Mar 22 2012
Since last I wrote, I read and reviewed Patricia Gaffney’s Crooked Hearts. Here’s what else I’ve been reading: The Great Famine: Ireland’s Agony 1845-1852 by Ciarán Ó Murchadha: Because apparently one book about innocent people starving to death just wasn’t enough for me. Actually, it wasn’t until I started this book that I realized I had(…)
Mar 19 2012
Dear Ms. Gould, I love stories that feature relationships between female relatives, especially sisters and cousins close in age. I also love the idea of an all-female secret society that controls the world from the shadows. So when I saw that your novel combined the two, I snatched it up with excitement. Unfortunately, I discovered(…)
Mar 15 2012
Dear Ms. Price, The YA dystopian subgenre is fast becoming glutted. It seems like so many titles fitting the category are coming out these days. But sometimes I wonder if that’s because they genuinely fall into that category or are just being placed there for marketing purposes. When I first heard of your novel, I(…)
Feb 24 2012
Dear Ms. Hendren: Your book came to my attention through the recommendation sent to Sarah and I via our podcast email. In the podcast, Sarah and I both buy the book. I hoped it was going to be as awesome as promised, unfortunately this young adult novel read as juvenile as its characters. There was(…)
Feb 18 2012
Dear Ms. Fine: During my Christmas holiday, I sped through a number of young adult stories either self published or published by smaller houses. This is one of the better ones I picked up. It’s novella length. According to my handy dandy Calibre word count plugin, the Kindle file clocks in at a little under(…)
Feb 15 2012
Dear Ms. Gaughen, I picked up your debut because it looked like a good change of pace from all the paranormal YA. Now I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a die-hard fan of Robin Hood but this seemed like it could be fun. Sometimes that’s more than enough reason for me. Scarlet is(…)
Feb 13 2012
Dear Ms. Baggott, With the buzz over The Hunger Games trilogy, YA dystopian novels are hotter than ever right now – even an infrequent YA reader like myself knows that. I’ll admit to being party to the general enthusiasm. I like dystopian novels in general (at least in theory; in practice I’m careful about which ones I(…)
Feb 8 2012
Dear Ms. Bridges, I first encountered your debut novel on NetGalley. I admit I’ve always been fond of historical YA, especially if there’s a paranormal flavor. Your book sounded like the ticket. It was a nice change of pace from the urban fantasies and dystopians overwhelming the genre right now. The unique setting was just(…)
Jan 30 2012
Dear Ms. Miranda, At first impression, your debut novel is a YA paranormal. It has a lot of the trappings. After a life-changing event, a girl develops unusual abilities. She has to choose between a couple guys. But I think applying that label and reducing it to those tropes does it an injustice. This is(…)
Jan 17 2012
Dear Ms. Rennison, Your Georgia Nicholson series is one of my go-to YA recommendations for a read that makes me chuckle. I’ve read maybe half of them, but each one was a treat that made me laugh out loud – and though I can appreciate a lot of humor in books – it’s rare to(…)
Jan 16 2012
Dear Ms. Miller, This book got my attention due to the lovely cover. Larkstorm has one of the more striking covers I’ve seen lately, especially in a world of self-publishing that is dominated by stock photography. The sample was intriguing, and I was sold, even though I’m rather tired of dystopians. Larkstorm started out strong,(…)
Jan 4 2012
NEWS Apple is hosting a media event in New York later this month and according to various websites, the focus is on books. There is some speculation that Apple will be rolling out a more full fledged self publishing platform. It already accepts self published books and Pages, Apple’s word processor, has a “save as(…)
Dec 13 2011
Dear Ms. Quinn, I keep meaning to try more self-published books, but I admit I get overwhelmed by sheer amount available. There’s so much out there that I just don’t know where to start. I have no idea how January does it. But when you offered your novel up for review, the premise and excerpt(…)
Nov 30 2011
Dear Authors, Steampunk is that subgenre I want to love, that I think has so much potential. Unfortunately, we have a rocky relationship. I’ve attempted to read too many novels in which the steampunk trappings are superficial — put a pair of goggles on someone, mention an airship, and have someone drink some tea seem(…)
Nov 25 2011
Dear Ms. McLaughlin, In the glutted world of YA dystopians, it can be hard to stand out. After all, how many variations of a grim future in which a teenager’s entire life is mapped out by a test can there be? But despite that, your novel reminded me that even the most tired plot can(…)
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