Monday, July 15, 2013

Top Five Authors Who Deserve More Recognition



Before I begin this, I beg forgiveness if I am wrong about any of these authors.  I feel like I must be, because all of them have many books out, so I must just be missing all the buzz about them (partially I am sure because not all of these are YA authors and I don't hear much buzz about non YA authors).  It's also why I'm only choosing 5 authors, for fear that I am wrong and will get lots of scathing comments haha.  In any case, even if they are popular, they are good enough that no matter how much recognition they got, it would never be enough!

As always, in no particular order:




1. Deb Caletti - Author of Honey Baby Sweetheart, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, The Six Rules of Maybe and many, many more.  I have never once come across anything about Deb Caletti or her novels unless I am actively looking for it.  Those of you have seen a few of my TTT lists know I am obsessed with her writing!  She has beautiful prose, really well rounded characters, believable and gripping plots - and in my opinion is the best contemporary YA author out there bar none.

Interested in Deb Caletti?  Check out my favourite Caletti novel, The Nature of Jade.





2. Juliet Marillier - Author of the Bridei Chronicles, Sevenwaters series, The Light Isles - and again many, many more.  While always set in the fantasy world, she has such a wide array of genres within that genre.  All of her series have a strong historical fiction background, most with strong mythological elements from the culture it is set within, and many of them are based off of traditional fairy tales, such as The Six Swans, The Frog Prince, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  I'm unsure as to whether her novels are YA or not, so I might label them NA.

Check out the first Marillier novel I ever read, Daughter of the Forest, the first in her Sevenwaters series.





3.  Chris Bohjalian - Probably best known for his novel Midwives, he has also written Skeletons at the Feast, Secrets of Eden, and The Law of Similars.  His books come in many different..styles, I suppose you could say.  His novels like The Law of Similars and Midwives explore human nature and morality, whereas Skeletons at the Feast is historical fiction, and The Double Bind is...sort of unclassifiable other than that it is set more or less in the modern day. 

The Double Bind is what really made me love Bohjalian.  It really blew me away - the writing is beautiful, but brutal, and definitely not for the faint hearted.




4.  Jasper Fforde - I've actually heard some buzz about Jasper Fforde recently, but he seems to be better known in British circles.  His Thursday Next series is what Douglas Adams would have written if he had set his story with time travel and novels and escaped character terrorists.  He's HILARIOUS, and you should really read The Eyre Affair, first in his Thursday Next series.





5.  Gabrielle Zevin - She's written Elsewhere, the Birthright Series, as well as adult novels like Margarettown.  Her settings range from the afterlife to a dystopian future featuring a mafia crime lord's daughter.  You never know where her stories will take you! Her third book in the Birthright series is coming out in October which I am very excited for!  Her books are so diverse, so I'll give you two recommendations:







As a reminder, this week's Pulse It feature is OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu.  

On a sidenote, some of you may have noticed the two new spiffy polls I added - I would be deeply indebted to you if you would vote on what books you'd like to see me review!  I am hugging you gratefully in advance :)


And that's it for this week's TTT.  What's on your list?

17 comments:

  1. I love Jasper Fforde's books. I haven't read all of them yet, but I've adored the ones I have read. I do love an author who likes puns as much as I do :)

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    1. Yeah other than Douglas Adams (as you can tell from the blog title, clearly I'm a Hitchhiker's Guide fan haha)I don't enjoy anyone's humor nearly as much as I enjoy Jasper Fforde's!

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  2. I haven't heard of any of these authors. Thanks for bringing them to my attention :-)

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  3. Jasper Fforde is really great. I need to read more of him. I read The Eyre Affair and loved it but I've gotten it into my head that I need to read all the classics he uses in his book before reading the next books in the Thursday Next series ...! i do own Shades of Grey though...

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    1. You know, I think it probably does help knowing the classics. I hadn't really thought about it - I was blessed to be one of those odd people who LIKED reading classics as a kid, so luckily I'd read if not all, most of the classics I've encountered in his series. He's also got a young adult series I'm excited to read.

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  4. I haven't read any books by these authors either! This TTT makes me so happy. :)

    My TTT: http://suchanovelidea.com/2013/07/16/top-ten-tuesday-7/

    Jess @ Such A Novel Idea!

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    1. I've got a good mix between contemporary ya, fantasy na, historical fiction/mystery/contemporary, comedy, and dystopian/contemporary ya, so hopefully one of the authors strikes your fancy!

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  5. I love the Thursday Next series so far. I think I should pick up the next book - time for The Well of Lost Plots!
    Are you all caught up on the series?

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    1. Sadly no - I somehow skipped books 2 and 3, read 4 and 5, and have 6, 7, and 8 to go haha. It would explain much of my confusion for book 4...

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  6. I still haven't read any of Juliet Marillier's books. I really need to get on that :) I have heard amazing things. I have Wildwood Dancing at home right now, so hopefully I will read that one soon.

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    1. I think her Light Isles and Bridei's Chronicles go a lot darker and are probably some of my favourites of her books, but Wildwood is still a fun read, and I'm always a sucker for fairy tale retellingS!

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  7. I really enjoyed The Eyre Affair, so I loaned it to my mom, and she promptly stole it from me forever. :) Arrgh, Juliet Marillier - you've mentioned her before, and I'm sure I'll love her work... just gotta get around to it. I wish we lived closer to each other, I'd love to raid your bookcase! -Meg @ Mad but Magic

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    1. I know right? I'd love to raid any of your bookshelves (including Kate and Sam) as we clearly have similar tastes, just different enough that there's still tons of books I haven't read that I know you have. Judging by your blog anyway :)

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  8. Looks like I have some new authors to look up :) Thanks for stopping by my Top Ten.

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  9. Great list. Deb Caletti is a great author. I actually enjoy most of these authors very much.

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    1. Yay! Most people don't seem to have recognized ANY of the authors, which actually surprised me quite a bit.

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