Author Appreciation Week - Days 3 and 4

I have totally dropped the ball with Author Appreciation Week (Yikes!). So I'm going to do a combination post for authors 3 and 4 today and then post the last Author Appreciation Week entry tomorrow.

Author Appreciation Week is the brain child of debut author Heidi Kling.

If you would like to participate simply, write a blog post each day of next week about the authors you appreciate and why! The best part, there are no rules. Be as creative as you want. Looking for more information? Check out Heidi’s blog.

My goal for Author Appreciation Week is to highlight authors whose books I love reading and who have impacted how I choose which I’ll read next. Some days, there will be multiple authors spotlighted, other days only one. There is no particular order. These are authors who write excellent books.

Today's first author is Kristin Cashore

Books she has written:

Graceling (Harcourt Children's Books, Oct 2008)

Fire (Dial, October 2009)

I appreciate Kristin Cashore because, well, her books are amazing, her blog is a lot of fun to visit and she is taking trapeze lessons! She has created these two amazing worlds that are related, yet are very different from each other. While reading Kristin’s books, it felt as though I could travel to both the Seven Kingdoms (in Graceling) and the Dells (in Fire) and meet the characters. Her characters are well-written, strong and complete in themselves. Both Katsa and Fire are strong and independent and have relationships with partners who are also independent and strong. Katsa is with Po and Fire with Brigan because they really care about them, not because they need to be to feel complete. I am very excited that Kristin will continue to write about the Seven kingdoms in her next book Bitterblue.

Today's second author is Sarah Rees Brennan

Books she has written:

The Demon's Lexicon (Margaret K. McElderry, June 2009)

The Demon's Covenant (Margaret K. McElderry, May 18, 2010)

I appreciate Sarah Rees Brennan because she created Nick, Alan, Mae, and Jamie. Ever since I read The Demon’s Lexicon, they are my favorite sets of fictional siblings. Alan and Nick are pretty much opposites: Alan is intellectual, caring, a good cook and a redhead, while Nick is tall, strong, brooding and good with a sword. Mae is spunky, smart, and cares deeply about Jamie, who is often in need of saving. I love that Sarah’s books take place in modern day England, but also contains magicians, Goblin Markets and sword fights. The Demon’s Lexicon is one of those books that you can read over and over and still find details (Sarah calls them breadcrumbs) you missed, details that enhance the story. She also has great taste in books; she loves Margaret Mahy (especially The Changeover) and The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. And she has a great sense of humor, both her blog and website show it off very well.  If you haven’t read The Demon’s Lexicon yet, what are you waiting for?