books by theme
indie favs
Hey
folks! CJ asked me to stop by and talk to you about something I know we all
love: books!
Among
many things, like being an avid reader, I’m also a blogger over on A Life Among the Pages.
A major part of my blogging “mission statement” (if I actually wrote one up) is
to support Indie writers. This is one of the reasons my blog’s still running a
few years after I started. Support Indies ,
they support you in return. Everyone wins, gets exposure, and grows. I feel
that my blogging experience would have been more boring if I didn’t jump into
the Indie world. I also don’t think I’d have found so many great readers and
new friends if I hadn’t gotten into the community at the time I did. CJ is one
of those friends that I found early on, and I’m happy to have found her and
since we have similar taste in books, I hope the next part of this post will be
of value to her readers.
As
I mentioned before, part of what I love about reading Indie books is the
two-sided relationship between reader and book/author. I’d like to share a some
books with you that have stood out in my years of reading Indie, and
coincidentally, the most of these authors are incredible people who love their
fans as much as the fans love their work. It’s great to be able to focus on the
positive when it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the book world, even if
we’d like it to be.
So
here are my “top five” Indie books, in no particular order. You may notice that
it’s MUCH more than five. Don’t tell anyone. It can be our little secret.




There’s
no way I could simply talk about one of S.M. Boyce’s books. With each book that
was released in The Grimoire Saga, they just got better and better. Even from
the first book, Lichgates, I knew
that it would become one of my favorite series of all-time.
This
is a series that blurs the lines between Young Adult and New Adult (before NA
was much of a category). It’s also a great way to jump into the world of Epic
Fantasy. Boyce’s world building is one of the many writing strengths she has. These
books have many traditional Epic Fantasy elements, but also stand out in the
sense that there’s not a page where the story drags. They’re definitely page-turners.
When
I read Lichgates back in 2012, it was
one of the few Indie books I had read up at that point. I’m glad I discovered
Boyce’s books and her world of Ourea. It was definitely a great gateway into
the Indie book world for me.
Books in the series, in
order
This
book is also from my early excursions in the Indie world. It’s also one of my
first contemporary YA romances. However, what sets this book apart from many
others that I’ve read: It almost made me cry. This is significant in my reading
life. It’s not that I don’t “feel” things when I read books. It’s just very
hard to get me that emotional when reading. The way King wrote her characters
in this book and got me to feel like I knew them like family was one of the
main factors to why it affected me as much as it did. There’s a scene in this
book that, if it had gone another way, would have made me furious...while
almost crying. I haven’t had a book get at me even close to the way this one
did yet. Luckily, Tiffany King is far from being done writing. Maybe she’ll win
one day and make a tear roll down my cheek. That’s the only thing that’ll
dethrone Wishing for Someday Soon off this list.
Chocolate Lovers
and Chocoholics
series by Tara Sivec
Looking
for some of the best laughs you have ever had from a book? That’s what you’ll
get if you read these two series from Tara Sivec. It all starts with Seduction & Snacks. From there the Chocolate Lovers series followed the
lives of Claire, Liz, and the whole group of couples. These books are filled
with baked good and many naughty (and borderline offensive) moments. They’re
definitely not for everyone, but they were for me. I haven’t laughed so much
for books before or since.
I’m
lumping the Chocoholics books with
the Chocolate Lovers because you
can’t really have one without the other. Well, technically you can. I think you
can read either series without the other, but together it’s so much better. The
Chocoholics books are a more NA
comedic romance compared to CL being
all-out adult books. This adds a bit of change rather than having more books
and the same old, same old. Change is good. In some ways, I enjoy this second
series even more. I feel that Sivec’s writing shows much improvement in these
books and that’s always a way to win me over.
This
was one of the first New Adult books I read, well, at least New Adult in the
way we see the category today. (I won’t go into a history lesson). While I
still don’t jump at all NA that’s out there, this was one of the few that have
caught my attention and stuck with me after reading.
It’s
not just a romance, but also a story dealing with self body image, as well as
how people view other another person’s image. I think that was what I enjoyed
most about the book. It tackled a topic that is both important and (at least at
the time this was published) not portrayed in books the way it was in Picture Perfect. Thomas’ writing is also
a variable in me enjoying this book so much. She definitely knows how to write.
There
are two other books in the picturing perfect series, Subject to Change and Drop
Everything Now. I’ve read Subject to
Change and it solidified Thomas as an author I’ll keep coming back to. It
doesn’t deal with new territory as far as story goes, but it’s another strong
example of great NA that I’ve read.
So,
this list is my favorite Indie books. This last one will be somewhat of a
cheat, because in order to bring up this book, I should make mention of Flat-Out Love
(not Indie published) and Flat-Out Matt
(a companion novella, which is an Indie book). Flat-Out Celeste is the second book in this series, and for those
new to these Flat-Out books, it can
technically be read on its own, but I recommend starting with FOL.
Now,
to focus on this book. What sets it apart from others is the main character,
Celeste. She’s such a unique character, from the way she talks to her
mannerisms, and everything in between. Some may find her strange, as the
outside world does in the books. But the great thing is that after seeing her
from the outside in FOL and getting
to love her, now in FOC the reader is
in her head. It brings a new depth to her character, and one I’ve never read
before. What is it like to be a person like Celeste? I think there’s a little
bit of all of us in her, and she’s so relatable, even if we don’t immediately
think we can identify with her.
Park,
in general, is one of my favorite authors and has shown how diverse her books
can be. Aside from this series, she has Left
Drowning out which is another book that tears at the emotions of readers.
It’s an intense read.
- - -
Robert has been
writing poetry since the eleventh grade. His writing started as impulsive
rambling, but soon became a passion. A few years later, he attended SUNY
Potsdam where he received a B.A. in Creative Writing.
His main focus is
poetry, but he's also known for dabbling in short fiction, and at times
erotica. Robert has also created the blog A
Life Among The Pages, where he posts about his writing, love of books, and
reviews books.
When he's not reading
or writing, Robert enjoys spending time with his dog, Deuc. Deuc ran out of the
woods in August 2011 and they have been inseparable ever since.
Thanks for letting me (mildly) fangirl the crap outta some Indies :)
ReplyDeleteAny time! Seriously. Any time. (: Thanks for writing for me!
DeleteThanks, Robert for the indie suggestions. I am always excited to find a great, solid indie read, but I am not always pateint enough anymore to dig and find them. I actually read Flat Out Love back when it was an indie before it got picked up by a big publisher. Sadly, I have been disappointed in Parks' subsequent published novels. I am hoping to try a couple on your list.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy any that you choose to read. If you're looking at the Grimoire Saga, I should point out that the first book is a perma-free book, so it's a monetarily risk-free read. It's also one C.J loved, as well, if I remember correctly.
DeleteAnd thanks for pointing out that FOL was indie first. I almost forgot about that. I discovered Park soon after Skyscape (the Amz imprint) republished the book, so the connection's week in my mind. So I guess, we can say that the whole series is technically Indie :)