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| A Meme By The Broke and the Bookish |
Celis T. Rono is the author of The Julia Poe Vampire Chronicles, a series which depicts a world in which vampires have taken over, and hunt down humans to use as "cattle" for their blood. I purchased a paperback copy of the first book on a whim from Amazon after reading through the great reviews, and I am so glad that I did! I enjoyed the universe that Rono had created, and I found Julia to be a very kick-ass, spunky heroine.
Perry Moore's Hero has to be one of the most fun books I have ever read. It basically reads like a comic book, but manages to blend in cool superhero action with a glimpse of what it's like to be a gay American teenager, worried about being outed to his father (not only as being gay but for having superpowers). I was saddened to learn that Moore had passed away in 2011 - I would have loved to have read more from him. His author bio on Goodreads states that a movie is in the works with Stan Lee, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that something actually comes of it.
Bill Konigsberg has a way of connecting to readers through his writing that I don't often see enough of in today's YA world. In Openly Straight, I found that I was able to strongly connect with the main character, Rafe, despite seemingly having nothing in common at first glance. Since I read a lot of romance-y or dystopian YA novels, I don't often identify with the emotions a main character is feeling, so this was a pleasant surprise. It seems that Konigsberg hasn't forgotten what it's like to go through the stages of growing up & trying to "find yourself."
Cat Clarke is a UK author, and I wouldn't have heard of her if not for the power of my fellow book bloggers. I just think that she comes up with some great plots, and has a way of writing stories that get you thinking.
I know that I've seen Sangu Mandanna's name around the blogosphere a lot, which why I picked up her debut novel, The Lost Girl, and fell in love. I'm so surprised that this novel hasn't even reached 2,000 reviews on Goodreads - I really had thought it had made a bestseller list, as it was a truly unique and well-written novel. At any rate, I look forward to seeing what Ms. Mandanna comes out with next!
I'm just gonna come out and say that I am now a huge Rhiannon Frater fan thanks to her As The World Dies trilogy. Frater knows her way around the zombie apocalypse genre, that's for for sure. I'm glad that the series has made it to mass-market paperback, and I hope that this will allow her fan-base to grow even larger, because her stories are truly deserving of it.
Okay, so these Elliot S! Maggin novels may have been out for a while (Last Son of Krypton came out in 1978), but I still think that they are worth having more people check out. If you're a fan of the Superman comics, then you'll be happy to hear that these read just like they're out of the Silver Age of Comic Books. I know Maggin has contributed to other works as well, but so far these are the only two I've looked into.
Kelly Thomson is an author I talk about frequently, as I am not only a big fan of her debut novel, The Girl Who Would Be King, but also of the way she decided to self-publish her novel through Kickstarter, which is an amazing resource for indie authors that are able to gain a wide enough reach. If you are a fan of action, superheroes (or villains), and good-vs-evil-type stories, then you should definitely check Thompson's debut out.
I don't know what made me decide to read a Tosca Lee novel, but I'm glad that I did! I may not have a religious affiliation, but that doesn't mean that I'm not interested in the stories that were created from the various world religions. Ms. Lee's novels all stem from Christianity, and I think they're all quite fun to read. It just fascinates me to read the tales she weaves from the biblical stories of Judas, Adam & Eve, and even Lucifer. I wonder which story she'll tackle next...
I've always thought that Janette Rallison was pretty well-known, but I guess she isn't as read as I thought she was - maybe it's just in the blogosphere. I always enjoy reading her novels, but it's her My Fair Godmother series that I love the most. Rallison really knows how to have fun with her writing, and it shows in these particular twisted-fairy-tale novels.
