Hmmm...this is tough because there are so many I like, but if I had to condense it down to just a few....

Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace...greatest fiction book ever written)

Michael Crichton (Sphere, Congo, Jurrassic Park)

Tom Clancy (Red Storm Rising, The Hunt for Red October)

Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe)

Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mysterious Island)

H.G. Wells (The Time Machine, War of the Worlds)

Nordhoff & Hall (The Bounty Trilogy)

Stephen King, who is a good writer (who I think is also a little sick in the head) but
needs a very good editor (The Stand, It, The Gunslinger)

Michael Shaara (The Killer Angels)

Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage)

Cornelius Ryan (The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far)

Stephen Ambrose (Band of Brothers, Undaunted Courage)

R.A. Salvatore (The Dark Elf Trilogy)

J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion)

and naturally...

C.S. Lewis!

Ok, so more than a "few", but I love em' all!

Oh boy this is a tough one but here are a few

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy--I never read War and Peace (in Russian the language that it is written in is very old and extremely difficult to read and understand) I have read a whole lot of his other books, short stories and stories for kids)
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov-- The Mountain is one of my favorite of his works I also like Levsha or The Tale of the Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea as it is sometimes called
C.S. Lewis --other than the Narnian books I've read The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce
Louisa May Alcott
William Shakespear
James Fenimore Cooper-- my favorite of his works is The Spy:A Tale of the Neutral Ground
Jerome K. Jerome

L.A. Kelly

I love her books. My favorite is Tahn, but The Scarlet Trefoil is a very close second.

Tom Clancy (Red Storm Rising, The Hunt for Red October)

The Hunt for Red October is another of my favorite books.

Louisa May Alcott - I've read Little Women several times and each time it gets better.

Lynn Austin - The first book I read by Lynn Austin was A Light To My Path- it's a great book. But her best book is definitely Hidden Places. It's a great mystery coupled with a delightful romance.

Jamie Carie - Wind Dancer is one of the best historical fiction books ever. As you read it, it feels like you are really there which is the best praise I can offer for any fiction book!

Leisha Kelly - Mrs. Kelly is one of the best historical fiction authors in modern America. Her books about the Wortham Family are amazingly accurate and poignant. She also writes great fanasty (the Tahn series) as L.A. Kelly.

Karen Kingsbury - She writes the best tear-jerkers. I really like A Time to Dance, A Time To Embrace, and the Red Glove series.

C.S. Lewis - I haven't read any of his books besides Narnia yet, but I'm planning too. My Dad has most of his books, so I should probably start reading them soon.

George MacDonald - I think The Fisherman's Lady and The Marquis' Secret are my favorites of his books.

Gilbert Morris - I have been collecting the House of Winslow books since I was 12, and now I have a total of 29 books (and counting) by him. His Cheney Duvall M.D. series and the Lady Trent Mysteries are on my top ten series list. What's not to love - they both have adventure, romance, and humor, along with unforgettable heroes and heroines.

Janette Oke - I fell in love with Mrs. Oke's books as soon as I started reading them. So far I only have one of her books, but that is only because Scarlet already has 98% of the entire Oke collection.

J.R.R. Tolkien - Lord of the Rings, need I explain?

I think that's all of my absolute favorites.
SnowAngel

I forgot to add...

Louisa May Alcott
Tracy Leninger Craven
Mary Pope Osbourne

SnowAngel: I haven't read anything by L.A. Kelly but the Tahn series. I wonder if my library has some of her stuff...

C. S. Lewis, obviously. My favorites of his that I've read are The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.

J.R.R. Tolkien, no surprise there either. I've only read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarilian, but of those The Hobbit is my favorite by far.

Elizabeth Prentiss I've found her books so helpful to me personally, especially in my walk with God. Stepping Heavenward is my favorite of her books that I've read, though Aunt Jane's Hero is a close second.

Douglas Bond His books are solidly Christian and I love the history in them as well. My favorite of his is The Crown and Covenant Trilogy, though Hostage Lands and the Mr. Pipes Series are also very good.

G.A.Henty He wrote wonderful historical fiction from which I've learned so much. His characters are always Christian, though Christ doesn't enter the books much at all, and his books are entirely clean (having read all of them I can say that with surety), though they can get a little violent.

R.M. Ballantyne A contemporary of Henty's, Ballantyne's books are more strongly Christ-centered, though they have not so much history.

Florence Kingsley Her biblical fiction is very moving and inspiring. Titus: A Comrade of the Cross is an amazing story (though it's made me cry more than any other book I've read.)

Jane Austen Such wit and reality--her books are so good.

Louisa May Alcott Though I've read many of her short stories and books, Little Women (Good Wives included) remains my favorite--though I love Little Men as well.

Okay, some other authors who I would put on my favorites list save that I've only read one of their books.
Hannah Hurnard (Hind's Feet on High Places--highly recommend!)
Lt. Carey H. Cash (A Table in the Presence)
Patrick Kavanaugh (Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers)
Rosemary Sutcliff (The Eagle of the Ninth--amazing book. Do NOT read Song for a Dark Queen though!)
David McCullough (1776)
Ester Forbes (Johnny Tremain)

Wow, I can't believe I kept it that short. I probably missed someone very important though.

^^ Hannah Hurnard is really good! I have read that book!

My favorites: (not in any specific order, just as I think of them)
Lynn Austen, for Candle in the Darkness and the rest of series.
C.S. Lewis (duh!)
Terri Blackstock (Covenant Child is a must-read.)
Trenton Lee Stewart, for the Mysterious Benedict Society series.
Lisa Ann Sandell, mainly for Song of the Sparrow, but also for Map of the Known World
I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, though.

My favorite author is Stephen King, because I love horror movies and have never really been able to find a good writer of horror novels. He has so many books and such a variety to choose from, yet every story has something in it that makes you want to keep reading.

C. S. Lewis besides the obvious I also adore The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and The Four Loves. I haven't finished Mere Christianity yet but I'm working on it
J. R. R. Tolking just the obvious here
Ted Dekker My favorite's are The Paradise Novels, The Circle, and House which was co-written with Frank Peretti who wrote This Present Darkness, This Persistent Darkness, The Visitation, and Monster which is my favorite.
Erin Healy has also co-written with Ted Dekker. Kiss and Burn are the only two she has written, but I love them.
David Edding The Belgariad. it takes forever to get through the story but it's well worth it.
Edgar Alan Poe Yeah, it's dark, creepy, and not really a wholesome read but for some reason or another I enjoy it

Those are the top 7, there are lots more that I like but I don't think I can name them all

Hmmm. I have many favorite authors
C.S Lewis (I've read just about everything he wrote. His writing is very satisfying and enjoyable, even when you're rereading it for the fifteenth time, like I like to do)
J.R.R Tolkien (Middle-earth. Is. Awesome)
Lloyd Alexander (I've only read the Chronicles of Prydain and The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian, but I love all the ordinary heroes who don't have magical powers or anything, they just have to do the best they can.) EDIT: Now I've also read The Rope Trick, Westmark, The Kestrel, and The Iron Ring. All are good to some degree, some are better than others.
Gail Carson Levine. (I love Ella Enchanted, Fairest and, especially The Two Princesses of Bamarre. Nothing is exactly what you'd expect. There's always some little twist that makes it different)
Charles Dickens. (A Tale of Two Cities was the best, but his others are good, too. He really makes the settings come alive.)
Marguerite Henry. (Best horse stories ever. King of the Wind is epic)
Charlotte Bronte. (Jane Eyre is one of the only love stories that was interesting enough to capture my attention)
Sir Walter Scott. (No one beats him for excitement)
Catherine Marshall (Christy and Julie are great Christian fiction that isn't preachy.)
George MacDonald. ( I've only read The Princess and the Goblin, At the Back of the North Wind, and Phantastes, but they are great. He seems to see the world with the vision--at least somewhat--of a child, or rather as if he never lost a child's wonder at the world.
Brian Jacques. (Exciting, happy and sad, ordinary heroes who do the best they can, wonderful descriptions of food. The Redwall series is great, but I think the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series is even better and more profound.)
Robin McKinley. (I've read The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, and The Outlaws of Sherwood. I like her strong heroines who aren't annoying, the subtle humor, the non-Tolkien-ripoff-setting--in Damar, its kind of based on India-- and her more realistic depictions of life in the forest with Robin Hood.

more authors:

Mike Lupica
Anthony Horowitz
Peter Lerangis
Obert Skye

C.S. Lewis-Narnia(duh)
J.K. Rowling-Harry Potter(I think thats another duh)
S.E. Hinton- her biggest book was the Outsiders, but she has numerous others
Zoey Dean- The A-list
Suzanne Collins- The Hunger Games
James Patterson- Mainly for Maximum Ride

I'm into the more teen sci-fi books except the A-list its just very teen girl fiction. And the Outsiders is just fiction

Mine would be in this order;

C.S.Lewis (of course!)
Richard Peck (A long way from Chicago, and others.)
Sharon Creech (Ruby Holler, Replay, Walk Two Moons to name just a few.)
Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid.)
Gordon Korman (The "Island" books.)

There are a few others but I'll stop my list at five.

Edgar Alan Poe Yeah, it's dark, creepy, and not really a wholesome read but for some reason or another I enjoy it

Haha, he's not one of my favorites but I can relate. Sometimes it's fun to get creeped out a little.

I'm not sure I have too many "favorites", but here goes....

J.R.R. Tolkien- I just love the fact that his books read like a history book. He makes a fantasy story seem so... normal. I also love the fact that his stories never have a main character (also almost like a history book). And his characters feel so real.

Charles Dickens- I read Our Mutual Friend at least twice a year, and it never gets old. He is truly a master of characterization.

C.S. Lewis- I loved his books when I was a child, and I still love them now.

Nicholas Sparks- His stories seem real-- even if they are a little melodramatic. And I feel like I could meet his characters in the street and like them.

Agatha Christie- My sister and I have devoured every book she has written. And she wrote about seventy. Enough said.

L.M. Montgomerey- Every one of her books is amazing. My personal favorites are the Anne andStory Girl series.

I think those are my favorites, although I might have to add Dee Henderson and Terri Blackstock soon. I just haven't read enough of their material yet.