Favorite New-To-Me Authors in 2017

Sometimes it is so nice to sink into a book by one of your favorite authors. To go into a book knowing it's going to be wonderful because it's written by someone you trust. On the other hand, though, there's something exhilarating about falling in love with a new author's words.

So.

Here are some authors I read for the first time in 2017, whose books I adored, and who I will definitely be on the look out for in the future.

1) RILEY REDGATE

What I read: Noteworthy 

My review

Other books by this author: Seven Ways We Lie

Coming June 12, 2018: Final Draft 

2) BONNIE PIPKIN

What I read: Aftercare Instructions

My review

3) STEPHANIE GARBER

What I read: Caraval

My review

Coming May 29, 2018: Legendary

4) JENN BENNETT

What I read: Alex, Approximately

Other books by this author: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart

The Arcadia Bell series

The Roaring Twenties series

Coming April 3, 2018: Starry Eyes

5) JULIE BUXBAUM

What I read: What to Say Next

My review

Other books by this author: The Opposite of Love

After You

Tell Me Three Things

Coming May 14, 2018: Picture a Blue Sky

No available cover

6) AMIE KAUFMAN AND JAY KRISTOFF

What I read: Illuminae and Gemina

Coming March 13. 2018: Obsidio

7) SANDHYA MENON

What I read: When Dimple Met Rishi

Coming June 5, 2018: From Twinkle, with Love

THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS IN 2017! DID YOU READ ANYTHING FROM THESE AUTHORS? WHICH FANTASTIC AUTHORS DID YOU DISCOVER IN 2017?

My Favorite Books of 2017

I know, I know. We still have a couple days left of 2017 so I could potentially still discover a new favorite to add to the list, but I don't know how much reading I'm going to be doing, so I figured I'd take my chances. Here are my top ten favorite books of 2017 (in no particular order).

1) What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum | (MY REVIEW) - This books gave me so many emotions. It was sweet and heartbreaking all at the same time. This is a beautiful contemporary novel and features a character on the autism spectrum. ★★★★½

2) Caraval by Stephanie Garber | (MY REVIEW) - This was an absolute roller coaster of a read. It had my emotions ALL OVER THE PLACE. And it certainly kept me on my toes. It was a wild, all-consuming ride and I loved every single second of it. ★★★★★

3) Noteworthy by Riley Redgate | (MY REVIEW) - A SINGING BOOK!! And a good one at that. This novel was so fun and explorative, a novel that stands out among the trillions of YA contemporary books at our disposal. ★★★★¼

4) Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - Holy shit this book (and its predecessor) is such an exciting, crazy read. It starts out a little slow, a little confusing and then it picks up speed and flies. I could not turn the pages fast enough. The characters are great and it's told in such an interesting format and I cannot wait until book 3. ★★★★★

5) Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin | (MY REVIEW) - This one certainly took me by surprise! It's a bit gritty and complicated and left my feelings all sorts of confused. It alternates between standard formatting and play formatting, between past and present. It was a truly wonderful reading experience. ★★★★★

6) Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - Morgan Matson is an expert at characterization. I fell in love with all the characters in this novel and cried so many tears. Everything she writes is beautiful and relatable and speaks to my heart. ★★★★

7) Heartless by Marissa Meyer | (MY REVIEW) - I fucking love this book and I will never stop loving this book. It was so fun and interesting and exciting until it broke my heart into five gazillion pieces. Freaking incredible. ★★★★★

8) Once and For All by Sarah Dessen | (MY REVIEW) - Sarah Dessen is the queen of all queens, okay. This book was both lovely and tragic. And very Sarah Dessen. Let's just leave it at that. ★★★★½

9) Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - I read the first half of this graphic novels series last year, but I re-read it this year and continued on and it's SO GOOD. The art is incredible and the story is addicting and the characters are so bad ass. ★★★★★

10) Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett - This book is very much in the vain of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson, so of course I adored it. It's cute and emotional and so real. ★★★★

Those are my favorites of 2017. WHAT ARE YOURS? DO WE HAVE ANY  IN COMMON?

Jingle All the Way Book Tag (Year 2)

This is a Christmas book tag I created last year and so I figured I'd bring it on back for round two.

JINGLE BELLS

A fun, light-hearted book/series 

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Okay, so this novel isn't ENTIRELY sunshine and unicorns, but it's really heckin' fun and cute.

I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUSE

A book/series with a scandalous romance

The Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

This entire graphic novel series basically hinges on their scandalous relationship and their even more scandalous child! Now Everybody and their frickin chinchilla is hunting them down and all we can do is hope that their love (and their lives) can stand the trillion trials and tribulations they undergo. 

I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

A book/series you are determined to re-read

Shatter Me series by Tahareh Mafi

I've been wanting to re-read this series for a while now, and with the new book (!!!!!!!!!!!!) coming out, I absolutely HAVE to re-read it. 

SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING TO TOWN 

Your most anticipated release of 2018

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This was incredibly difficult because there are so many books coming out in 2018 that I need in my life (more than usual, it seems--maybe because I've read more new releases this year so I gotta get the sequels in my hands stat), but I picked Obsidio mostly because I finished Gemina like a week ago and it was incredible. I need to know what happppppppens. 

SILENT NIGHT

A beautiful book/series that everyone knows

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

This book is obviously beautiful to look at, but the writing is beautiful and the characters are beautiful and I'm in love with this book. Feel free to check out my review from earlier this year!

WINTER WONDERLAND

A book/series with great worldbuilding

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

This is the first book I read in 2017 and it remains one of my absolute favorites (Take a gander at my lil review if you want to read all my nonsensical gushing). One of the reasons it was so utterly captivating and magical is because the world that Marissa Meyer gives us is quirky and, yeah, based on Lewis Carroll's world, but also completely her own. 

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

An underhyped book/series that is so great you want to tell everyone about it

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

I wasn't really sure what I was getting into with this novel, but I fell in love with it. It's a romance but it's more than a romance. And it has autism rep. It broke my heart and sewed it back together. I cannot understand why more people aren't talking about this novel (but you can totally read my review if you wanna know more about it).

I SAW THREE SHIPS

Favorite trilogy

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

All right, well, fuck me because I have read very few trilogies in their entirety. This was tough because Delirium is one of my all-time favorite novels, but I'm not as fond as the rest of the books in the series. I mean, they're not horrible or anything, but they are by no means on the same level as the trilogy's first installment.

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

A book/series with an underdog protagonist who rises up

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

When I think about this trope, I don't usually think about contemporary novels, but in a way, most contemporary books fit this description. Noteworthy has excellent character development, and I really loved to see how Jordan, the protagonist, started from the bottom and rose to a whole new level of happiness and talent and awareness. (My review for anyone interested.)

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

A book/series that helped you get through troubling times

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Okay, this is the only answer I'm keeping the same as last year, because this will always be my answer to a question like this. I could write an entire post about this. In fact, I have! Check out the guest post I did over at Book Nerds Across America if you're curious how deeply significant this book is in my life.

And that's all for the Jingle All the Way book tag! I'm not going to tag specific people, but I encourage you to do this if you think it sounds fun!!! 

Lefty's Lowdown: What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
(standalone)
Published: July 11, 2017 by Delacorte Press
Source: Won a free ARC in a giveaway. All thoughts stated in this review are my own.

Summary from Goodreads:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes a charming and poignant story about two struggling teenagers who find an unexpected connection just when they need it most. For fans of Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Niven, and Rainbow Rowell.

Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.

DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her.


When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

I knew literally nothing about this book. I won it in a giveaway and someone on Twitter said they really adored it and that we should all put it on our TBRs. It looked like a quick read, and so I picked it up and dove in. I DO NOT REGRET A THING. This book really took me by surprise in the best way. And like that person on Twitter, I say PUT IT ON YOUR TBR STAT.

This book has alternating perspectives--Kit, who is in a really dark place after her father died, and David, who is insanely intelligent but has no friends. These characters had me hooked instantly! They have two very distinct voices, but I didn't find myself favoring one POV over the other. I was equally engaged throughout the whole thing. And boy did I feel for these characters. So, Kit's dad died and nobody wants to freaking talk about it. They want her to move on because that would make the situation more comfortable for them. But on top of that, she keeps a devastating secret bottled up and then uncovers ANOTHER DEVASTATING SECRET. Like, things are not going well for this girl and I totally sympathize with her. And then there's David. He's on the autism spectrum and people are so fucking mean to him. It absolutely killed my heart to see the way that people treated him when he was such a PURE LIL CINNAMON ROLL. Honestly, he's my favorite character that I've read about in a whiiiile. 

What I really admire about this book is that yeah, it's a romance, and yeah, I ship Kit and David out the wazoo, but it's also not just about romance. Like, it's more than just wanting these characters to get to smoochin. It's about getting to know someone and really seeing the good in them. Seeing the truth in them. About being truly comfortable with someone, trusting them, and forgiving them when they do something painfully human. 

Somehow this book managed to break my heart and put it back together again. I love this book. I highly, highly recommend this book. It's underrated, if you ask me, with only 240 ratings on Goodreads. What to Say Next is not just your average YA contemporary book, and I think everyone could probably learn a little something from it. 

Again, I highly recommend this. 

Read it. 

My rating: 

4.5/5

A post shared by The Left-Handed Book Lover (@leftyreads) on Jul 5, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT

Sunday Post #33

• I'm done with work!!!! Thursday was my last day and it feels WONDERFUL to be done. The waitressing life is not the life for me. Of course, I wanted to make some money while I still could so Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week I worked 12-hour shifts and it really truly exhausted me (hence why the blog wasn't particularly poppin' this week). 
• I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe 4th of July (if you celebrate it). My dad came to visit (which meant I had to clean my entire apartment) and he made breakfast and dinner and we mostly just relaxed. It was a good day! To be honest, I don't care that much about 4th of July so it was nice to just have good food and good laziness. 
• I LEAVE FOR FLORIDA TOMORROW! I am so so so excited. I'll be staying with my sister for 3 weeks, hanging out by the pool, and living my absolute best life. 

Books read this week:

Reviews: 
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
(★★★★½)

Discussions: 
- Doing It All In The Book Community

Currently reading:

Reviews: 
- What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber
- Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally

Features/Misc.:
- Discussion: The Feeling After Reading a Hyped Book
- The Eclectic Corner #4: Song Lyrics 

Here are my favorite photos from this week! Make sure to follow me (@leftyreads) to see everything I post! 

A post shared by The Left-Handed Book Lover (@leftyreads) on Jul 1, 2017 at 3:13pm PDT

A post shared by The Left-Handed Book Lover (@leftyreads) on Jul 2, 2017 at 5:10pm PDT

A post shared by The Left-Handed Book Lover (@leftyreads) on Jul 5, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT