The Friday Five: 5 Authors You Need to Know About

Outfit details here: dress my color is sold out, but they also have
a blue/white stripe, yellow, and solid white (gap); shoes (vans)

Happy Friday, y’all! I am so excited to share today’s Friday Five with y’all because these are some of my favorite authors and I know y’all will love them too. We all know the big BIG names like Elin Hilderbrand, Emily Giffin, Sophie Kinsella, Ruth Ware, etc. and while all the authors I’m going to talk about are very popular authors, you might not know about them or hear about them as much as you do the others. These are auto buy authors for me. I’ve loved everything they’ve written and I always mark on the calendar the release date for their next book. Let me share with y’all 5 of my very favorite writers.

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

I discovered Marybeth Mayhew Whalen when I was searching on Lake Union’s publishing page on Netgalley. I saw the pom poms on the cover of When We Were Worthy and was immediately sold-I love a good cheer story! When We Were Worthy is about a group of cheerleaders who are killed in a car accident the night of a big football game. It is SO good, but I actually think I loved Only Ever Her more. This one is about a girl whose mother is killed and the man convicted of her death is about to be released. I LOVED this one!

Jenn Bennett

If you love YA (young adult) then Jenn Bennett is an author you definitely need to read. If you are a high school teacher, your kids will love these books. They are all wonderful, but my very favorite, hands down, is her first: Alex Approximately. This is the teen version of You’ve Got Mail. It’s about a girl and a guy who have been talking online, but actually (unknowingly) work together at a museum. It is SO cute!

Serious Moonlight is about two teens who work together at a hotel. It’s my least favorite Jenn Bennett, but I read it as I was moving into my house last spring and everything was busy, crazy, and hectic, so I might have enjoyed it more if I read it at a different time.

Starry Night is really good! It’s about two teens who used to be best friends until they had a big fight. They end up going on a camping trip together and reconnect. 🙂

Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld is one of those smart writers. Some authors I read for their really amazing storylines. Some authors I read because they create amazing, relatable, inspiring characters. I read Curtis Sittenfeld because literally every line is thoughtful, but also engaging and interesting. You know how some (or most) literary fiction is wordy or hard to understand? Curtis Sittenfeld manages to write thought provoking stories that are unputdownable-a rare combo!

I’m not a big fan of short story collections, but I loved You Think It, I’ll Say It contains so many great stories that take on gender roles, class, political views, and the issues that have made our country so divided. It is such a good read!

Curtis Sittenfeld has also written my very favorite book of all time: Prep. I read this as soon as it came out my junior year of high school. I love adult books that take place in high school-like the main character is now older but the story is them reflecting on their high school experience. I love that! I also picked it up because the cover featured a pink and green belt that was just like one I had from the GAP…do y’all remember when that trend was popular! 🙂

Anyways, this quickly became my all time favorite book. It follows a girl named Lee who convinces her parents to let her attend a boarding school and live away from home starting her freshman year of high school. The story follows Lee from 9th to 12th grade. It is fascinating how Lee grows and how each year of her high school is different. I LOVE this one!

If you love Pride and Prejudice retellings, you’ll love Eligible! It’s a modern take on the classic-with a Bachelor twist. It is so good!

R.S. Grey

RS Grey quickly became one of my most favorite romance writers after I discovered her book, Anything You Can Do, when my mom had to stay overnight in the hospital and I was in search of a good book to keep me company. After devouring that one, I read everything else RS Grey had ever written and then kept my eyes peeled for her new releases. When life is incredibly busy and you can’t really concentrate on anything too heavy, her books provide the perfect escape.

Michelle Campbell

If you’re a fan of the thriller/mystery genre, you’re probably aware of Michelle Campbell’s books, but if you haven’t read anything she’s written, you definitely need to check her out! Her books are such great reads that are always unputdownable. My favorite is She was the Quiet One, which is set in a boarding school. Michelle Campbell’s books are more mystery than thriller, which I love. Her endings always shock me and then afterwards, I’m left thinking about certain things that happened earlier that suddenly make sense now. They are just fantastic reads.