Common First Names of YA Authors

Rachel Vincent mentioned on her blog how numerous some first names of YA authors are. Sometimes they’re spelled differently, but I’ve made a little list. Most popular: Amanda, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Kate, Megan, Rachel, and Sara.

AMANDA – Amanda Grace, Amanda Marrone, Amanda Sun
AMY – Amy Garvey, Amy Christine Parker, Amy Kathleen Ryan
CARRIE – Carrie Jones, Carrie Ryan
HEATHER – Heather Brewer, Heather Davis
JENNIFER – Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jennifer Bosworth, Jennifer Rush
JESSICA – Jessica Brody, Jessica Spotswood, Jessica Verday
JUSTINE – Justine Larbalestier, Justine Musk
KAREN – Karen Kincy, Karen Mahoney
KAT – Kat Falls, Kat Zhang
KATE – Kate Ellison, Kate Gordon, Kate Karyus Quinn
KELLY – Kelley Armstrong, Kelly Keaton
LAURA – Laura Bickle, Laura Riken
MEGAN – Megan Crewe, Megan McCafferty, Megan Shepherd
MELISSA – Melissa Landers, Melissa Marr
RACHEL – Rachel Caine, Rachel Cohn, Rachel Vincent
SARA – Sarah Crossan, Sara Wilson Etienne, Sara Grant
SOPHIE – Sophie Littlefield, Sophie McKenzie
TARA – Tara Hudson, Tara Moss
VERONICA – Veronica Rossi, Veronica Roth

January Through June 2011 Reads – Star Ratings

Books I read in January through June this year. Separated into star ratings, then listed by order in which I read them. All up at GoodReads. Some reviews here on my WordPress. Does not include books that I didn’t finish, because I’ve deleted them from my catalogue, and likely my memory.

Let me know if you decide to read or not to read them, based on my ratings. Because yes, I am that egocentric 😉

5 STARS: Rage (Jackie Morse Kessler), American Vampire (Jennifer Armintrout), Project 17 (Laurie Faria Stolarz), The Gathering (Kelley Armstrong), The Repossession Mambo/Repo Men (Eric Garcia), Moongazer (Marianne Mancusi), Wither (Lauren DeStefano), Girl Hero (Carrie Jones)

4 STARS: Outside In (Maria V. Snyder), Stocking Full of Coal (Amanda Feral), The Walled Garden (Michele Lang), The Shadow Runners (Liz Maverick), The Vespertine (Saundra Mitchell), Linger (Maggie Stiefvater), Dark Life (Kat Falls), Demonized (Naomi Clark), The Reckoning (Kelley Armstrong), Midnight Alley (Rachel Caine), Feast of Fools (Rachel Caine), Lord of Misrule (Rachel Caine), Carpe Corpus (Rachel Caine), Fade Out (Rachel Caine), Coming Home (P. D. Martin), Kiss of Death (Rachel Caine), XVI (Julia Karr), Ghost Town (Rachel Caine), The Girl in the Steel Corset (Kady Cross), Matched (Ally Condie), Uninvited (Amanda Marrone), The Bradbury Report (Steven Polansky), Uninvited (Justine Musk), Exile (Rebecca Lim), Helper12 (Jack Blaine), Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton)

3 STARS: Jealousy (Lili St. Crow), Among the Betrayed (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Among the Barons (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Becoming (Kelley Armstrong), Shadow Days (Andrea Cremer), Day of Fire (Kathleen Nance), Dreaming Anastasia (Joy Preble), Things Bogans Like, Beyond Heaving Bosoms (Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan), Fugitives (Alexander Gordon Smith), The Power of Two (Patti O’Shea), Coming Undone (Lauren Dane), In the Arms of Stone Angels (Jordan Dane), The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney), Damaged (Yolanda Sfetsos), Falling Freestyle (Vivian Arend), Jeweled (Anya Bast), Thyla (Kate Gordon), It Takes a Village Idiot and I Married One (Alex Borstein & Cherry Chevapravatdumrong), Burn Bright (Marianne de Pierres), A Touch Mortal (Leah Clifford), Night and Chaos (Naomi Clark), Savage Transformation (Lexxie Couper), The Official Illustrated Guide (Stephenie Meyer), Exit Strategy (Kelley Armstrong), Made to Be Broken (Kelley Armstrong), You Are So Undead to Me (Stacey Jay), Hereafter (Tara Hudson), Relentless (Lauren Dane), The Scarlet Empress (Susan Grant), Close Encounters (Katherine Allred), Perfect Cover (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), Killer Spirit (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), West End (Laura Van Wormer), Moon Sworn (Keri Arthur)

2 STARS: Defiance (Lili St. Crow)

October 2010 Releases

Done with September 2010 Releases? Here are the October 2010 Releases. To check release dates further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

[COVER ART] John Ajvide Lindqvist’s HARBOUR, Amanda Marrone’s SLAYED, A. J. Menden’s SORCERESS INTERRUPTED & Kat Richardson’s LABYRINTH

John Ajvide Lindqvist: Harbour (UK) Buy (UK) Buy (Worldwide)
Amanda Marrone: Slayed Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
A. J. Menden: Sorceress, Interrupted Buy (CA)
Kat Richardson: Labyrinth (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] Devoured – Amanda Marrone

Amanda Marrone
Devoured
Simon & Schuster (US & CA: 22nd September 2009; AU: 1st November 2009)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Megan Sones originally applies for a job to keep an eye on her boyfriend and his clingy best friend, but then she meets someone else who can see and interact with Megan’s twin Remy – who died aged seven. Meanwhile, there’s something very disturbing about the family that owns and manages the amusement park.

This stand-alone novel works a treat. The blend of Brothers Grimm, Gossip Girl, and V. C. Andrews creates a shadowy atmosphere with genuinely creepy moments and some truly effed-up characters. Land of Enchantment is suitably spooky with its over-the-top cheese and vicious underbelly. A definite page-turner!

Library Loot

This meme thing is from Marg at Reading Adventures.

Rarely go to the library nowadays, but since since I binge-reserved a stack of books recently, I collected five on Monday. And have been reading them, and thus spending less time reading blogs and Twitter feeds.

1. Amanda Marrone’s Devoured: Finished, and I loved it. Will review sometime later.

2. Jessica Verday’s The Hollow: Currently reading. Almost 100 pages in, and it’s been a bit slow thus far. When a book is over 500 pages long, it better be that long for a bloody good reason. I shall persevere…

After this I shall be reading:

-Justine Larbalestier’s Liar
-Cheyenne McCray’s Demons Not Included

November 2009 Releases

Done with October 2009 Releases? Time for November 2009 Releases. And to see further into the future, check the freshly updated Reading Wishlist.

The following US/UK/CA/AU books will be released in November 2009. Release dates are subject to change, so it’s not my fault if I’m wrong 😉 Also, not EVERY November book is listed – just the ones I’ve both heard of AND are interested in. Enjoy! 🙂

September 2009 Releases

Done buying August 2009 Releases? Now time for September 2009 Releases. As always, I got my info from Amazon, publishers’ websites and authors’ websites, so if I’m wrong…blame them, not me 😉 If you know of more September releases that aren’t here, it’s either because I don’t know of their existence, or I’m not interested. I play favourites, and there’s no shame in that 😉

If you’re reading this in a feed, behind the cut you shall find my monthly summary. If you’re looking for stuff further into the future, check my Reading Wishlist.

[COVER ART] Devoured – Amanda Marrone; Laurell K. Hamilton’s Next Merry Gentry Title

[REDACTED: Sorry, kids. Cover wasn’t supposed to be revealed yet.] Amanda Marrone’s Devoured. Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

Okay, so Amazon told us earlier that Laurell K. Hamilton’s next Merry Gentry novel would be entitled Sins of the Flesh, and it still says that on Amazons UK and CA. However, Amazon US is now listing it as Divine Misdemeanors. And if that’s the title worldwide, the spelling may be altered to Divine Misdemeanours in the Commonwealth countries. Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)