Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Want to Read by New-to-Me Authors

by Lily

I started to love reading a few years ago. There are so many books in the world that it's almost impossible to read every one, but I will always try to read as many books as I can fit into my life. I have many books on my to-read list, many of which are part of a series or by some of my favorite authors that I've read books by before. However, I think it's important to read books by a variety of authors to explore different writing styles and new stories. You might find your new favorite author, or a story that you love, or a new genre that you hadn't encountered yet. These top ten books are on my to- read list and are written by authors that I have not read before. 

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a long time. This is the first book in The Seeds of America trilogy. It's a historical fiction about a thirteen year old girl named Isabel fighting for her freedom. This seems very interesting to me and I can't wait to finally pick it up and learn about history from the point of view of someone who had to live through it. 

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

My friend read this book and recommended it to me. I haven't read any books by Lynn Painter yet, but I've heard great things about her writing and stories. This is a YA rom-com about a girl named Liz and her neighbor Wes. I would like to read this book as an introduction to the romance genre. 

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

I enjoy science fiction and dystopian books, so this seems like a great series. It even incorporates beloved tales into futuristic new adaptations. It is a four book series with a prequel. Each book is inspired by a different fairy tale story, with twists that you wouldn't expect. I have not read any books by Marissa Meyer but they all seem exciting and are definitely high on my to-read list. 

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

This book seems good, and I have heard great things about it. It has been adapted into a movie and a stage musical, showing how much people love this book. It was written by a teenage girl and shows realities and many relatable themes. This book is loved by many, and I hope to read it soon. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is a classic loved by millions. Jane Austen is a very popular author, and wrote six major novels, although this might be her most popular of all. It follows Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy as they first meet and eventually realize they might have initially misjudged one another. It has been turned into movies and even TV shows. Jane Austen has inspired many with her great writing and storytelling. I can't wait to start this book and read the rest of her novels as well. 

Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle 

This is a broad topic because Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes as a series of short stories and four novels. However, his stories have been put into collections or rewritten to fit into a single book, and read in many different formats. I would love to start reading mysteries, and I feel like the perfect way to start is with a loved classic character such as Sherlock Holmes. Many have read the stories of this famous fictional detective. It has inspired so many books, movies, and shows that many people have heard of, and enjoy The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 

Satellite by Nick Lake 

I love science fiction and space so I'm excited to read this book by Nick Lake. A boy makes his first trip to Earth after being trained by astronauts for years while living on a space station. It's a captivating sci-fi adventure that I will surely love. 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

This book was recommended to me by a friend who found it interesting. The story follows Salama Kassub in Syria in 2011, at the start of the Syrian revolution. She is a volunteer at the hospital, while trying to find a way out of the country before her sister gives birth. She is faced with the hard decision of whether to flee or stay loyal to her country and her family. She begins to see how it is a war but also a revolution. This is a literary fiction book with good themes. It shows her struggles and how she overcomes it. 

All The Noise At Once by DeAndra Davis 

I saw this on the Florida Teens Read collection for 2026-2027 and immediately wanted to read it. It's about a teen boy with autism named Aiden whose brother is arrested falsely trying to protect him from a bully. As Aiden tries to get his brother out of jail, he is faced with many struggles and needs to find his own voice. 

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis 

This is a historical fiction set in Chicago in 1910. Four African American Girls have strong ambitious dreams. Defying the expectations of others, they pursue challenges and seek independence and love from others. I can't wait to dive into the stories of these brave girls written by Krystal Marquis. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Mainstream Popular Authors that I Still Have Not Read

Written by Grace H.

The Winter Park Library’s Teen Book Guild is excited to join in on the bookish fun of Top Ten Tuesdays! Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesday is a widespread trend in which book bloggers create a “Top Ten” list in response to a different topic each week.

This week, and for our first Top Ten Tuesday post, the theme is:

Mainstream Popular Authors that I Still Have Not Read.

There’s practically an infinite number of books in the world, and a practically infinite number of authors. But there’s never enough time to read them all. What well-known authors have you not gotten around to reading yet? For me, many of these names will be instantly recognizable as forerunners in the YA genre.

1. Marissa Meyer
2. Rainbow Rowell
3. Leigh Bardugo
4. Neal Schusterman
5. Renée Ahdieh

6. Maureen Johnson

7. Becky Albertalli

8. Stephanie Meyer
9. Jerry Spinelli
10. Jennifer Armentrout

I’m very excited to eventually get around to reading these popular authors’ works, but for now, they remain on my TBR. Look out for more Top Ten Tuesdays in the coming weeks!

-Grace H.

Stars Above: a Lunar Chronicles Collection by Marissa Meyer

Reviewed by Susan Z. 

Grade 12 

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer is a collection of several stories; most of which serve as prequels to the main series, and one being an epilogue. If you’re done with the Lunar Chronicles and you want more...this is that book. It’ll give you a bit of history, a look at what happened in the near future, and more. 

Stars Above is made up of nine chapters, each a separate story. "The Keeper", "Glitches", "The Queen’s Army", "Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky", "After Sunshine Passes By", "The Princess and the Guard", and "The Mechanic" are all what I would consider prequels to the Lunar Chronicles. Some are backstories that provide a bit of history while others have events that happen literally right before or at the beginning of the series. They all sort of just provide additional context, and also some are told from a different person’s perspective. 

"Something Old, Something New" is the epilogue we all wanted. I would say it picks up just about a few weeks after Winter (the last book in the main series). It’s really sweet, and if you weren’t happy with where Winter ended off... "Something Old, Something New" will definitely bring some closure. So, this was the final chapter, however, there is one previous chapter that isn’t really a prologue or an epilogue, and it doesn’t really fit into the main series. "The Little Android", following the same style as the other books, is a sci-fi twist on The Little Mermaid. Androids aren’t meant to fall in love, or really have any emotions in general, but this one certainly does. 

 I really enjoyed all the stories in Stars Above, being a big fan of the Lunar Chronicles. Like I said, they are mostly prequels. I liked getting to know the characters a bit more through these prequels. Another thing I liked was that we got some new perspectives; some events do overlap with what has happened in the main series, but we got a different person’s point of view so that was pretty nice. I really enjoyed the epilogue, I think it was a great way to end things. And although I didn’t mind how Winter ended, this epilogue did tie up some of the loose ends. "The Little Android", I was confused the first time I read it, but it made more sense the second time around. I think it’s cool that another classic fairy tale got a sci-fi update. I would be pretty excited if the author came out with more of these short stories. 

 I would recommend this book for those that have already read the Lunar Chronicles and enjoyed those books. I think this book alone can be a little confusing if you were to read it by itself, without having prior knowledge on the Lunar Chronicles. So if you haven’t read those books, they’re really great books for everyone. I would especially recommend them for people who like science fiction.

Fairest: Levana's Story by Marissa Meyer

Reviewed by Susan Z.
Grade 11

Having been burned as a kid by your supposedly loving older sister really does something to you.

The book Fairest: Levana’s Story written by author Marissa Meyer is a prequel to The Lunar Chronicles. The entire series is, what I would describe as, classical fairy tale characters but placed in a sci-fi futuristic setting. Levana, our main antagonist, is the power-hungry, manipulative, and extremely cruel ruler of Luna. It doesn’t take much to guess who she’s based off of. Based of the main series, readers know her as a tyrant who's the stepmother of Princess Winter, trying to murder Cinder, and conquer Earth. Fairest: Leavana’s Story gives readers an insight as to how Levana became the Evil Queen.

The book begins with the accident and ends events that occur right before Cinder (the first book in the main series). In Fairest, readers get a glimpse of Levana’s history and events that made her the person she is. It has bits of her childhood, filled with neglectful parents and an abusive sister, her love life--falling for someone who was already in love with another, and her rise to power. Despite her traumatizing childhood where her sister, Channary, basically threw her into a fireplace, Levana always had love for Luna. When their parents died and Channary became queen, Levana had ideas on how to make Luna better. When Channary died however, and Levana became queen...the power got to her. Though initially she had good intentions on making Luna better for its people, being the queen eventually got to her head. Levana craved power; she wanted to be loved by her citizens forever. The only thing that could stop her was Channary’s little daughter. Because the daughter was so young, Levana, the only other member of the royal family, temporarily took the throne. But Levana wanted forever; she wanted to secure that position of power. So she did the only reasonable thing and had her niece disposed of--or so she thought. Now with her out of the way, Levana had full control of Luna. But eventually the love of an entire planet wouldn’t be enough for her, and Levana would turn to Earth.

Even after learning Levana’s backstory, I didn’t feel remorse for her. I understand she had a very abusive childhood and practically never felt any love, but in the end she was still a bad person who continued doing bad things. Fairest is a really good book and did a really good job describing Levana. It explains Levana’s backstory and I understand how she became the person she is. I am happy that this is what we got instead of a redemption arc for Levana. Another thing I thoroughly enjoy about this book is that it doesn’t defend Levana. It’s not a book trying to explain her actions by any means. Even in Fairest, Levana does some pretty bad things--like how she got rid of her niece, so it’s definitely not a book trying to defend who she is or trying to put the blame on someone else.

I recommend Fairest for people who have read The Lunar Chronicles. I’m not saying if you haven’t read the series that you shouldn’t read Fairest, there’s just a lot that I wouldn’t understand if I hadn’t already read the other books. And if you haven’t read The Lunar Chronicles, I definitely would recommend those too for really everybody.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Reviewed by Rylee M.
Grade 7

How close are you and your grandmother? How would it feel to lose her, especially if you have lived with her all your life? What would be your initial reaction if the person who feed you, raised you, and taught you went missing? Scarlet goes through all of this and more when goes on a quest to find her grandmother.

While Cinder is trying to escape from prison, halfway across the world, Scarlet's grandmother has gone missing! Now orphaned, Scarlet sets out on a journey to find her grandmother. Her quest takes a bit of a twist when she meets Wolf, a handsome street fighter who decides to tag along with her. Wolf not only swoons Scarlet, but might also have information about where her grandmother is. Although Scarlet knows that Wolf has a few secrets of his own she has no choice but to trust him. When Scarlet and Wolf encounter Cinder they then discover the real mystery.

Scarlet is a very good book; overall it is action packed and has lots of surprises! I would recommend this book to sci-fi or fantasy readers. It would be very hard to determine whether Cinder or Scarlet is better. The combination of brilliant writing and fantastic storyline makes this book fabulous. After you start reading it will be hard to put down!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Reviewed by Rylee M.
Grade 7

You may think being cyborg--half machine, half human--would be cool. Living the life of a cyborg is more difficult than you may think, but it does have its advantages. People of today's society despise people that are different. Don't you think that an exposed cyborg would be made fun of, or teased, or even taken to be experimented on? In fear of becoming an outcast, Cinder, the main character in Cinder, is careful about what parts of her body she shows.

Cinder, a rather gifted mechanic living in New Beijing, is a cyborg. She lives with her stepmother and ill stepsister. Her stepmother greatly despises her and blames her for her stepsister's illness. Cinder is the only mechanic in New Beijing's weekly market. One day, disguised and barely recognizable, Prince Kaito stumbled into her booth looking for Linh Cinder, the mechanic. The prince and Cinder soon became friends. After her many visits to the castle to meet with Prince Kai, Queen Levana, Kai's evil, soon-to-be wife, gets suspicious. Soon enough Cinder finds out secrets of her own past to help protect her world against the evil Queen Levana.

The different pieces that make up the book as a whole come flying at you from all different directions at the least expected times. In the end, when the puzzle is complete, it all makes sense. There are a range of characters with colorful personalities such as Peony and Iko. They only make the story that much more exciting and emotional. I think that this book has a very good story that will appeal to fantasy and sci-fi readers.

The style of writing paired up with the story line makes for a truly fantastic book that will pull readers in so that they don't want to put it down. I was able to personally connect with this book because I have three little sisters; in the book there are several touching moments where Cinder shows her love for her sister. I would highly recommend this book to readers in search of a truly wonderful and action packed story.