Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a hard-core reader family. Everyone always had a book in their hands, so it came naturally to me to absorb everything in the house library before the urge to write caught up with me. My first typewriter was my mother’s from college, my twelve-year-old self delighted by the opportunity to express herself at last in ways that made sense to me (especially since I was the weirdo introvert who talked to the voices in her head). Since my parents exposed me to a multitude of genres, it’s no surprise I write everything from sci-fi to post-apocalyptic, fantasy and horror, cozy mysteries, and young adult paranormal.


I wrote

Family Magic

By Patti Larsen,

Book cover of Family Magic

What is my book about?

Her mom’s a witch, her dad’s a demon, but Sydlynn Hayle just wants to be ordinary. When an insidious evil…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Red Rising

Patti Larsen Why did I love this book?

I love it when a writer can really suck me in from page one, and Pierce Brown did that to me with the first book of the Red Rising series. I literally could not put it down and read into the night, something I haven’t done in a long time. It reminded me of The Hunger Games, so compelling in a dystopian future that had me fascinated. I adored the main character and his struggle, how his commitment was challenged along with his own biases as he evolved past the initial trial that drove him to the main plot of the story. I found him truly engaging and driven I was right there with Darrow, wondering as he did what was the right thing to do. The moment I finished it, I bought book two!

By Pierce Brown,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Red Rising as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, BUZZFEED, GOODREADS AND SHELF AWARENESS

Pierce Brown's heart-pounding debut is the first book in a spectacular series that combines the drama of Game of Thrones with the epic scope of Star Wars.

**********

'Pierce Brown's empire-crushing debut is a sprawling vision . . . Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow' - Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Pandemic

'[A] top-notch debut novel . . . Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field' - USA Today

**********

Darrow is a Helldiver. A pioneer…


Book cover of Pawn of Prophecy

Patti Larsen Why did I love this book?

I know this book is old school, but that’s literally what I love about it. I started reading the series when I was a teenager and I’ve loved it so much ever since I’ve reread the entirety every other year since. To the point I’ve memorized lines from it, including the first one that gets me every time: “The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor’s Farm.” It’s an epic adventure that takes an unknown and unwitting boy from a tiny village to a life-and-death battle for the future of his world in truly fantastic fantasy storytelling that has me crying at the end because I never want it to be over. 

By David Eddings,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Pawn of Prophecy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first part of a saga set against a history of 7000 years of struggles of gods and kings and men. Long ago, the evil god Torak sought dominion and drove men and gods to war. Belgarath the Sorcerer led a quest to reclaim the Orb of Aldur - but so long as it lay at Riva, men would be safe.


Book cover of The Mummy or Ramses the Damned

Patti Larsen Why did I love this book?

If you haven’t read The Mummy by Anne Rice, you’re totally missing out. Her deliciously intense prose and ability to render an environment with emotional impact always thrills me. And while I love the Vampire Lestat books, the tale of Ramses and Julie is part Beauty and the Beast, part Raiders of the Lost Ark, and all awesome. Anne Rice brings you to the early 20th century in London while Egyptian “recovery” was all the rage and I swear you can see, feel and taste that experience on every page. It’s billed as a horror, but I’ve always read it as a deeply adventurous and exciting love story.

By Anne Rice,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Mummy or Ramses the Damned as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ramses the Great returns in this “darkly magical” (USA Today) novel from bestselling author Anne Rice

“The reader is held captive and, ultimately, seduced.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Ramses the Great lives!

But having drunk the elixer of live, he is now Ramses the Damned, doomed forever to wander the earth, desperate to quell hungers that can never be satisfied—for food, for wine, for women.

Reawakened in opulent Edwardian London, he becomes Dr. Ramsey, expert in Egyptology. He also becomes the close companion of voluptuous, adventurous Julie Stratford, heiress to a vast shipping fortune and the center…


Book cover of The Blue Sword

Patti Larsen Why did I love this book?

Take a sweeping YA adventure and magic and horses and a delicious book boyfriend all dropped on an outspoken, stubborn young woman thrown into a life she’s uniquely suited to and you have this delightful read from Robin McKinley. With a powerful heroine doing her best to understand her place, suspended between two distinct ways of life, The Blue Sword makes me want to run away from feeling out of place, awkward and never good enough and be just like Harry Crewe.

By Robin McKinley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Blue Sword as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Read this modern classic of young adult fantasy from award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley

Harry Crewe is an orphan girl who comes to live in Damar, the desert country shared by the Homelanders and the secretive, magical Free Hillfolk. When Corlath, the Hillfolk King, sees her for the first time, he is shaken—for he can tell that she is something more than she appears to be. He will soon realize what Harry has never guessed: She is to become Harimad-sol, King’s Rider, and carry the Blue Sword, Gonturan, which no woman has wielded since the legendary Lady…


Book cover of Feed

Patti Larsen Why did I love this book?

I love post-apocalyptic reads, and Feed is on the top of my list, partially because of how normal the writer makes a zombie takeover feel. Like we’re being forced to pivot and adapt to our new way of being thanks to Covid-19, the main characters of Feed exist in a daily zone of risk and reward, surrounded by the likelihood they, too, will become zombies if they aren’t careful, all while getting out there and telling the stories others need to hear in the midst of their own pandemic. It’s brilliantly laid out, takes the reader from a small corner of the world to a more expansive political stage, all while keeping its humanity despite the horrors unfolding around the lead characters. I loved it and still think about it long after I finished.

By Mira Grant,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Feed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

BOOK 1 IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES

'Gripping, thrilling and brutal . . . a masterpiece of suspense' Publishers Weekly

'The zombie novel Robert A. Heinlein might have written' Sci-Fi Magazine

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives -…


Explore my book 😀

Family Magic

By Patti Larsen,

Book cover of Family Magic

What is my book about?

Her mom’s a witch, her dad’s a demon, but Sydlynn Hayle just wants to be ordinary. When an insidious evil comes for her coven, only she can save her family’s magic.

Book cover of Red Rising
Book cover of Pawn of Prophecy
Book cover of The Mummy or Ramses the Damned

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Book cover of Edge of the Known World

Sheri T. Joseph Author Of Edge of the Known World

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Sheri's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Edge of the Known World is a near-future love and adventure story about a brilliant young refugee caught in era when genetic screening tests like 23AndMe make it impossible to hide a secret identity. The novel is distributed by Simon & Schuster. It is a USA Today Bestseller and 2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in multiple categories, including Best New Fiction, Political Thriller, and Science Fiction: General.

Alexandra is a gifted student, adoring daughter, and exuberant prankster. She is also hiding in the open. After a blissful childhood, Alex learned she’s an illegal refugee from a brutal regime, smuggled into…

By Sheri T. Joseph,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Edge of the Known World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fans of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake will be swept away by this riveting speculative fiction adventure and love story about family, genetic privacy, and the onrushing future of surveillance technology.

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