Top Ten Tuesday | Best Female Authors of 2014!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014', which I'm really excited about because I was actually planning on writing a blog post on this topic anyway!

I tend to read a lot more female authors than male ones, so today I'm going to share with you my top ten female authors of 2014 - all of these ladies are worth checking out!

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989): So far this year I've read Frenchman's Creek and Rebecca and I adored them both. I've put off reading anything by du Maurier for so long, no idea why, and now that I've finally started reading her work I've learned that I absolutely love her and I'm making it my mission to try and read as much of her work as possible.

Robin LaFevers: I heard a lot of great things about Grave Mercy, but I was still somewhat sceptical when I bought myself a copy of it right at the beginning of this year. I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would, and I loved Dark Triumph even more. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Mortal Heart and I'm definitely going to read more of LaFevers' work in future.

Mira Grant: I've read Feed and Deadline this year, and while I'm desperate to finish the trilogy I'm savouring Blackout because I'm not quite ready for this series to end. I'm definitely planning on reading Grant's other series; both her Parasitology series and her October Daye series (written under her real name of Seanan McGuire).

Jenny Colgan: I don't tend to read a lot of contemporary, but for whatever reason I've been on a real contemporary kick this month and in doing so discovered Jenny Colgan. While I thought Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams sounded cute, I had no idea I was going to like it as much as I did. I loved Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop even more, and now I can't wait to read more of Colgan's work! Next up I'm hoping to read The Christmas Surprise, the next Rosie Hopkins book, and in the year I'm planning on reading Little Beach Street Bakery and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris. Her books are perfect for people who have a sweet tooth!

Jemma L. King: I don't tend to read a lot of poetry either - something I need to change! - and yet one of the best books I've read this year is The Undressed, a stunning poetry collection by Welsh poet Jemma L. King. I highly recommend checking this collection out, because it's just perfection.

Geraldine Brooks: After reading Year of Wonders earlier this year, which I really enjoyed, I've been meaning to read more of Brooks' work. I've heard wonderful things about March, and I'd like to read Caleb's Crossing, too.

Margaret Atwood: I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't read any of Atwood's fiction until this year when I read The Penelopiad with one of my friends.. I'm really eager to read Alias Grace, and I need to cross The Handmaid's Tale off my TBR, too.

Sarah Waters: I'd been meaning to read some of Waters' work for years, and this year I finally accomplished that goal when I read Affinity back in April. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading some of Waters' other novels - particularly Fingersmith.

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965): One of the girls on my course recommended Shirley Jackson to me last year, and after receiving a copy of The Haunting of Hill House last Christmas I got the chance to check her out for myself this year. I still need to read The Lottery, though!

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935): Charlotte Perkins Gilman is another author I've been meaning to read for a while, and one that I only managed to cross off my TBR fairly recently when I read The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. She's well known for her feminist fiction, and I'm hoping to read her utopian novel Herland soon!

Who made your list?

Cover Reveal | Prophecy of the Six by Sheena Boekweg, Melanie Crouse and Sabrina West

I'm excited to host the Cover Reveal of Prophecy of the Six, Book Two of the Prophecy Breakers series by Sheena Boekweg, Melanie Crouse, and Sabrina West! The cover was designed by Darren Boekweg of Boekweg Books Publishing and Cover Design.

About Prophecy of the Six

We didn't know how much we had to gain by being infected with magic. We found a purpose, we found a destiny, and we found each other.

But California isn’t the new start we were promised. Dr. Child may be gone, but now we must face a military school, dangerous secrets, and a prophecy that has half the country wanting us dead. When the line between enemies and allies blurs, Sam, Juliette, Ana and I need to choose between love and sanity, between magic and survival.

Paradise has a cost. When the authorities are suddenly giving you whatever you want, they’re going to demand everything in return. And that’s a price not all of us are strong enough to pay.

Freedom feels like safety, but it’s not. There are no walls here. No place they won’t be coming for us.

No place we won’t destroy.

About Alchemy

Book 1 in the Prophecy Breakers series

We didn’t know how much we had to lose until we were infected with magic. Sam was in love, Juliette was the main caretaker for her siblings, and Ana and her dad planned the best parties in New York. But we lost it all when we were shipped to Chebeague, an exclusive school for newly infected mages.  

Everyone knows about the mages, those who survive the infection and end up with magical abilities. We’ve seen the power of magic, the high-paying jobs, and the world fame. But we never saw the cost. We didn’t know we’d be forced to give up everything: sanity, family, even the right to talk on the phone. 

We didn’t know mage was just another word for prisoner.

In 2014, Alchemy was named on of the top 50 self-published books worth reading. On December 8,9, and 10th you can buy it for free here. For a limited time, Funny Tragic, Crazy Magic and Hidden Magic are also available for free.

About the Authors

Sheena Boekweg, Melanie Crouse, and Sabrina West met online, (which isn't as weird as it used to be) and blog together at theprosers.blogspot.com. Their first collaborative project, Alchemy (Prophecy Breakers #1), was voted one of the top fifty self published novels worth reading by Indie Authorland.

Sheena Boekweg is the author of Funny Tragic Crazy Magic, and The Waxling (forthcoming). She is a mom of three from Utah and is prepared to survive a zombie apocalypse.

As a mom of four, Melanie Crouse thinks that parenthood is exactly like a zombie apocalypse. Melanie Crouse is the author of excuse notes, thank you cards, and the novel Hidden Magic.

Sabrina West is a writer and wildlife biologist living in San Diego, California. Her short fiction has appeared in markets such as Cover of Darkness; Strange, Weird and Wonderful Magazine; and Kayelle Press’s Night Terrors Anthology.

We love hearing from our readers, so drop us a line at theprophecybreakers@boekwegbooks.com, on facebook, twitter, or Internet stalking Benedict Cumberbatch.

Add it on Goodreads 

HERE

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What's Up Wednesday! | 03/12/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

Since last week I've continued on my contemporary kick by reading A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson, which I didn't like as much as I'd hoped I would. If you want to know about my thoughts on it I'll be reviewing it later this month as part of my Twelve Days of Christmas.

Right now I'm reading Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, both of which are on my Winter TBR. So far I'm really enjoying them both!

What I'm Writing

On Monday I accidentally wrote the first lines of my Christmas Sci-Fi/Contemporary Romance SNI, featuring an Asian/British protagonist with one leg and a figure from Greek mythology who falls from the stars. I didn't really have any plans to work on it - I still don't even really know where it's going - but the mood took me, so I wrote!

What Works For Me

Reading! This year I've challenged myself to read seasonal books for Christmas (something I've always been really rubbish at in the past) and as my SNI is set during Christmas all the festive books I've been reading are a really fun inspiration.

My writing goal for the week: Write the first 2,000 words of my SNI!

(I'm probably not going to give myself writing goals very often, because I'm very, very bad at sticking to the goals I set myself. This week, though, I want to give it a try!)

What Else Is New

Yesterday I started my new job! I am now an Administration & Marketing Assistant at Seren Books, which is a tiny publishing house in South Wales. I've been made to feel very welcome and I really enjoyed my first day. I think the job titles in publishing can often sound more dull than the jobs themselves, because the majority of my role - which is guaranteed for at least six months, but will hopefully last for a year - is helping to organise the centenary celebrations for a Welsh WW2 poet who was born in 1915. I'm a big fan of war literature, so it's really exciting!

Other than that I haven't been up to much else aside from Christmas shopping. What's new with you?

Reading Wrap-Up | November 2014

November was a pretty decent reading month for me. I managed to get through five books, and while the majority of them disappointed me (I've been very critical lately) this month has been the first month in a while where I've constantly been reading something. I finished a book and then immediately picked up another, and I feel as though I haven't done that in a while without giving myself a headache!

Also, unusually for me, I've been on something of a contemporary kick this month! I don't usually read a lot of contemporary, but this month, apart from one book, everything I read was contemporary.

So, on with the wrap-up!

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams

by Jenny Colgan

My Rating: 

Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian s sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong.

Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.

This was my very first dip into Jenny Colgan, and I really liked it! I've owned this book for a while after my sister recommended it to me, and I decided to pick it up this month purely so I could read Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop as the festive season approaches - in fact I'm reading it now! 

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would - in fact there were some parts of it that broke my heart a little bit - and I definitely want to check out more Colgan in future. I keep eying up Little Beach Street Bakery, but I think it'll be a read for the warmer weather, and after I finish Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop I'm hoping to borrow The Christmas Surprise from my local library.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

My Rating: 

It is the future. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. No one in the community wants for anything. Everything needed is provided. And at twelve years old, each member of the community has their profession carefully chosen for them by the Committee of Elders.

Twelve-year old Jonas has never thought there was anything wrong with his world. But from the moment he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas discovers that their community is not as perfect as it seems.

It is only with the help of the Giver, that Jonas can find what has been lost. And it is only through his personal courage that Jonas finds the strength to do what is right…

I've been meaning to read The Giver for years, so in November I finally decided to cross it off my TBR and I'm sorry to say that I was very disappointed with it. If you want to know more about my thoughts on it, you can find my review here!

If I Stay

by Gayle Forman

My Rating: 

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

After I finished The Giver I was in the mood for something short, and preferably something short that wasn't going to disappoint me like The Giver did. I read If I Stay in a day and enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet, and I'm eager to watch the film adaptation now!

The Little Women Letters

by Gabrielle Donnelly

My Rating: 

With her older sister, Emma, planning a wedding and her younger sister, Sophie, preparing to launch a career on the London stage, Lulu can't help but feel like the failure of the Atwater family. Lulu loves her sisters dearly and wants nothing but the best for them, but she finds herself stuck in a rut, working dead-end jobs with no romantic prospects in sight. When her mother asks her to find a cache of old family recipes in the attic of her childhood home, Lulu stumbles across a collection of letters written by her great-great-grandmother Josephine March. In her letters, Jo writes in detail about every aspect of her life: her older sister, Meg's, new home and family; her younger sister Amy's many admirers; Beth's illness and the family's shared grief over losing her too soon; and the butterflies she feels when she meets a handsome young German. As Lulu delves deeper into the lives and secrets of the March sisters, she finds solace and guidance, but can the words of her great-great-grandmother help Lulu find a place for herself in a world so different from the one Jo knew?

I'm a big fan of the Little Women story and The Little Women Letters has been on my TBR for a while. I borrowed it from my local library while I was on my contemporary kick and, sadly, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Again, if you want to know more about my thoughts on it you can find my Goodreads review here!

A Winter Flame

by Milly Johnson

My Rating: 

Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiancé was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme…

And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will?

But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last…?

For my final book of November I decided to continue on my contemporary kick and tick one of the books off my Winter TBR. I didn't dislike this book exactly, but it did disappoint me. I'm not going to say much because I'll be reviewing it during my Twelve Days of Christmas!

What did you read last month?

Classics & Contemporaries | Science Fiction | Sci-Fi Month 2014

Due to my little hiatus I couldn't bring you Science Fiction in August, so I figured I'd just do two C&C posts in October as a Halloween treat. Then I discovered Sci-Fi Month, and it seemed a shame to do this installment of C&C outside of Sci-Fi Month!

So, at long last, here we have Science Fiction!

Now sci-fi, and especially classic sci-fi, is a genre I know very, very little about, so instead of the usual layout, today I'm going to be offering you some very simple recommendations. Enjoy!

If you like The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Read The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

If you like The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

If you like The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Read The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

If you like Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Read A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Thanks to Rinn Reads and Oh, The Books for a fantastic Sci-Fi Month!

Twelve Days of Christmas!

I didn't post anything on my blog yesterday, despite usually posting something every Monday and Friday. Boo me! The reason? I'm not very well. I have a really gross head cold, and while I've definitely felt worse in the past it did mean that I just couldn't be bothered to do anything yesterday.

So I'm making up for it this weekend! Tomorrow I'll finally be posting my Sci-Fi installment of Classics & Contemporaries to celebrate the end of Sci-Fi November, and today I have an announcement. This December I'm going to be blogging the Twelve Days of Christmas!

Now traditionally the twelve days of Christmas are the twelve days following on from Christmas day, but I'm going to switch it around a little and post something every day on the twelve days leading up to Christmas day. So, from the 13th of December through to Christmas Eve I'll be posting something every day, from book reviews to film recommendations to some of my favourite Christmas songs!

So until the 13th I'll be posting the odd Top Ten Tuesday and What's Up Wednesday posts, but other than that I'm saving everything for those twelve days.

I love Christmas, it's my favourite time of year, so I hope you enjoy what I have in store!

Blog Tour | Voices Echo by Linda Lee Graham | Spotlight

Publication Date: June 16, 2014

Repository Press, LLC

eBook; 570 pages


Series: Voices Series

Genre: Romantic Historical Suspense


READ AN EXCERPT.





The third book in the VOICES series, VOICES ECHO stands alone as a riveting depiction of both the beauty of 18th-century Jamaica and the horrors of plantation life in the British West Indies.

When Albert Ross sailed to Jamaica months after their wedding, Rhiannon Ross believed he'd abandoned her for the sanctuary of his West Indies plantation and complacent mulatta mistress. Not one to live life in limbo, Rhiannon has followed in a bid to secure the funds necessary to ensure her financial independence and position as his lawful wife, and to quell her growing attraction to her unsuitable American advisor, Liam Brock.

Determined to put the enticing Mrs. Ross out of his mind, Liam Brock accepts an assignment to escort a young heiress to her father's Jamaican estate. Convinced his and Rhiannon's ships have crossed paths, he is stunned to learn Rhiannon is still with her husband, and shocked when he finds her isolated and frightened--a shell of the vibrant woman who still fills his dreams. He begins to suspect that beneath the exotic beauty of an island teeming with vitality, there beats a sinister pulse.

As evidence of smuggling and dark magic are uncovered, Rhiannon realizes that not only is her plantation in danger, but the lives of those she holds dearest are at stake. Though she struggles to hide her feelings for Liam, she cannot bear the thought of him coming to harm because of her. As greed on the island evolves into violence and violence into murder, Liam and Rhiannon find themselves in the midst of a deadly intrigue. Both must decide how far they will go in the name of protecting the other, and how much they will sacrifice to attain a future neither thought possible.

Watch the Book Trailer

Buy the eBook

Amazon

About the Author

History and real-life narratives had always blended in Graham's imagination, particularly when she delved into the stories of her family's ancestors. Eventually the engaging voices of characters who might have lived emerged. Tracing paper trails quickly gave way to creating her own stories, and she hasn't looked back since.

For more information please visit Linda Lee Graham's website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Goodreads.

Voices Echo Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 3

Review & Giveaway at Historical Romance Lover


Tuesday, November 4

Review & Interview at A Cup of Tea & A Big Book


Wednesday, November 5

Review at Book Nerd


Monday, November 10

Spotlight & Giveaway at Mina's Bookshelf

Spotlight & Giveaway at Romance Junkies Blog


Wednesday, November 12

Review at Turning the Pages


Thursday, November 13

Guest Post at Bookish

Review at Romantic Historical Lovers


Monday, November 17

Interview at Book Babe


Tuesday, November 18

Review at My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews


Thursday, November 20

Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews & More


Sunday, November 23

Spotlight at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book


Monday, November 24

Review at CelticLady's Reviews


Wednesday, November 26

Review, Interview & Giveaway at A Way With Words


Thursday, November 27

Spotlight at Curiouser and Curiouser


Friday, November 28

Interview at Triclinium