{"id":17017,"date":"2013-01-19T00:03:47","date_gmt":"2013-01-19T04:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=17017"},"modified":"2013-01-19T00:59:45","modified_gmt":"2013-01-19T04:59:45","slug":"stand-out-authors-sherwood-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=17017","title":{"rendered":"Stand-out Authors: Sherwood Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When I posted my 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a>, it became very clear that I have certain favorite authors. I thought it would be fun to highlight the authors from this year’s list whose books have been Sonderbooks Stand-outs before.<\/p>\n

Of all the 2012 Stand-out Authors, Sherwood Smith has the second most, with 12 Stand-outs.<\/p>\n

I discovered Sherwood Smith when I read her short story in Firebirds<\/a><\/em>. Since Firebirds<\/em> was a 2003 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a> (#1 for Short Stories), perhaps we should say Sherwood Smith has 13 Stand-outs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 2004, I discovered Crown Duel<\/a><\/em>, and I knew I’d found a new favorite author. In fact, I’d put Crown Duel<\/em> in my top ten favorite books ever. It was a 2004 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>, My Favorite Book of the Year. In categories, it was #1 in Young Adult Fantasy.<\/p>\n

I doubled up on Crown Duel<\/em> when I reread it in 2009 and named it a 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>, in the category of Wonderful Rereads.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But in 2004 I naturally read everything of Sherwood Smith’s I could get my hands on, so I also read the three books about Wren and named them all Sonderbooks Stand-outs. In fact, they were my only three Stand-outs in Children’s Fantasy that year:
\n#1 Wren to the Rescue<\/a><\/em>
\n#2 Wren’s War<\/a><\/em>
\n#3 Wren’s Quest<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I didn’t find more Sherwood Smith books to read until 2007, when I read Inda<\/em>, and named it #4 in Fantasy Fiction<\/a>. However, that was the year I was completing my MLIS degree and didn’t get even all the Stand-outs reviewed. That simply means I have to reread them some time!<\/p>\n

In 2009, I started seeing more of her books and devouring them whenever possible. She’s a feature on my Sonderbooks Stand-outs lists since then.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a>, #7 in Teen Fantasy Fiction was Once a Princess<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I remember I read Once a Princess<\/em> the last week of the year. So naturally the first book I read\"\"<\/a> in 2010 was also a Stand-out<\/a>: Twice a Prince<\/a><\/em> was #3 in Teen Fantasy Fiction.<\/p>\n

The truth is, I’m almost embarrassed by how romantic I find Sherwood Smith’s books. So when, that same year, she published a romance novel for an adult audience, Coronets and Steel<\/a><\/em>, it was #1 in Fiction on my 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2011, another stand-alone Teen Fantasy, The Trouble With Kings<\/a><\/em>, was #5 on my Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a> list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And that brings us to last year and my current list of 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This time, she appears on both my adult fiction list at #4 for Blood Spirits<\/a><\/em>, the sequel to Coronets and Steel<\/a><\/em>, as well as #2 in Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction for The Spy Princess<\/a><\/em>, which so far is a stand-alone book, but I hope will turn into the first of a series.<\/p>\n

Remember Inda<\/em>, which was a Stand-out, but I never did review? And which I fully intend to reread? Well, Inda<\/em> turned out to be the first of a four-book series, and, what’s more, I own all four books but haven’t read them. You see, I bought them when I still hadn’t developed a system to force myself to read books I own. I buy books I know I’ll love, but then I wouldn’t get around to reading them because they didn’t have a due date! On top of that, the Inda<\/em> books are really long, and I’m spoiled by reading lots of young adult books. But now I have a system, and I hope to get to those books this year.<\/p>\n

Again, if you missed these books when they first showed up on my lists, that doesn’t mean you need to miss them any longer! Sherwood Smith is another Favorite Author I highly recommend!<\/p>\n

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