The Debut Author Challenge 2014

This will be my fourth year doing the Debut Author Challenge (unofficially). In 2013, I read 22 2013 debuts, which was down from 52 2012 debuts I read in 2012. This year I'm aiming for 15.

I've already read 3 2014 debuts (and can highly recommend all three):

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig
Loop by Karen Akins
Fake ID by Lamar Giles

Already in my TBR pile:

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
Alienated by Melissa Landers

The Fifty-Seven Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG Buehrlen 

Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington 

Here are some others I have my eye on:

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Gilded by Christina Farley

Stitching Snow by RC Lewis
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Extraction by Stephanie Diaz
Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Check out this list for more suggestions!

Any others I should be on the lookout for?

Book Review: Fake ID by Lamar Giles

On his first day at a new school, Nick already catches the attention of the biggest bullies, the hottest girl (Reya) and the editor of the school paper (Eli) - which is not good when you're meant to keep a low profile. See, Nick's family is in the Witness Protection Program, and Nick isn't really his name.

Eli convinces Nick to work on the paper with him, confides in him that he's working on a HUGE story, and then winds up dead. Meanwhile, Nick starts to suspect that his father, a former accountant for the mob, is somehow involved.

This is just the kind of thriller I like - a juicy central mystery, lots of great twists, and characters that feel real. There's a palpable sense of danger throughout, but also bits of comic relief and a side of sizzling romance.

Nick isn't someone who trusts easily and he's never had many friends, so it's both rewarding and heartbreaking to follow the developing relationships between him and his classmates. It was also fascinating to see Nick's inner turmoil as he tries to come to terms with his father's past and what that means for his future.

FAKE ID is available now! Find out more about it at the author's website.

FTC disclosure: Edelweiss

Books Read/Reviewed in 2014

Total so far:

73

YA Fiction

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
Panic by Lauren Oliver
Fake ID by Lamar Giles
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG Buehrlen
Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt
Cured by Bethany Wiggins
(secret beta read)
Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
Minders by Michelle Jaffe
Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington
Don't Look Now by Michelle Gagnon
The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano
This Side of Salvation by Jeri-Smith Ready

Noggin by John Corey Whaley
She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Enders by Lissa Price
Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke
The Fearless by Emma Pass
The Aftermath by Jen Alexander
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Rebel by Amy Tintera
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
Chorus by Emma Trevayne

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Killer Instinct by SE Green
Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater
Defector by Susanne Winnacker
The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams
Divided by Elsie Chapman
On the Fence by Kasie West
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by AS King
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis
Falls the Shadow by Stephanie Gaither
The Jewel by Amy Ewing
One Death, Nine Stories (Anthology)
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne-Jones
Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters
Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
The Goats by Brock Cole
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta
Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn
Pointe by Brandy Colbert
Zig Zag by Ellen Wittlinger
Sisters Fate by Jessica Spotswood
Repossessed by AM Jenkins
Latitude Zero by Diana Renn

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Ann Peters


Fiction

Come See About Me by CK Kelly Martin
Dare Me by Megan Abbott
Precious Thing by Colette McBeth
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
That Night by Chevy Stevens

MG Fiction

Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick
Jessica Darling's It List #1 by Megan McCafferty
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Non-Fiction

The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler
Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

...