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C.K.’s Year In Books

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Take a look at C.K.’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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C.K. Kelly Martin’s Followers (328)

C.K.’s Bookshelves

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currently-reading (2)
read (1589)
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horror (1)
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C.K.’s Friends (171)

Christine

4,128 books | 181 friends

Tina

464 books | 93 friends

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3,093 books | 2,195 friends

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C.K. Kelly Martin

Goodreads Author

Born

in Canada

Website

http://www.ckkellymartin.com/

Twitter

CKKellyMartin

Genre

Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction

Member Since

January 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ckkellymartin

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Long before I was an author I was a fan of books about Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Madeline, Anne Shirley and anything by Judy Blume. Throughout high school my favourite class was English. No surprise, then, that most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major—not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. (Hons) in film studies but a fine way to get a general arts education.

After getting my film studies degree I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz. I always believed I'd get around to writing in earnest eventually, and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By th Long before I was an author I was a fan of books about Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Madeline, Anne Shirley and anything by Judy Blume. Throughout high school my favourite class was English. No surprise, then, that most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major—not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. (Hons) in film studies but a fine way to get a general arts education.

After getting my film studies degree I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz. I always believed I'd get around to writing in earnest eventually, and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By then I'd discovered that fiction about young people felt the freshest and most exciting to me. You have most of your life to be an adult but you only grow up once.

Currently residing near Toronto with my Dub husband, I'm an aunt to twenty-one nieces and nephews, and a great-aunt to five great-nieces and two great-nephews. I became an Irish citizen in 2001 and continue to visit Dublin as often as I can while working on novels about young people.

My first young adult book, I Know It's Over, came out with Random House in September 2008, and was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death, My Beating Teenage Heart and sci-fi thriller Yesterday. I released Yesterday's sequel, Tomorrow, in 2013 and put out my first adult novel, Come See About Me, as an ebook in June 2012. Two of my contemporary YA books, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing and Delicate, were published by Cormorant Books' Dancing Cat Books imprint in 2014 and 2015. They also published my middle grade sci-fi, Stricken.

My 2017 young adult novel, Just Like You Said It Would Be, is the book of my heart. Packed with movies references and giddy love for Dublin, Ireland, Just Like You Said It Would Be is a frank exploration of first love, full of confusion, elation, disappointment and its knack of making the ordinary seem amazing.

In 2019 I made my horror debut with DCB under the name Cara Martin. Booklist described Shantallow as "serious, literary and very scary" and Kirkus called it "gut-wrenching on various levels." It was an Ottawa Book Awards finalist and was longlisted for the Sunburst Award. ...more

219 posts
C.K. Kelly Martin's Blog

2025 Book Re-Releases

old covers for Shantallow (by Cara Martin), Delicate (C. K. Kelly Martin) and the Sweetest Thing You Can Sing (C. K. Kelly Martin)

Rights will soon be reverted for three of my young adult books so I've been working hard on cover art plus print and ePub files. With any luck these new versions of The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing, Delicate and Shantallow (the latter published under the author name Cara Martin) should be available from major online booksellers within the next ten to fourteen days. Voila the new covers below!

new covers for Shantallow (by Cara Martin), Delicate (C. K. Kelly Martin) and the Sweetest Thing You Can Sing (C. K. Kelly Martin)

Combine Editions
C.K. Kelly Martin’s books

Average rating: 3.51 · 6,887 ratings · 909 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	I Know It's Over 3.50 avg rating — 2,901 ratings — published 2008 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Beating Teenage Heart 3.67 avg rating — 1,071 ratings — published 2011 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yesterday (Yesterday #1) 3.42 avg rating — 865 ratings — published 2012 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Lonely Degree 3.44 avg rating — 849 ratings — published 2009 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lighter Side of Life and Death 3.28 avg rating — 550 ratings — published 2010 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Come See About Me 3.49 avg rating — 367 ratings — published 2012 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing 3.71 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tomorrow (Yesterday #2) 3.88 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 2013 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Delicate 3.80 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Just Like You Said It Would Be 4.05 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 2017 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by C.K. Kelly Martin

Yesterday (2 books)
by

C.K. Kelly Martin (Goodreads Author)

3.46 avg rating — 934 ratings

C.K. is Currently Reading

C.K. Martin is currently reading

Lost Ark Dreaming

by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Oct 04, 2025 07:13AM

C.K. Martin is currently reading

My Time Machine

by Carol Lay

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Oct 03, 2025 12:30PM

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C.K.’s Recent Updates

C.K. Martin is on page 113 of 168 of My Time Machine My Time Machine by Carol Lay progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15 hours, 48 min ago · like · see status
C.K. Martin is on page 107 of 168 of My Time Machine My Time Machine by Carol Lay progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18 hours, 28 min ago · like · see status
C.K. Martin wants to read The Shortest History of Italy: 3,000 Years from the Romans to the Renaissance to a Modern Republic―A Retelling for Our Times (The Shortest History Series) by Ross King	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 05, 2025 08:09AM · like
C.K. Martin wants to read The Bookseller of Florence: The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance by Ross King	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 05, 2025 08:08AM · like
C.K. Martin wants to read Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 05, 2025 08:06AM · like
C.K. Martin and 3 other people liked Nizz's review of Art History (Art & Coll, #4): "I haven't read this author or these types of books since I was around 12, which sounds so young now, but I just remembered this author and how much the writing resonated within me and changed my own perspective on life. I really miss authors like thi" Read more of this review »
Oct 05, 2025 08:03AM · see review
C.K. Martin and 1 other person liked John's review of My Time Machine: "Trippy. A welcome long-form from one of my favorite cartoonists."
Oct 04, 2025 07:37AM · see review
C.K. Martin wants to read Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2025 07:17AM · like
C.K. Martin started reading Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2025 07:13AM · like
C.K. Martin finished reading Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 03, 2025 08:50PM · like

More of C.K.'s books…

Quotes by C.K. Kelly Martin (?)

“Love does strange things to you sometimes. It can twist you into saying and doing things that you know you’ll regret and still, you do them.”
― C.K. Kelly Martin, I Know It's Over

48 likes

“How many times can a person break you heart?”
― C.K. Kelly Martin, I Know It's Over

47 likes

“Things don't always change with a bang. Sometimes they change so gradually that you can't clearly pinpoint the last moment they were truly the same.”
― C.K. Kelly Martin, One Lonely Degree

40 likes

See all C.K. Kelly Martin's quotes »

Polls

What should we read for September?
Titles must be pubbed as Young Adult between January 2011 - September 2011.
Please check the list before writing in titles! Thanks!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

8 votes 38.1%

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

4 votes 19.0%

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

3 votes 14.3%

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

2 votes 9.5%

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard (write-in)

2 votes 9.5%

I Am J by Cris Beam

1 vote 4.8%

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau

1 vote 4.8%

Pick-Up Game: A Full Day of Full Court by Marc Aronson and Charles R. Smith Jr.

0 votes 0.0%

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal

0 votes 0.0%

Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks

0 votes 0.0%

The Lost Crown: A Novel of Romanov Russia by Sarah Miller

0 votes 0.0%

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

0 votes 0.0%

The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley

0 votes 0.0%

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

0 votes 0.0%

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson

0 votes 0.0%

My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin

0 votes 0.0%

21 total votes

2 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Paranormal Romanc...: Hi I'm new	17	104	Jan 05, 2010 04:36PM
Books are my life...: I Know It's Over	2	22	Jan 17, 2010 12:41PM
Cover to Cover Ch...: Mackenzie's 2010 Booklist	13	115	Apr 19, 2011 11:34AM
2025 Reading Chal...: Erika's Corner	25	92	Oct 15, 2012 09:53AM
2025 Reading Chal...: New to You Challenge January-December	109	252	Jan 03, 2013 01:32PM
Blogger Lift: POST YOUR BLOG UPDATES! (Thread -1)	2006	603	Apr 09, 2013 05:12AM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2013: Completed Tasks (Do Not Delete Posts)	2478	651	Feb 28, 2014 09:00PM
You'll love this ...: October 2014 - Madame Tutti Fruiti Predicts Again	236	154	Nov 04, 2014 08:10AM

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C.K.’s Quotes

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

tags: distance, time

3208 likes

“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.”
― Lester Bangs

180 likes

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

tags: books, thought

31202 likes

“So we are left with a stark choice: allow climate disruption to change everything about our world, or change pretty much everything about our economy to avoid that fate. But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.”
― Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

55 likes

“In imagination she sailed over storied seas that wash the distant shining shores of "faëry lands forlorn," where lost Atlantis and Elysium lie, with the evening star for pilot, to the land of Heart's Desire. And she was richer in those dreams than in realities; for things seen pass away, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

tags: eternity, imagination, inspirational, reality

137 likes

More of C.K.’s quotes…

C.K.’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-5) post a comment »

date

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message 5: by C.K.

Sep 05, 2013 03:58PM

Thanks, Genie! Nice to meet you :)

reply | flag

message 4: by C.K.

Sep 05, 2013 03:56PM

Thanks, Genie. Nice to meet you :)

reply | flag

message 3: by Eugenia (Genie In A Book)

Sep 05, 2013 02:21PM

Thank you for accepting my friend request :)
I am very much looking forward to reading and discovering more of your work.

Best wishes for more books in the future,
Genie

reply | flag

message 2: by C.K.

Apr 11, 2013 11:06AM

Thank you so much, Amber! You have made my day.

reply | flag

message 1: by Amber

Apr 11, 2013 10:09AM

I'm honoured to get to be your friend on Goodreads! I really loved The Lighter Side of Life and Death, you're an amazing author with a true gift, who stands out in the often monotonous teen fiction section. :) I look forward to reading more of your books when I get the time!

reply | flag

C.K.’s Year In Books

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