I don't really think of myself as having favorite authors, though I do have favorite books, and there are several authors who have each written several books that fall into this category. The reason why I don't consider the writers themselves to be my favorites is that many of them don't stick with a particular formula—which is a good thing, creatively speaking, and I admire them for it, but it does mean that often they write things that just fall flat as far as I am concerned. Meanwhile, other writers, whose books never scale the same heights as far as I am concerned, do more consistently turn out books that I read and enjoy and even admire. So who is my favorite: the one who wrote one story that I have absolutely adored over the course of many decades and many rereadings, or the one whose books I like slightly less well, but who nevertheless has provided me with reading pleasure over many years and many books? I don't feel the need to make that judgement.
But also, being someone who rereads a lot of books and who often finds that there is something new to love with each rereading, even the list of favorite books tends to reorder itself depending on what I have read most recently.
