyn Ward. Last but not least, my favorite female author, not only is she a terrific person. I've spoken to her on Twitter. Not only is she a great person and a great author, but her plotting, the way she deals with her characters is unlike anybody else I've ever read. Every single character, no matter how small, is given a full story. And she is, I don't want to say the female Stephen King, but she's on par with Stephen King. It's not sometimes better than Stephen King when it comes to character development. And that's Caroline Kepnes. Her novels, You and Hidden Bodies are a series with the pro antagonist, Joe Goldberg, who is a stalker that it also, you could say that Our Kind of Cruelty, number four on the list, is a response to this book also, which is cool because I've seen Araminta and Caroline, I've seen them talk on Twitter and go back and forth, and it's cool watching those two having written completely different books, both about the same subject, stalkers, both in the same first person and have two completely different takes on the genre and then be so cool to each other about it because it's almost like Araminta Hall's books is like, here I'm challenging that aspect. You is a novel that I think Gone Girl should have, this should have gotten the critical and all that success that went to Gone Girl, I think you should have got. In fact, my blurb for Hidden Bodies that they chose to put in the UK edition was you excel, no, Hidden Bodies excel, they were Gone Girl, Fail, something like that. That's not a perfect quote. Oh wait, Caroline Kepnes. If you have not read her stuff, please go check her out. Oh yeah, it is hot here in Alabama. If you haven't read her, go check her out. She's my number one favorite author, not saying she will always be, but right now at this moment in my life, Caroline Kepnes takes the top spot. So until next time, I have been E, you've been U, this has been Top 5 Friday. I'll talk to you guys later. Bye-bye.