Top 5 Wednesday REWIND: Authors You'd Want to Write Like

This month our Top 5 Wednesday topics are Rewind topics. This means that instead of having new prompts for every Wednesday, we get to choose any of the topics from previous months and make those our topics for the month of May. The first topic I chose is "Authors You'd Want to Write Like".

Authors:

• My first pick is Leigh Bardugo. She has a very atmospheric writing style and is a master at setting a gritty vibe that carries consistently through her books (you can see this in her Six of Crows duology). She is definitely an author I look to for 'setting' inspiration as I aspire to create the kinds of settings she manages to achieve. 

• Adam Silvera is my second choice. I've only read one of his books, History Is All You Left Me, but it blew me away how invested I was in the character's lives after reading about them in just one book. I felt for them as if they were real people that not only existed but that I knew personally. I would love to be able to convey strong emotions in my writing as well as he does. 

• For my third author, I have Jack Ketchum. Ketchum is a really great author to read if you're looking for books that have topics or themes that are difficult to read or make the reader very uncomfortable, an example of this being his novella, I'm Not Sam. He handles taboo subjects so well and I hope that any writing I do that handles topics like that would be written as well as his. 

• Fourth is Cassandra Clare. Of course, I had to mention CC, how could I not? Her more recent books, such as her Dark Artifices trilogy, have been so completely realized and so well written IMO. She manages to cram so much into her novels without it feeling like the aspects of the novel were crammed into it. Everything from world building to politics to relationships (whether those be romantic, platonic, or familial) are combined seamlessly. My hope is that my writing would be so well put together that it blended as smoothly as hers does. 

• Vladimir Nabokov is my final pick. Lolita is one of my all-time favorite novels. For me, it is a perfect example of what beautiful writing looks like. Though Nabokov's native language is Russian, Lolita was originally written in English, which I think shows what a strong grasp he had on the English language. If Nabokov can write so beautifully in a language that is not native to him, then my goal as a writer would be to obtain, and write with, the same level of understanding of English as he has.

✿ Those are my Top 5 Wednesday picks for today. If you did a T5W post, link it below, I'd love to check it out, or you can subscribe to BookSass. Thanks for reading!

Top 5 Wednesday: Auto-buy SFF Authors

Today's Top 5 Wednesday topic is auto-buy authors that write SFF. I personally don't read very much Sci-Fi, so most of these are auto-buy fantasy authors, but there's one on this list who did write a SF book that I liked well enough to want to continue with the series.

#1 - Cassandra Clare 

Of course, Cassandra Clare is on this list. She's not just one of my top 5 SFF auto-buy authors, she's one of my top 5 auto-buy authors in general. If you've browsed some of my other blog posts, then it's no secret I'm a huge fan of the Shadowhunter Chronicles. It was the series that reignited my love for reading, it led me to discover booktube, and it's the first series I ever felt the need to own all of the books to. Even if these weren't reasons for her to be on this list, I've found that her writing and the complexity of her stories get better with every book she writes. And it's for that reason that she remains an auto-buy author for me.

#2 - Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo is the only author I have ever preordered a book from, besides Cassandra Clare. I have not read her Grisha trilogy, but I have read and own the Six of Crows duology (Crooked Kingdom being the book I preordered). Her writing is so atmospheric and she has such a talent for creating interesting characters that are easy to be invested in. I can't wait to see what she does in the future, but I'll be reading her books regardless.

#3 - A.G Howard

A.G Howard's Splintered trilogy was my first time reading her work. I read the first book in one sitting and binged the other two books within a few days because I loved them so much. She's published a few other books that fall into the fantasy genre since, and although I haven't read them yet, I definitely plan to. She reimagined the world of Wonderland in such a dark and unique way that I trust whatever she publishes, I'll love.

#4 - Jay Kristoff

Though he writes fantasy as well as SF, the only book by Jay Kristoff I've ever read is Illuminae, which is a SF book he co-wrote with the author Amie Kaufman. I wasn't expecting to like the book very much as I'm not really into SF, but I freaking loved it. I found the mixed media writing style to be so interesting and different from anything I had seen before. I also genuinely enjoyed the plot, which again, was unexpected. The book primarily takes place on a spaceship, which did not appeal to me at all, but I really loved the setting and the way it was presented. If Jay Kristoff can make me a fan of a SF book, then I trust whatever he chooses to write and I'll buy it and support him for that reason.

#5 - Sabaa Tahir

I loved Sabaa Tahir's book, An Ember in the Ashes so much when I first read it. It's been a couple years since, and I still need to pick up the sequel. But this isn't because I didn't enjoy the first book, because I remember thinking it was amazing in fact. It's just that I had read it in one sitting and quickly forgot too many of the details to continue reading the series without rereading An Ember in the Ashes. I'm not sure when I'll get to that, but I definitely plan to. So I don't care what she publishes, I will continue buying her books because I know I'll love them no matter what they're about.