Here are 87 books that First fans have personally recommended if you like
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Ever since I watched my first K-drama, Heartstrings, on Netflix in 2011 I’ve become fascinated with Korean Pop Culture. I created one of the largest K-drama discussion groups on Facebook (KDA: Kdrama Anonymous) and published seven K-pop and K-drama-related Novellas. I traveled to Korea with my family in 2017 and was a panelist at Kcon in 2018. My passion for Korean Pop Culture has ventured into Webtoons and I often spend my time there catching up on all my favorite stories. I truly love Korean Culture and I’m happy to have participated in even a small part of it.
It might not be Korean, but the same feeling is there. So many fangirls dream of visiting their favorite stories—and the main character Jane—in the book Austenland gets to do just that. When Jane’s grandmother buys her a trip to Austenland—the place where any girl’s Jane Austen dream can come true, she feels rude turning it down. Although, she’s enamored by men wearing smart coats andcravats, she’s also keenly aware of how fake everything is. It only takes a few days, however, to get swept up in the realness of the scene. A fangirl can hardly control her desire to be in her favorite book. This adorable and funny romance is exactly my cup of tea.
Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr.…
Ever since I watched my first K-drama, Heartstrings, on Netflix in 2011 I’ve become fascinated with Korean Pop Culture. I created one of the largest K-drama discussion groups on Facebook (KDA: Kdrama Anonymous) and published seven K-pop and K-drama-related Novellas. I traveled to Korea with my family in 2017 and was a panelist at Kcon in 2018. My passion for Korean Pop Culture has ventured into Webtoons and I often spend my time there catching up on all my favorite stories. I truly love Korean Culture and I’m happy to have participated in even a small part of it.
K-pop Confidential was so real, I felt like I was the trainee. Candace Park is a fierce character with raw talent who starts her K-pop trainee years not believing in herself. Not only does the reader feel like they’re overcoming the challenges along with Candace, but it goes deep into the K-pop world with an intense knowledge of the industry. Candance’s fun personality and the cute B-story romance had just the right amount of tension to keep me hooked. One of my favorite K-pop books for sure.
"I'm still giddy over this electrifying, big-hearted, all-kill smash of a debut. I couldn't put it down." -- Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
In this romantic coming-of-age novel about chasing big dreams, a Korean-American girl travels to Seoul in hopes of debuting in a girl group at the same K-pop company behind the most popular boy band on the planet. Perfect for fans of Mary H. K. Choi and Jenny Han.
Candace Park knows a lot about playing a role. For most of her life, she's been playing the role of the quiet Korean…
Ever since I watched my first K-drama, Heartstrings, on Netflix in 2011 I’ve become fascinated with Korean Pop Culture. I created one of the largest K-drama discussion groups on Facebook (KDA: Kdrama Anonymous) and published seven K-pop and K-drama-related Novellas. I traveled to Korea with my family in 2017 and was a panelist at Kcon in 2018. My passion for Korean Pop Culture has ventured into Webtoons and I often spend my time there catching up on all my favorite stories. I truly love Korean Culture and I’m happy to have participated in even a small part of it.
Nerds are the new sexy in this adorable young adult rom-com. This story has an excellent character focus. Both Zoe and Zak have true character traits that don’t leave anything as fill-in-the-blank. It’s like reading about your two best friends getting together and giggling through the whole thing. Cassie Mae is a pro at comedy. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. Even if the characters aren’t Korean—they are true nerds—so the fangirl-like pop-culture references of the characters make it amazing. There’s nothing to dislike about this book, it’s an all-around good time.
Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy you only wish you were me reputation, burying who she really is---an all-out nerd. The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con.
Zak's a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing "Use the Force" t-shirts. And Zoe's got it bad for the boy.…
Ever since I watched my first K-drama, Heartstrings, on Netflix in 2011 I’ve become fascinated with Korean Pop Culture. I created one of the largest K-drama discussion groups on Facebook (KDA: Kdrama Anonymous) and published seven K-pop and K-drama-related Novellas. I traveled to Korea with my family in 2017 and was a panelist at Kcon in 2018. My passion for Korean Pop Culture has ventured into Webtoons and I often spend my time there catching up on all my favorite stories. I truly love Korean Culture and I’m happy to have participated in even a small part of it.
This book is almost better than watching a K-drama. Hasn’t every K-drama fan wished to be toured around the country by a hunky Korean man? Maybe the fan hasn’t pictured doing it alongside a bunch of old ladies, but she’ll take what she can get, won’t she? This super-funny, extra-flirty, good-times book is exactly the type of read I like to escape into. It truly took me on my own Korea tour right from my living room, with all romance included.
Flower Boy: noun 1. slang for a really hot guy Hannah Reynolds travels to Korea in search of her own drama hero come to life. What she gets instead is gorgeous, but surly tour guide, Jae Lee. He seems determined to ruin every romantic location they visit with his snarky comments, but Hannah can’t deny the crackling tension between them. As they travel around the country with a busload of wacky K-drama and K-pop fans, their chemistry keeps drawing the two together. Hannah sees the mountain of problems standing between her and a relationship with Jae. They live in different…
I’m only a writer because I was a musician first. I worshiped music—as a performer, listener, and later a critic—for its ability to enshrine me in a purely emotional world. My favorite lyrics were poetry in motion; my favorite melodies escaped description. And through sharing my feverish acclamations of particular albums and songs, I found community with others who also pledged themselves to art that’d definitively split their lives into “before” and “after.” My writing career was born from cathartic devotion and remains devoted to recounting the rapture of self-formation, of being reflected in the mirror of something that saw you before you even knew to see yourself.
Based on the title alone, I knew Yi’s debut novel would hit me like a crossbow to the heart. “Y/N” Is a prevalent shorthand for a particular kind of self-insert fan fiction, and having grown up in online fandom spaces, I have a lot of nostalgia for (and now plenty of necessary distance from) the passion that often explodes within and beyond those communities.
And still, I wasn’t prepared for the journey that Yi took me on. Nominally about one woman's spiraling obsession with a Korean pop idol, Y/N charts the inexplicable journey between a “regular person” and a “fan" before morphing into something sinisterly, beautifully, and singularly unhinged.
"Wondrous and weird." -New York Times "Gorgeous." -New Yorker "High Brow x Brilliant." -NY Mag (Approval Matrix) "So good it's hard to believe." -New York Times Book Review Podcast "Rare." -n+1 "A true novel of the era." -Elle "Piercing, feverish, and frequently astonishing." -Entertainment Weekly "Utterly brilliant, shining, and mesmerizing." -Cosmopolitan "Freakish and hallucinatory." -Vulture "Absurdly funny." -Ms. Magazine "Savage." -Vanity Fair "Playful, immersive yet unreal." -Esquire "Riveting and innovative." -TIME "Curious, cerebral . . . with moments of tender poetry." -Times Literary Supplement "It."-SSENSE "Sophisticated." -Chicago Review of Books "Strange, haunting, and undeniably beautiful." -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "One…
My debut novel was geared toward Young Adults because I’m fascinated by young people discovering themselves in different environments. Although I enjoy reading and writing other genres, I'm arguably more interested in YA. This is a genre that is in need of good writers because it is like an introduction to youngsters who pick up novels that they deem safe for their ages and consumption. It is a fun and exciting genre. I’m trying to contribute to it and hopefully lessen the bad reviews out there for YA books.
In just a matter of a few years the world has been overtaken by Kpop sensations. Their pretty, quirky, and incredible artistic styles have made them garner massive fans all over the world. Behind the scenes of the boy band culture is whereMy Summer in Seoulshines to show us what it’s like for someone who is new to the country and its culture. It is difficult, funny, sad and the romance is a breath of fresh air.
My recommendation shares a theme with my book about young Kpop/ boy band romance. However, as someone who relates personally to moving to a new country at a young age, I’m fascinated by how people with different backgrounds adjust to new environments. There are challenges with food, weather, and sometimes language, which can be daunting. The worst part is not understanding what is being said to you or about you. This…
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a standalone new adult romance set in the competitive world of K-pop.
It’s not all K-dramas and happily ever afters.
Intern with Korea’s number one record label? Yes, please. Find out there’s a huge scandal I need to help “manage”… not so much. Add in the fact that I don’t recognize the “superstars” of the label and think they’re interns… And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare.
But I’m in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home... Except it…
I've always been fascinated by the idea of the war in Heaven. As a storyteller, the eternal struggle between angels and demons fighting for the fate of creation has been a source of perpetual inspiration for me. But finding stories about angels that aren't YA or paranormal romance can be challenging. So, channeling my love of historical fiction and action-packed adventure, I set out to craft a thrilling, realistic tale that puts the reader right on the front lines beside a peaceful angel forced into becoming a warrior fighting against his former brothers. This list reflects my favorite books that paved the way and inspired my own work.
This is actually the second book of Zeigler's Tears of Heaven series, but I read this one first and it stands perfectly on its own. There's so much I love about it, from the concept of rebel dark angels working to overthrow Satan with the help and ingenuity of human scientists and soldiers they rescue from Hell's torments to Zeigler's masterful world-building based on scripture and classic depictions of Hell. He pulls no punches in vividly describing the agonies of damnation. But it's his clever use of scientific principles to explain Hell's supernatural rules as well as arm his protagonists that truly stands out for me. I strove to achieve that level of logic in my book, but Zeigler manages to weaponize it as only a trained scientist could.
Satan and his minions have declared war on the most beautiful planet in the universe his purpose is to depose Michael the archangel and become second only to God in command of all creation. Standing in Satan's way are a scattered and disorganized host of angels, a group of inexperienced saints, a small band of humans, and some angelic rebels in Hell. Armed with faith full power, Abaddon the Destroyer creates a formidable army to challenge the evil targeting Earth. Author of best selling Heaven and Hell, Kenneth Zeigler again draws from his research to create a realistic tale where…
I am an author who also penned a novel during the pandemic, with a timeline that stretched into the first six months of the pandemic–against the advice of my agent and the publishing industry at large. I know many authors choose not to write about intense political and social happenings, but that “life will never be the same again” feeling was something I couldn’t avoid. The pandemic threw people together and kept us apart at the same time. I was intensely interested in its incubator effect as well as the silo aspect quarantining had on all of our lives.
This YA novel was the first I read set during COVID times, and it hit me with the urgency of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
I loved the author’s unwavering courage in tackling the racial subject matter head-on. Heartbreaking and whip-smart, it taught me what teens were going through with regard to virtual friendship, classrooms, and pop stardom. Farley’s novel captures a moment in time during the pandemic while others were still processing it.
Like a photo album, I wasn’t quite ready to revisit, it portrays the importance of a difficult time in our nation’s history coupled with that uneasy age of adolescence. Entertaining, yes, but a historical artifact, definitely.
For sixteen-year-old Geth Montego, zero o’clock begins on March 11, 2020. By June, she wonders if it will ever end.
“An insightful, eye-opening, and inventive story. C.J. Farley has penned a novel that sheds an important light on real issues facing young people today.” ―Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give
In early March 2020 in New Rochelle, New York, teenager Geth Montego is fumbling with the present and uncertain about her future. She only has three friends: her best friend Tovah, who’s been acting weird ever since they started applying to college; Diego, who she wants to ask…
I’m an author of spy and treasure-hunting books! As a Christian, I’m always looking for mysteries and adventures of all kinds that leave my heart pounding, but the story itself contains high morals and justice. I love a dash of mystery, a cup of comedy, a sprinkle of romance, and a dollop of drama. These are some of my favorite picks. They’re all incredibly different too, so if you like variety, this is the list to be visiting. The order was automatically randomized—they’re all fantastic! The authors all have true hearts of gold, so definitely go out and support their amazing work today! God bless!
I am recommending this book because it’s one of those classic mysteries with a group of brave teens who grow and solve cases with each passing book. The world-building is so well done and the characters are realistic. I love this book because of the great relationships between the characters. It taught me about friendship and loyalty! This series helped me learn how to jump into problem-solving mode. If something is wrong, don’t hold back. Get out there and fix it!
Can four teens solve a puzzling whodunit that captivates their small town and baffles the police?
"Asbury High is a quick paced, Scooby-Doo-esque story that features a strong storyline and even stronger bonds of friendship. [It] is a mystery that will appeal to anyone that enjoys a light and fun sleuth story featuring a group of likable young amateur detectives." (Indies Today, ★★★★★)
Available in paperback! Take one spunky valedictorian, one clever billionaire athlete, one gossipy in-the-know cheerleader and one technological genius, and throw a string of burglaries into their usually quiet, coastal hometown and what do you…
I’m a fantasy author and an obsessive world builder (my World of Vindor has 12 diverse nations developed over 20 years), and I love cinematic fantasy that places realistic people in exotic settings. To me, the best fantasy is beautiful in its own right—not merely allegory—but asks deep questions and influences the way we approach real life. I choose to write clean fantasy (without graphic violence, sexual situations, or profanity) to keep my work accessible to readers of all ages and sensitivity levels. The likewise clean fantasy books below have all moved me in some way, helping me see the world around me in a wondrous new light.
One night, during a Blitzkrieg attack on London, the Hapwell siblings are whisked away to the fantastical Woodlands. There they spend the next several years helping the great stag Cervus defend Palace Beautiful. But it’s when the siblings return to their own world that their real troubles begin. Pining for the Woodlands debilitates Evelyn, the youngest Hapwell, and she can no longer navigate life at boarding school or maintain relationships. Can her older sister Philippa stop Evelyn from falling to pieces, all while battling her own demons? This beautiful narrative takes us deep into the complexity of grief and guilt, and explores the heartbreak of trying to rescue a loved one who doesn’t want help.
What happens when you return to the real world after living in a fantasy one? Perfect for fans of Holly Black and Brigid Kemmerer. 'I loved this beautiful book!' Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood
'Transfixing and unforgettable.' Sara Holland, New York Times bestselling author of Everless
'Doesn't let go until the last, stunning sentence.' Amy Ewing, author of The Jewel
Six years ago, sisters Evie and Philippa were swept away to a strange and beautiful kingdom called the Woodlands, where they lived for years. Now, returned to the real world, they must come to…
