Fortnight of Guests: Stuck In Books

Hi, I'm Valerie and I run StuckInBooks.com.  StuckInBooks is mostly a YA book blog.  I teach middle school and love to read what my students are reading.  Sometimes my students do reviews for me.  My husband always teases me that I'm stuck in a book so when it came time to name my blog, it was easy.  Stop by and say hi sometime.  Enjoy.


Who is my favourite author??? Good question!

I am SO used to getting this question but not so good at answering it.  Mostly, I read YA and last year I read over 125 books.  Of course that was just last year.  That makes for A LOT of authors to choose from.  But I am here to try and answer this so let me list a few of the stand outs.

J. K Rowling

Cassandra Clare

Richelle Mead

Julie Kagawa
Jennifer L Armentrout

Can you tell my favorite kind of books just by looking over those name?  Yep, mostly love the fantasy/paranormal/PNR type books.

J. K. Rowling is an incredible author.  The Harry Potter books are just a classic read.  Got my son hooked on reading with those books.  And they are the kind of books you can read over and over again and never get tired of them. 

I loved how her story was developed from book 1.  Little things came back to be very important.  She's a natural at the twists and turns.  I think I may have developed my ability to figure out said twists from reading her books.

Her characters are incredible at tugging at my heart.  I loved Harry from day one but was surprised that I came to care about Snape!  Truly a master writer.

I loved them all but Book 7, The Deadly Hallows, was my favorite of the series.   Maybe it was the resolution or the character growth by then, but this book rocked.

But I have say that her new book hasn't even got me interested.  So while, she makes the top 5, she isn't my favorite author.

Cassandra Clare is that fabulous author that I love to be mad at!  Yeah - I said mad at! 


Her characters rock big time! Jace Wayland - need I say more?  No, but I will.  He is a very complex character that I fell fast and hard for.  His mysteries are revealed over the course of the first three books.  The pain and growth he goes through is incredible.


I love Clary too.  She's tough, which I have come to NEED in my heroines.

There's just one little problem with reading Cassandra Clare books.  I cry!  She is a master at sucking me into her characters life's and then ripping my heart out.  Thus, the reason I end up mad at her.  I have to be emotionally ready to read her books.  Right now, I have City of Lost Souls sitting on my bookshelf and I can't bring myself to read it.  Oh, I will eventually.  But I have to be ready to cry through it.


Love both of her Shadowhunters series but City of Glass from The Mortal Instruments is by far my favorite.  Most likely that's because of the resolution in that book.  The pain she creates in me is too hard to endure for any length of time.


Makes her a master at writing but, well not my favorite.

I'm late to the party for Richelle Mead.  She's been kicking some book booty for a while but I only read Vampire Academy recently.  Really, that's good for me because I didn't have to wait for each book to come.


Her characters are powerful and strong.  I just love Rose.  I tend to love those independent, skilled heroines that do some rescuing of their own.  But these books have more than Rose - they have Dimitri.  He has gorgeous and brooding down but he's more than that.  What really got me in this series was the "changes" he goes through in Blood Promise.  You can really tell a lot about a character by how they deal with the stress.  I will admit that some the those changes and developments shocked me.  I wasn't sure how the characters were gonna come back from that. 

While the stories that Richelle crafts include some incredible twists and turns that I loved, they also include some very creative world building.  Not your classic vampire story, this series is set apart from the others by it's lore.


Again, I find the best book in the series to be the one that resolves things.  I think I just need that in a story or I need hope of it somehow.  The author has to develop a trust with me, where I know the pain my beloved characters go through will be worth it in the end.


Richelle does that and I love her writing to pieces but she's still not my favorite.

Julie Kagawa just rocks my world with her writing.   She took some lore that I was sort of interested in and developed a world that I adore. 


Puck! I so love Puck.  He's funny and cute but also he there.  Dependable sounds like an insult to him.  Really, he has your back 100% of the time. 


Megan! She starts this series as the weak human but man does she develop into the kick-butt heroine that I really love.  Her devotion to her brother just touches my heart.  Her willingness to sacrifice herself to save those she loves just rocks.


Ash!  Oh man.  What can I say about Ash?  I love that brooding ice Prince.  The very best - and I do mean best - book in this series is from Ash's POV.  Iron Knight ends this series but truely the best.  I didn't need the resolution so much with this series because of that author trust I had with Julie, but man did I enjoy the ending.


Can't wait to get to The Immortal Rules because I'm sure that series is gonna rock my world too.  But no, not my favorite.


So, I'm sure you know who's left and yes she's my favorite author.  Let me tell you why, cause some of it may surprise you.

Jennifer L. Armentrout is a relatively new author but she has impressed me so much.


I've read everything that she has available, which is a lot really.  Can you believe how fast this women is at pounding out books?  I mean, dang girl.


Her covenant series is the first one I read.  I will also admit that I read Half-Blood before I ever read Vampire Academy.  I've heard a lot of peeps compare those two series.  I saw a little of it but there were just as many differences.  Regardless, I didn't care because I love Alex more than Rose.   Why?  It's her snark!  That mouth of hers that's always getting her in trouble.  If she thinks it, it comes out her mouth - no filter for this girl.  That seems to increase as the series progresses.  And she's funny! Snarky funny! 


Alex will do anything to protect those she loves but she also has this spirit that the Pure's can't seem to break.  It may yet be broken, but it will never be by the likes of those in charge.  That's what sets Alex apart.


I could write a whole post about how fabulous Aiden is.  Can I just say that he puts Alex's welfare before anyone else.  Period.  Oh I love Seth, but Aiden is different.


These powerful characters exists in this world where Greek mythology hangs out but where Jennifer has created something more.  I love her world building.


I trust Jennifer's writing.  I trust her not to destroy me - shock yes but not destroy.  And dang is she good at taking the story exactly where I WASN'T expecting it would go.  She is a constant surprise to me.  

Can I even begin to describe the Lux series and the super HAWT Daemon?  Or my favorite book blogger, Katy?  The fact that this series is something VERY different than the standard YA fair - I'm talking aliens here.  AND she pulls it off!  Onyx, btw, is out of this world - pun intended.


Then there's this fabulous adult book she wrote that was just as fabulous. 


Jennifer is more diverse than any other author I've read.  She brings it all together in so many different ways and at such a rate that I just keep doing my happy dances.


I just love Jennifer's social presence too.  She's out there on twitter and I've talked to her.  She's funny and friendly.   I like her.   


One last thing that takes her over the top for me.  She has reached and impacted some of my students.  I teach middle school and I share my passion for reading and blogging with my students.  The books that don't stay on my bookshelf are her books, hands down.  I've even had students from another teachers class came and want to borrow her books.   The covers, the blurbs, the stories, they all speak to YA.  That's what it's all about.


If Jennifer writes it, I'll be standing in line to read it.  I could totally survive for the rest of my life just reading her books.  She knows I'm her number one fan!


Can I just say, that my opinion is just that.  My favorite is mine alone.  I don't expect everyone or anyone to agree with me.  Jennifer is my choice.  What's yours?


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I have waay too many!  J.K., Cassandra, Richelle and Julie are all some of mine too - I haven't read anything by Jennifer yet!  :(  
Thank you so much for taking part, Valerie, and after this I will be getting my hand on something by Jennifer as soon as possible!! :D

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