Click here for some authors we’ve talked to about their books and their process.

And click below for some recommendations from some authors we trust.

 

Click here for Everyone

Adam McCauley

There are too many incredible books to list, but these come to mind first for me as important in my own upbringing.  I was basically steeped in Tintin as a child, basted by Oz and Tolkien, troubled by Jansson, tickled by Asterix and taught by Lear.  It wasn’t until High School that I saw Codex Seriphinianus, and I was thrown irrevocably into the world of illustration for good.

Jeff Zentner

Jeff Zentner is a guitarist and songwriter and the author of the starkly beautiful debut YA novel The Serpent King (our full review here).

 

  • The First Time She Drowned
  • Kerry Kletter

  • "An absolutely gorgeous, lyrical, and unflinching story about a girl escaping from under the thumb of a toxic mother and living her own life."

  • How to Hang a Witch
  • Adriana Mather

  • "A delightfully spooky, twist-turny, and gripping mystery set in a haunted present-day Salem, Massachusetts."

  • The Love That Split the World
  • Emily Henry

  • "A beautiful and romantic time travel story set in small-town Kentucky."

  • Kids of Appetite
  • David Arnold

  • (out in September) "A hilarious, quirky, and warm story about murder, first love, and families of choice."

  • Everything, Everything
  • Nicola Yoon

  • "A sweet and swoony story about a girl who's allergic to the world."

  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
  • Becky Albertalli

  • "A hilarious, warm, and wise coming-out and coming-of-age story."

  • More Happy Than Not
  • Adam Silvera

  • "A heartbreaking story about a young man running from his own memory."

Daniel Handler

is, most famously, the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events.  He also plays a mean accordian.

  • The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily

  • This book contains fierce battles, a magic wand, illegal gambling, a sea serpent, many ghosts and a werewolf, although the werewolf in the book doesn't really appear in the book. This has been my favorite book since I was a tiny brat, and now that I am larger I try to make everyone read it.

  • The Headless Cupid

  • This is another lifelong favorite of mine, about a poltergeist, which is either an invisible ghost throwing things around or somebody pretending to be an invisible ghost throwing things around.

  • Danny, the Champion of the World

  • Everybody knows Roald Dahl, but you might not know this book, which is not only a great suspense story but teaches you several methods of hunting pheasant illegally, which your parents have probably not taught you. Another thing you might not know about Roald Dahl is that if you go online you can take a virtual tour of the disgusting hut in which he wrote his books.

  • How I Live Now

  • This starts out as a pleasant summer story about spending time with one’s cousins and then suddenly gets pretty scary.

  • Running Wild

  • This book is even scarier. It might be too scary for you. It is about some nasty, nasty children. I don't really like to think about this book, which is probably why I've read it three times.

  • Halloween Party

  • OK, this book isn't nearly as scary. It's just about a young girl who gets murdered while bobbing for apples. Agatha Christie is fun to read because there's always a mystery, and often there's a list of characters in the front in case you start getting confused.

Patrick Jones

is a Senior Librarian at the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, MN.  This is what he says:

The Great Eight: great books (kind of) for guys.  Also: Magazines. Anytime I’m asked for booklist, I ask, “What about magazines, don’t they count?” Well, it’s my list so they count.  Read a magazine every month or week.

Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons. As a kid, he loved comics and dreamed of making them. With a long line of publications and art shows behind and in front of him, we'd say he's certainly living that dream. He's definitely a case of if you can dream it, with a lot of hard work, you can do it. Most lately he's the author of the New York Times bestselling Jedi Academy series. 

photo credit: Jill Liebhaber

  • The Complete Tales Of Winnie-The-Pooh
  • A.A. Milne

  • Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
    I only knew the Disney version of Winnie-The-Pooh until I had a son, and discovered I'd really been missing out. I was familiar with Shepard's excellent drawings, but had no idea just how funny and smart the original Pooh stories are.

  • Anything by Roald Dahl
  • Roald Dahl

  • There have been some notable Dahl adaptations - the original Willy Wonka film, Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox - but Dahl's books are more than just great source material for movies. They're endlessly entertaining, often laugh-out-loud funny, and great to read at any age, alone or with someone else also of any age.

  • Labyrinth
  • A.C.H. Smith

  • Going in reverse, here's a novelization of film I loved, and read a ton all the way to my teenage years. Recently reprinted in a nice edition that includes some of Brian Froud's goblin sketches, it's a fairy tale informed by the imagination of Jim Henson and the humor of Monty Python's Terry Jones.

  • His Dark Materials Trilogy
  • Philip Pullman

  • Fans of Harry Potter, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien should be sure to check out this fantasy series. The tone is earnest and sincere, and the adventure is full of wonder and mystery.