5 Books More People Should be Reading | Newbie Blogger Spotlight
5 Books More People Should be Reading
Hello lovelies! February has been a MONTH and somehow I’ve only really managed to post my Newbie Blogger Spotlight posts… that’s something though right!
The Newbie Blogger Spotlight is something I’ve been doing for about 8 months now where every week (usually on a Wednesday) I share a post written by a newish blogger! I encourage you all to give them support and check out their blogs. It’s so hard when you’re starting out or have a small following to grow it, so I thought I’d help those who need it.
Today I have a post by Taylor at tayepperson.com or you can find them on Instagram.
Hi friends! I’m excited to be sharing my post on Jenn’s blog today. I’ve been reading her blog for a while now, and since I just launched my blog I reached out to see if I could have a guest post on her blog!
I have been a blogger for a while now, well sort of. I had a personal blog for only friends and family for several years before I decided to branch out and make my blog more public. I officially launched my blog in October this year! I write a lifestyle and faith blog where I also talk a lot about books. While my blog isn’t specifically a book blog, I talk a lot about books because I love them so much!
Today I wanted to talk about five books that I feel like more people should be reading and talking about! These are some of my favorite books that I feel don’t have a lot of people talking about them and I wanted to change that today.
1. 
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on March 8, 2016
Pages: 372
Goodreads
Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.
The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia. But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. Dill’s only escapes are his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending—one that will rock his life to the core.
Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible Belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.
This book will make you smile and break your heart all at the same time. This was one of the first contemporaries I read after a long break from them and it was amazing. I do feel like this book has had more buzz than some of the others on this list, but still, if you haven’t read it, I recommend you run to get it right now. You’ll want to read it again and again.
2. 
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
Published by Delacorte Press on August 30, 2016
Pages: 416
Goodreads
Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.
Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.
Girl in Pieces came out in 2016 and has great mental illness rep (anxiety, depression, TW: self-harm) but I think that this book is so important to read. This book is also so beautifully written that it will break your heart but also leave you with a lot of hope. Girl in Pieces came into my life when I was struggling with my own mental illness diagnosis and it was a great help for me in that time of life.
3. 
Fawkes by Nadine Brandes
Published by Thomas Nelson on July 10, 2018
Pages: 448
Goodreads
Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.
Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.
But what if death finds him first?
Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.
The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.
The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.
No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.
I recently read Fawkes and because of it, I’ve fallen in love with historical retellings with a fantasy twist. Fawkes is a retelling of the story of Guy Fawkes, but focuses on his son Thomas. There’s magic and a stone plague and a plot for murder. What more would you want?
4. 
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Published by Ballantine Books on April 30, 2013
Pages: 340
Goodreads
A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.
Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three-year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates - Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material - and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.
Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.
Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.
I picked this one up because I love Lauren Graham in both Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. Someday, Someday, Maybe is all about an aspiring actress who has given herself six more months to actually become an actress before giving up on that dream. It’s all about finding yourself as a young adult, putting yourself out there to chase your dreams, and discovering what happens as you go after the things you want in life. I loved this book so much, and I recommend it to everyone who loves a good coming of age story.
5. 
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Published by Algonquin Books on April 1, 2014
Pages: 260
Goodreads
As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.
We are not quite novels.
We are not quite short stories.
In the end, we are collected works.
A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died; his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history; and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Chief Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward him; from Ismay, his sister-in-law, who is hell-bent on saving A.J. from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, he can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.
And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, though large in weight—an unexpected arrival that gives A.J. the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world. Or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming.
I feel like this book has been growing in popularity recently, but honestly, I think this a book that every bookworm would love! It’s all about a guy who owns a bookstore and then one day something unexpected is left in his shop and changes his life forever. There’s a bit of adventure, lots of books, and it will just make your heart happy as you read it.
Those are the five books that I recommend that I don’t see many other people talking about! Have you read any of them or do you have any books that you’d add to this list? I’m always looking for more hidden gems to read!
Thank you Taylor! I hope you all enjoy.
As always, if you’re interested in taking part, send me a message!
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6 Comments
The only one of these I’ve actually heard of is Girl in Pieces which I have on my shelf! You have definitely encouraged me to pick it up sooner rather than later.
Super yes for Fawkes! I don’t read that much historical fantasy but I’m so glad it worked out for me. Really enjoyed the idea of color power!
I’ve only read The Serpent King, but it made me a huge fan of this author.
I totally forgot that Lauren Graham had written a book. Adding it to my TBR now. Great list!
Hoohoo 🙂
I’ve been meaning to read The Serpent King for ages now!! Probably I’ll finally pick it up 🙂
Nice post. I may try to copy you and do a similar one. Imitation is the SINCEREST form of flattery. You rock, friend.