Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2017

January 2, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the theme is: Top 10 New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2017

One of the things I love most about the Top Ten Tuesday lists is that they challenge me to review my reading in a different light. I don’t consistently participate in these because, honestly, they can be really time-consuming posts and I might not be interested in the prompt. But each time I do participate I love what I learn about myself.

The neat thing about the timing for this TTT is how it will tie into my 2018 reading goals. I have a feeling that once I get this list done I’ll have an updated idea of what my new favorite authors/genres are, which will inspire reading for 2018. So, without further ado…

All author names below are links to their Goodreads author pages.


 

Top 10 New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2017

 

Daphne du Maurier

Reading Rebecca was a surprise for me– I didn’t expect I’d like this novel! Normally, I shy away from gothic books and thrillers. I’m so glad I didn’t shy away here. I fell in love with this writing style. du Maurier is not a new author, but she is certainly on my Must Read list now! I cannot wait to read My Cousin Rachel.

 

Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette

The Goblin Emperor was a surprise favorite for me this year. A stand-alone fantasy novel which seems like a political quagmire but is more of a deep character study. Totally my cup of tea. When I learned Katherine Addison is a pen name for Sarah Monette, I was really excited. Suddenly this new author I love has more books published. Not only that, but I also learned she is a Madison, WI native! She lives in my hometown! Obviously, I’ll be reading much more of Addison/Monette in the future.

Sylvain Neuvel

Neuvel’s debut novel grabbed my attention from the start. I adore epistolary novels! Plus science-fiction? Yes, please! as the final book in this series comes out in 2018, it’s my hope to binge read the next two. I cannot wait to see what else Neuvel comes up with!

My Review: Sleeping Giants

 

Tiffany McDaniel

The Summer That Melted Everything is a beautiful, thought-provoking, spiritual debut novel which forces the reader to examine their lives and learn to forgive. It’s painful and powerful. I know someday I’ll re-read this book, but no day soon. It left me reeling. That said, I now want to devour EVERY WORD Tiffany McDaniels ever writes. I will be waiting with baited breath for her next novel!

My Review: The Summer That Melted Everything

 

Nnedi Okorafor

 

Discovering Okorafor’s writing this year was like finding a part of myself I didn’t realize was lost. African-based fantasy and science fiction is amazing. As a western caucasian woman, I find this is a unique and different world view I crave. I look forward to reading more of Okorafor’s works in 2018!

 

My Review: Akata Witch

 

L.M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

That’s right. This year is the first time I’ve ever read anything by L.M. Montgomery. Blasphemy! I couldn’t be happier Jane @ Greenish Bookshelf and I co-hosted the #AnneReadAlong2017 because it finally introduced me to one of my new favorite authors. I hope to read something of Montgomery’s every year going forward now. I don’t know if I’ll ever read all her works, but I will surely try!

My Reviews can all be found on the #AnneReadAlong2017 main page.

 

Lisa See

I did not expect to be so engrossed, engaged, and emotionally ravaged reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I picked this up upon recommendation from so many of my favorite bloggers. I love historical fiction and I know I’m on a quest to read all of See’s writings going forward.

 

Ruta Sepetys

Speaking of amazing historical fiction– Ruta Sepetys’s novel Between Shades of Grey left me a sobbing wreck. This book was heavy, dense, and filled with a horror I wasn’t expecting. Obviously, I was hooked. I cannot wait to keep following Sepetys’s career and read the rest of her books!

My Review: Between Shades of Grey

 

Stephanie Perkins

I don’t often read contemporary YA novels. I rarely find I can connect with them or appreciate the writing. However, when I do find a series or author I enjoy, I definitely want to stick with them. This year, I found Stephanie Perkins. Her stories are light-hearted, fun, and just what I need after reading something heavy and dense. Due to availability at the library, I read the 1st and 3rd book in her Anna and the French Kiss series. I cannot wait to read Lola and the Boy Next Door when it comes in!

 

Gail Honeyman

Honeyman’s debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a gem I didn’t expect to find. I picked this up mostly due to an audiobook recommendation from Ottavia @ Novels and Nonfiction. She did not lead me astray. This resulted in a rare 6-star rating from me. I will certainly keep an eye out for future works published by Gail Honeyman.

 

I love these lists because they help me to see my own reading in a new light. Did you see the same thing I just did? There is only one male author on this list. Almost alll the new authors which blew me away this year are women and even a few women of color! This makes me so happy. I am trying to read more female, POC, and #OwnVoices authors– it looks like I was successful this year!


What do you think?

  • Did you participate in Top Ten Tuesday? Share your links below!
  • Which authors from this list have you read? What are your favorites?
  • What authors were new to you in 2017 you highly recommend I look out for?
  • Who are your favorite female #OwnVoices authors? Which books of theirs should I read first?

38 Comments

  • Ann Marie January 2, 2018 at 9:01 am

    I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed Snowflower and the Secret Fan. One of my favorite books when it comes to depicting the complicated friendships of women. I’ve download the audiobook of Eleanor Oliphant. I’ve never listened to an audiobook so we shall see how that works for me…

    • Jackie B January 2, 2018 at 9:46 am

      That’s completely on point! Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is really about the complicated friendships of women. Particularly in a world where women are socialized against each other in order to keep order. Not that the raging feminist in me wasn’t furious (and morbidly curious!) about that aspect. Have you read other See novels?

      I love audiobooks. I got into them a lot more this year once Trump became president and we got our first dog. I just can’t listen to all the doom and gloom on the radio. It’s so heart breaking! So, I found audiobooks to be my saviour. I hope that you like the audiobook!

  • Grab the Lapels January 2, 2018 at 9:33 am

    Your post promoted me to look through the books I read in 2017 using my Goodreads account. Since I’m often not reading what’s popular, I thought I might have a lot of new-to-me authors. I had 38! Holy moly! This post was a good reminder to me of why I read small press authors.

    • Jackie B January 2, 2018 at 9:49 am

      I’m glad I could inspire some awesome research! Or well, this Top Ten Tuesday post could. 😉

      I often read a lot of new-to-me authors, actually. I find that unless there is a series of books, I don’t often hover around specific authors. There are only a handful I could say are must reads for me. However, after reading all of Anne of Green Gables I’ve learned there is a lot to gain by reading the complete works (or, well, maybe not the *complete* works) of an author. It’s been really interesting to see how Montgomery’s writing and influences have changed over the course of her writing these books. Perhaps my reading habits will change in 2018? Who knows?!

      I love reading your blog because it introduces me to so many new and exciting books/authors I never would have picked up otherwise. 38 authors are quite a few new ones! How many books did you read this year, do you know? I’d love to see what percentage of your reading are new-to-me authors.

      • Grab the Lapels January 2, 2018 at 1:28 pm

        According to Goodreads, I read 70 books this year, but I know one of those “books” was a 32-page story that was listed as a book, and I also took in 11 graphic novels. There were (I think) 2 poetry collections. So, about half?

  • WordsAndPeace January 2, 2018 at 10:04 am

    so glad you discovered Daphne du Maurier. did you see my video on My Cousin Rachel and her recent awesome biography? I think you would enjoy it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKMUeOi_J4&t=3s
    here’s my list: https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/01/02/top-ten-new-to-me-authors-i-read-in-2017/

    • Jackie B February 1, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing your video, Emma! I am so impressed. BookTube intimidates me so much. You did a great job summarizing My Cousin Rachel without giving too much away. I am intrigued. I’ll have to check that out!

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

  • Lisa @ Captivated Reader January 2, 2018 at 12:11 pm

    I’ve read of Lisa See’s novels before and a couple of L. M. Montegomery novels too in the past, but the other authors you’ve mentioned are new to me.

    Here’s my TTT post for this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/01/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-new-to-me.html?showComment=1514915871093#c5665488240840941833

    • Jackie B January 12, 2018 at 9:40 pm

      I’m glad to see that you found some potential new reads from this list, Lisa! Did you enjoy reading Lisa See’s novels? Which ones would you recommend?

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting! It means a lot to me that you’d take the time to share your opinion.

  • Laila@BigReadingLife January 2, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    Terrific list! I’m happy to see du Maurier on there – I read her for the first time this year also! I want to read everything she’s written now. I also want to read the Sleeping Giants books – the first one has been on my TBR for a long time!

  • Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek January 2, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    Fantastic list! I have a few of these on my TBR such as Sleeping Giants and Akata Witch, so glad you enjoyed both of them! 🙂

    • Jackie B January 3, 2018 at 10:54 am

      Thank you so much, Heather! I’m glad that we share similar tastes. I hope you enjoy Sleeping Giants and Akata Witch when you get to them! I personally cannot wait to read Akata Warrior next; I never expected that book to have a sequel, but I’m glad it will. 😀

  • Aj @ Read All The Things! January 2, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    Some of these authors made my list, too! We must have similar reading tastes.

    • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 9:29 am

      I love that we have similar tastes in books! That just makes me more excited to follow your reading. 😀 Any books in particular from our shared authors you really love? I wonder if I’m missing some amazing books I should be reading…

  • Helen Murdoch January 2, 2018 at 9:56 pm

    You’ve got some of my favorites on here: Stephanie Perkins; Ruta Sepetys; and Lisa See. They are SOOOO good

    • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 9:46 am

      I’m glad that you also love these authors! That puts me in good company. 😀 Any favorite authors who are missing you’d recommend?

  • Jessie @ Dwell in Possibility January 3, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    Great list Jackie! Daphne du Maurier is one of my faves-hope you enjoy My Cousin Rachel! Since you’d like to read more L.M. Montgomery, I’d highly recommend her adult novel The Blue Castle. It’s a bit of a Cinderella story with an amazing heroine and a sweet romance.

    • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 10:51 am

      I only just heard about The Blue Castle from Melanie @ Grab the Lapels when she participated in a read along hosted by Naomi @ Consumed by Ink (see? This is how the network grows!) last week. I didn’t realize LM Montgomery wrote any adult novels! I will certainly check it out. I hope to keep reading Montgomery’s work fairly frequently this coming year, even though the read along is almost over. I wonder how it compares to her children’s works?

      • Jessie @ Dwell in Possibility January 6, 2018 at 2:24 pm

        It definitely seems to be getting more and more attention lately. So far The Blue Castle is probably my favorite of all her works, although I still have a lot more LMM I want to read.

  • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    Test…. Jackie! I’m getting error messages again when I try to comment on your blog 🙁

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:14 pm

      For some reason, it will only let me leave short comments… so I am going to break my comment up into shorter ones lol

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:16 pm

      The error message says “invalid security token” ?! Does it think I’m spam?

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:18 pm

      L.M. Montgomery was a new to me author too from our read along. I actually didn’t even know she had other books besides the AoGG series. I will have to explore some of her other works… after I finish the last two books in AoGG 🙂

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:19 pm

      I am so happy you gave The Summer That Melted Everything a go! I know it is emotionally draining, but there is something powerful and special about that book. I cannot wait to see what Tiffany comes out with next.

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:20 pm

      I own books by Ruta Sepetys AND Lisa See but have never read any by either author. Does that make me a bad person?

    • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 4, 2018 at 6:20 pm

      This is really a pain in the ass. Your blog is punishing me for being a bad blogger friend.

      • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 11:51 am

        Oh poor Amanda! This does look like it’s such a pain in the ass. I guess I’ll try responding to everything in this comment and see if my blog loves you again later? Who knows… Hopefully we can figure this out! Goodness, I hope it doesn’t think you’re spam– you’re one of the best! 🙂 Ironically, my blog constantly gets caught as spam. The current theory is that “tsundoku” isn’t an English word, so Word Press marks it as gibberish. Who knows?!

        I am with you on exploring some of Montgomery’s other works once I’m done with Rilla of Ingleside. I’m such a bad host! I still have one more book to read. Oops! XD Rainbow Valley is great fun; don’t mind my review of it. I was just expecting something different than what I got which affected my perception. I hope a future re-read will have me fall in love again.

        I also cannot wait to see what Tiffany McDaniel comes up with next! I hope something sooner rather than later– it seems like The Summer That Melted Everything took her quite a while to write. But it’s so powerful!

        Haha– you are not a bad person. What Sepetys and See books do you own? Perhaps we could do a buddy read to enourage you to pick them up?! I’m all about that. Both women showed me a perspective of the world I never would have seen before. They are worthwhile authors.

        I hope my blog loves you now! You are never a bad blogger friend. Even though you were on hiatus, you still thought of me. That means a lot to me. <3

    • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 10:56 am

      Thank you so much for trying so hard last night, Amanda! I appreciate all the effort you put into letting me know you’re back. I appreciate you. Sooooo much.

  • Annemieke January 5, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    I really need to get to Akata Witch. I finally got it last year for my birthday.

    • Jackie B January 5, 2018 at 4:00 pm

      Gotta love all those books which sit on our shelves waiting for us to get to them. It’s so funny to me how I buy the books I love and then don’t get to them until much longer after I wanted to. Why do we do that?!

  • Lashaan (Bookidote) January 6, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    Sylvain Neuvel!!!! I have been meaning to try that one out, especially with the author being from my hometown!!! Glad to see it on your list. Also need to try anything by Ruta Sepetys!! I got my hands on Salt in the Sea and hopefully I’ll get around to it in 2018. Awesome list, Jackie! 😀

  • Resh Susan @ The Book Satchel January 8, 2018 at 5:25 am

    Nice to see you keeping track of your new authors. Lisa See was a new author for me in 2017. I read Teagirl of Hummingbird lane by her. I have been meaning to pick up Sylvain Neuvel for a long time. I enjoyed a Nnedi book in 2016 and now I am reminded that I need to read more by her

    • Jackie B January 12, 2018 at 10:35 pm

      Keeping track of new authors is sometimes challenging (just from a tracking perspective!), but I find it incredibly rewarding. It’s fun to look back and see which authors I should be shining more light on. I’ve heard great things about The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane— I will definitely be reading more by Lisa See this year!

      Well, the final book in Neuvel’s trilogy comes out this year, so it would be a good time to pick up Sleeping Giants and start reading through them!

      Any new authors to you in 2017 worth calling out? I’d love to know who you are passionate about now!

  • Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity January 8, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    It’s great that you discovered so many new authors in 2017, Jackie!

    I still haven’t read any of the Anne books, even though they are my mum’s favourites – eep. Do you think the magic of them is lost when you don’t read them as kid? Or do you suggest picking them up anyway? I wish I HAD picked them up as a kid, when my mum urged me too. Instead I was too interested in my own books, haha.

    I read quite a few new authors in 2017 as well! Three off the top of my head are Mackenzi Lee (The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue), Adam Silvera (History Is All You Left Me), and Linsey Miller (Mask of Shadows). I gave five stars to all the books I read by them his year 😀 They were really good!

    I hope you find even more awesome authors this year <3

    • Jackie B January 12, 2018 at 10:40 pm

      Thank you, Chiara! I am really glad I was keeping track of the new-to-me authors this year. I think writing this post is important as far as cultivating a TBR for 2018. I should certainly dig more into these authors– or, at least the ones who have more books published. 😉

      I didn’t read Anne of Green Gables as a child, and I still fell in love with the whole world Montgomery has created. They are probably magical in a different way as an adult. It’s important and powerful to look at the world through Anne Shirley’s eyes. Refreshing, even. A good reminder that we should are all too often not focused on the important things.

      ! I just picked up a copy of A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue from the library! I am super excited to read it, as everyone I know has been gushing about it. I haven’t read Miller or Silvera yet, but I’ve added them both to my TBR. Sometimes you really need to KNOW a book will be amazing when you pick it up. 😉

  • theorangutanlibrarian January 11, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    YAY to seeing Du Maurier as the first author on this list- she’s one of my mum’s favourites so she pushed her books on me pretty young and I *loved* them 😀 And of course I expected to see Montgomery on here 😉 Sepetys is definitely a new favourite for me this year- I read two of her books and- WOW. And Perkins is actually the author that got me into contemporary a few years ago (and I read the first and third first too) I oh gosh I read Eleanor Oliphant last week… just amazing! Wonderful list!

    • Jackie B January 13, 2018 at 9:15 am

      I have only read Rebecca, but I’m excited to read more of du Maurier’s works! My Cousin Rachel is high on my TBR. I cannot wait to explore her atmospheric writing even more.

      Ha! I love that we both read the first and tihrd books! This is what happens when you use a public library system, right? I’m still waiting for Lola and the Boy Next Door to arrive.

      What did you think of Eleanor Oliphant?!

      • theorangutanlibrarian January 13, 2018 at 1:29 pm

        Brilliant!! 😀

        hehe yes!! Exactly!!

        AMAZING!! Honestly, the more I think about it, the better it is 😀

Leave a Reply to Amanda @Cover2CoverMom Cancel reply

%d bloggers like this: