Category Archives: News and Fun

Top Ten Authors on my Auto-Buy List

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toptentuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is an original meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme asks participants to list the authors we keep on auto-buy. As soon as we know there’s a new book coming out, we’re already planning when we’ll read it and requesting the galley or placing a pre-order.

Finding favorite books is always a treat, but finding an author who never fails to disappoint is a whole other kind of fun. When a new release hits shelves by these authors, I know I’m going to buy it. Here are my top ten auto-buy authors followed by snippets of some of their book covers. Enjoy!

(These are listed in no particular order.)

1. Markus Zusak

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Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

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Challenger Deep by Neal ShustermanChallenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
HarperCollins

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Caden Bosch is caught between two worlds. In one, he is an ordinary teen who works on illustrations for a video game he and his friends develop. In the other, he is a passenger on a pirate ship en route to Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Marianas Trench.

As his hold on reality slips, his friends and family begin to notice that something is wrong, but they are powerless to help him. Sometimes even Caden knows the impossibility of things he believes. But in the next moment, he may be powerless to doubt them.

Shusterman doesn’t disappoint in this complex, heartbreaking story of a boy … Continue reading →

Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

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The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani cover shows a black swan on the left, white swan on the right above a school crest of blue and white. In the lower foreground, a girl with short black hair faces left and a girl with white blonde hair looks at the camera.

The School for Good and Evil (School for Good and Evil #1)
Soman Chainani
HarperCollins
Published on May 4, 2013

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

Each year the schoolmaster collects two children from Sophie’s village. She longs to be chosen to attend the School for Good and grow up to be a fairy tale princess. Her best friend Agatha, hopes only to be left alone. … Continue reading →

Top Ten Authors I’ve Read Most

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toptentuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s topic is about which authors I’ve read most. I’m breaking my top authors into two categories: books I read as a child and books I read as an adult/reviewer. Obviously authors with big series that I followed have a huge advantage here, but there were a few that surprised me.

Top Authors I Read as a Child

babysittersclub1. Ann M Martin.

Okay, you guessed it. I was a total baby-sitter’s-clubber. I must have read over thirty of those books in my tween years. Mary Anne was my favorite, but … Continue reading →

Upcoming Reviews: August 2015

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escape-from-sudanEscape From Sudan by Amanda DiCianni: I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this book for some time. I think novels like this can be a great tool to introduce kids to world events.

scar-girlScar Girl by Len Vlahos: After the intense ride of book one, it was pretty much a given that I’d want to read and review the sequel to The Scar Boys. I’m eager to find out what has happened to the boys since the end of their last adventure, and I’m curious about the format of the book. I’ve heard the story is related through an interview format, which sounds different and fun.

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Thoughts on Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

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Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Some Notes on What Happens in Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Jean Louise returns to her home in a small southern town to visit her ailing, aged father and his protege, Henry, also her beau. During her visit she discovers that the man she’s admired and trusted all her life as the most fair and just man has somehow shifted into someone with whom she deeply disagrees. Her once peaceful town has become a place where races are deeply divided, and where respect for one another has evaporated. The change throws her into despair and agony, and she fights to be understood and to understand what has happened.

So the story goes something like this: Once upon a time, Harper Lee wrote … Continue reading →