Looking for an Author

I've always been an avid reader - I read anything and everything under the sun that looks interesting. Altogether, my favorite genre is fiction. The idea of being able to create a model of the story in my mind is the reason reading is one of my favorite activities. I love discovering characters that stick with me long after I set the book down! For me, books are not an escape, but a way to learn and grow myself.

I started a new job recently at a nursery and landscape supply center that I really enjoy. It's a really chill and laid back environment that allows me a lot of time to ponder life. Along with the life-pondering I also spend time talking with customers and coworkers. Most of the communication occurs in small amounts with large intervals- which, let me tell you, is just the best thing ever- but there was one time recently that was different.
This guy wanted rocks. A lot of rocks - or should I call them stones? Anyway, one part of my job is to weigh rocks to figure out the price of the order. Unfortunately, the one person who could operate the machinery required to bring the rocks/ stones to the scale was busy. So we waited - for a long time. We had short little bursts of conversation followed by longer periods of silence (awkward right?). Well the conversation gravitated towards college - where every conversation seems to go these days - and I mentioned that I'm considering majoring in English. In response, he asked, "So who is your favorite author?" I thought, and thought, and racked my brain in a desperate evaluation of all the books I've read. And you know what? I didn't have an answer. It confused me, quite honestly. I've read hundreds of amazing books, but I have realized that only a few have stuck with me. And of those few, I only know the name of one writer, Barbara Kingsolver. But, of course, I didn't think of her until after totally embarrassing myself - typical me.

Later that week, a coworker asked me the same question. Still, my response was tentative.

I don't like to be tentative.

So I have a new mission, promptly titled "Operation Water Buffalo". Well, maybe not "promptly titled", but I like water buffalo and was inspired by the television show Once Upon A Time. The purpose of "Operation Water Buffalo" is to find my favorite author. I went online and requested loads of classic books from the library because - is there any other place to start but the most well-known and loved books of all time?

Here is a sample of the books I requested. In alphabetical order-ish.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
The Plague by Albert Camus
Swann's way by Marcel Proust
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I really need your help for "Operation Water Buffalo" guys! Tell me your favorite authors so I can request even more books from the library!

Be bold!