Divergent trilogy, Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth is the author of the Divergent trilogy. She attended Carleton College and then transferred to Northwestern University. Roth is the recipient of the Goodreads 2011 Choice award. She is also the Best of 2012 in young adult fantasy and science fiction as well as the Best Goodreads author in 2012. Roth wrote Divergent while on her winter break of her senior year at Northwestern University. She sold the film rights of Divergent to Summit Entertainment. Divergent was then filmed and released in March of 2014. Insurgent, the second installment of the series was released in March of 2015. The final book will be split into two films which will be called Allegiant Part 1, to be released in March of 2016, and Allegiant Part 2, to be released in March of 2017.

Each book in the Divergent series, Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, is set in post apocalyptic Chicago. This society places citizens in one of five different factions based on their social and personality related affiliation. The five factions are Abnegation, the selfless; Erudite, the intelligent; Dauntless, the brave; Amity, the peaceful; and Candor, the honest. There are also those who belong to no faction who failed to complete the initiation in the faction they chose and they live in poverty. When the kids reach a specific age, they must either choose a new faction, or they can choose to stay in the faction where they grew up and stay with their family.  The government believes these factions and separations of the citizens will keep them under control and eliminate the threat of an uprising. Beatrice “Tris” Prior, Abnegation born, must choose whether she wants to stay in Abnegation with her family, or if she will transfer factions. Her choice will not only shock herself, but her entire community. But Tris has a secret she desperately has to keep hidden. She Along with the help of her new friend, Four, Tris must figure out a way to keep her secret and keep herself safe. Tris will quickly learn that in this world, what makes you different, will also be what makes you dangerous.

The Divergent series is great for readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and The Maze Runner series. It is a series that  is filled with non-stop action that will leave the reader curious to find out what happens next. Readers will find it enjoyable and easy to read Tris’ voice and follow her actions. Divergent is a fantastic read that would be great for any age. 

The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins began her professional career as a writer for children’s television for Nickelodeon. She wrote Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Collins also wrote several stories for Little Bear and Oswald. Collins is the author of Gregor and the Overlander which was the first of five in a fantasy war series called The Underland Chronicles. These books soon became New York Times bestsellers and have been printed and sold in twenty one foreign countries. Her most popular series, The Hunger Games Trilogy, is an international bestseller. These books have spent the past six years, and continue to be on the New York Times bestseller list since being published in 2008. Her books have sold over eighty seven million copies worldwide. The Hunger Games trilogy has been sold in fifty six different countries in fifty one languages. The Hunger Games movie was released on March 23, 2012 and broke box office records and brought in over $700 million. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was released in 2013 and is the tenth highest grossing domestic release of all time. The next two installments The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was released in November 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 will be released in November 2015.

The Hunger Games Trilogy is a series of three dystopian adventure novels titled: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. These are set in the dystopian world of Panem, which is a country which consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve districts which exist in different levels of poverty the farther away from the Capitol they get, with twelve being the poorest district. Each year, two children are chosen from each district, a boy and a girl, and are forced to participate in the annual death match called the Hunger Games. The books follow the story of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from District 12 who are forced to fight for their lives throughout the series in order to survive, stop the annual killing of innocent children for the Capitol’s enjoyment, and put an end to the unfair, unbalanced government of Panem.

The Hunger Games Trilogy is one of the most popular book series among young adults at this time. They are books that will leave you craving for more as soon as you finish one, so if you start reading these books, make sure you have the next in the series close by so you never have to stop reading until the very end. 

Maximum Ride series, James Patterson

James Patterson is the author of 95 novels, all of which he has written since 1976. He continues to release several books a year so his numbers will continue to grow. Patterson has had 19 consecutive number one New York Times bestsellers and he holds a Guinness World Record for having the most number one New York Times bestsellers, which he has 76. Patterson attended Manhattan College and Vanderbilt University. He worked in advertising until 1996, when he quit to focus on his writing career. Patterson is most well-known for his Alex Cross series, Women’s Murder Club series, Michael Bennett series, and Maximum Ride series. Patterson has several ways that he promotes reading in youth. He has a website called ReadKiddoRead, which is designed to help teachers, parents, and librarians chose books at the correct that will excite children about reading. His College Book Bucks program has given over $170,000 in book shopping sprees to students graduating or just out of high school. Patterson has sold over 300 million books worldwide and holds another Guinness World Record for being the first person to sell one million electronic books.

There are nine books in total in the Maximum Ride series, with the newest one being released on May 18, 2015. In order the books are: Maximum Ride: Angel Experiment, Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever, Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Maximum Ride: The Final Warning, Max, Fang, Angel, Nevermore, and Maximum Ride Forever. These books are a series of young adult fantasy novels that follows the adventures of Maximum “Max” Ride and her friends Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel.  Max and her friends are known as the Flock due to the fact that they are avian-human hybrids, they have wings. These wings are from experiments at a lab facility known as The School. The Flock escapes from The School and continue to evade their enemies at The School and try to stop them from harming others throughout the entirety of the series. Max and her Flock go through a number of trials, betrayals, victories, and many other problems as they grow and mature into their roles of keeping the world safe from the scientists at The School and other terrible people.

Maximum Ride is one of my favorite series of books written by my favorite author. Each book is worth the read and you will not be able to put any of them down, just like any book written by James Patterson. 

Beautiful Disaster Jamie McGuire

Jamie McGuire is the author the contemporary international bestseller Beautiful Disaster. She attended Northern Oklahoma College, The University of Oklahoma, and Autry Technical Center where she earned a degree in radiography. She now lives in Enid, Oklahoma with her husband Jeff and their three children after growing up in Oklahoma. Jamie McGuire is also the author of the Providence series, Red Hill, a Beautiful Wedding, Walking Disaster, Beautiful Oblivion (the first in the Maddox brothers series), and Happenstance, which is a novella series. Beautiful Disaster is a 2012 New York Times bestseller, a 2013 international bestseller, and over one million copies have been sold worldwide.

In Beautiful Disaster, Abby Abernathy is a new found good girl. The new Abby doesn’t swear, doesn’t drink, and has just enough sweaters in her closet to fill her new good girl role. Abby goes to Eastern University with her best friend thinking her dark past is far behind her. That is, until she meets bad boy Travis Maddox.

Travis Maddox is fit, attractive, and covered in tattoos and is just the kind of person that Abby should stay away from. He spends his time as the walking one night stand of campus as well as fighting in a traveling fight ring. Travis is typically a successful charmer but Abby seems to be immune to his tricks, much to his dismay. Travis and Abby proceed to make a bet, as an attempt for Travis to get closer to Abby. What Travis doesn’t realize is that he may have met his match in Abby. The deal is, if Abby wins, Travis must remain abstinent for a month, and if Travis wins, Abby will have to move in with Travis for a month. Abby has to learn to watch her heart and her old self before she gets too close to Travis.

Jessica Park, author of New York Times bestseller Flat Out Love says, “Beautiful Disaster is insanely addictive. Beautifully sexy, beautifully intense, and beautifully perfect.” Beautiful Disaster is a must read for any reader who appreciates a story where love does not come easily. The characters have their flaws, but that is a point of the story that makes it that much more enjoyable. The real aspects of the characters gives the story the push and pull of many real life relationships that makes the reader never want to put the book down. Beautiful Disaster is a book worth the read. 

Good People Marcus Sakey

Marcus Sakey is a writer of crime novels that are set in the blue collar world in the south side of Chicago. Sakey attended the University of Michigan and worked for ten years in advertising and marketing. To research for his crime novels, Sakey followed homicide detectives, toured morgues, rode along with gang cops, and went shooting with Special Forces soldiers. He is the author of Good People, The Blade Itself, The Amateurs, Accelerant, Brilliance, A Better World, and The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. Sakey is also the writer and host of Hidden City on the Travel Channel. Good People was one of the best mysteries of 2008 and was nominated for a Barry Award for best thriller of 2008. Good People is now also a major motion picture starring James Franco, Kate Hudson, Tom Wilkinson, and Omar Sy. The Blade Itself, one of his first novels, is a New York Times editors choice, was nominated for an Anthony, a Barry, a Dilys, and a Crimespree award, and the movie rights have been sold to Ben Affleck.

Young, middle class couple, Tom and Anna Reed are deeply in love, but are struggling both financially and in their attempts to have a baby. Until one day, they find $370,000 in their tenant’s apartment. Suddenly their happily ever after doesn’t seem quite so far away. But before too long, Tom and Anna will find out where the money came from. They will come head to head with the men who it belongs to. These men have been double crossed and they are ruthless and will stop at nothing to get their money back. Tom and Anna will find out the hard way that nothing comes free and their happiness and safety could come at a cost higher than they could have known.

This novel is a thrilling story that will leave readers anxious to flip the page. Although at times Good People can be a violent story of greed and malevolence, it is a fast paced exciting read. Publishers Weekly gave Good People a starred review and said, “Masterful… Sakey, who excels at taking ordinary ‘good people’ and forcing them to meet terrible challenges, ratchets up the stakes, creating ever more diabolical traps and even more desperate escapes until the final shattering conclusion.” Overall, this is a great book for any reader who enjoys crime and suspense novels, although younger adult readers should probably stick to a lighter, less violent read. 

13 Reasons Why Jay Asher

Jay Asher bestselling is the author of 13 Reasons Why. Throughout his life, Asher worked in a shoe store, multiple libraries, and bookstores. All of these jobs have helped Asher to write his stories. While still in high school, he wrote two children’s books and he continues to write picture books for children and middle school humor novels. Asher attended California Polytechnic State University which he left his senior year to start his career as a serious writer. To date, Asher has published two novels. 13 Reasons Why and The Future of Us. 13 Reasons Why is a 2007 New York Times bestselling young adult fiction novel and The Future of Us was co written by Carolyn Mackler in 2011.

In Asher’s 13 Reasons Why, Clay Jenson finds a box meant for him filled with cassette tapes which were recorded by Hannah Baker. Hannah was Clay’s classmate who had had a crush on, and who had committed suicide two weeks prior. In a series of seven recorded audio tapes, which she mails to a classmate with instructions to pass from one student on her list to another so they can each hear the reasons why she decided to end her life. Hannah says that there are 13 reasons why she decided to kill herself, and Clay is one of the reasons. But he’ll have to listen to each of the tapes to understand why he may have caused Hannah to kill herself. Asher wrote this story because it was inspired by events that happened at his high school. Through these two narratives of Clay and Hannah in 13 reasons Why Asher was able to make a deep impact on his readers. He was able to write a story that he hopes will leave a lasting impact on anyone who reads it.

13 Reasons Why is full of emotion and it hits home to any reader who may know someone who decided to end their life. I think that in the story, Hannah hopes that her tapes would have the ability to change even one of her peers and the actions that they take to cause havoc in other people’s lives. It may have given her something to hold on to in her final moments. This story shows that your actions, whether they are spreading rumors, telling lies, or bullying can dramatically affect another person’s life. Her story is a very real portrayal of suicide and the feelings that come with it, for the one who took their life, and the people that it may affect. 

Gone Girl Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is the critically acclaimed author of Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects. Flynn attended the University of Kansas and received undergrad degrees in English and journalism. She also earned a Master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University. Flynn wrote for Entertainment Weekly magazine for over ten years about movies and television shows. In 2006, Flynn released Sharp Objects which was an Edgar Award finalist, winner of two Britain’s Dagger Awards, and the movie rights have been sold. Dark Places, which was released in 2009, was a New York Times bestseller, weekend TODAY top summer read, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009, and the movie rights have also been sold. Flynn’s most recent novel, Gone Girl, released in 2012 was a New York Times bestseller, People Magazine Best books of the year, Macavity Award nominee for best mystery novel, and Anthony Award nominee for best novel. The movie for Gone Girl was released in October 2014.

Gillian Flynn writes about a marriage gone terribly wrong in her bestselling novel Gone Girl. The Washington Post says her work, “draws you in and keeps you reading with a force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Flynn’s combination of wit and her chilling words create an edgy thriller that leaves you hanging on every word.

Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary is coming up in North Carthage, Missouri on a warm summer morning. Everything seems to be going smoothly as Nick prepares for their anniversary with gifts and reservations, when the smart and beautiful Amy goes missing from their home on the Mississippi River. Nick doesn’t do himself any favors when he is daydreaming about his life without Amy, but Amy’s diaries show that her happy perfectionist self could have left anybody on edge. The longer Amy is missing, the guiltier Nick makes himself look by evading the police, keeping secrets, and lying to everyone, including his twin sister, Margo. As the police and media close in, Amy’s devoted parents and everyone in town begin to question their golden boy Nick’s innocence. But Nick holds tightly to his innocence and along with the help of Margo, he desperately tries to prove he is not guilty. But if Nick doesn’t know what happened to Amy, then where is she? And what could be in the mysterious gift box that was not so discretely hidden in Amy’s closet?

Flynn’s publishers say, “Employing her trademark razor-sharp writing and assured psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.”