Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
This is my first Top Ten Tuesday post for ages!
Today’s topic (well, yesterday’s, as I’m behind a little…) is Top Ten New To Me Authors in 2017. I’m
avoiding last year's debuts and focusing on authors published prior to 2017 who I only
recently discovered.
Lissa Evans – I know Lissa has several books to her name,
including Their Finest which I really want to read after loving the film, but
it was her 2017 release Wed Wabbit which I read first, having been hand-sold it
by Tereze at Tales on Moon Lane. It’s a stunningly imaginative MG with
outstanding world-building, a perfect plot, and two of my favourite character
arcs ever. I definitely need to catch up with her backlist!
Adam Silvera – I’ve heard for ages how great Adam’s debut
novel More Happy That Not is but somehow never got around to reading it;
however I picked up History Is All You Left Me and it’s an exquisite read,
gorgeous and heartbreaking and somehow still hopeful. I’m very excited for They
Both Die At The End, but it’s taken me months to get ready to read it given how
shattered I was by History!
Lydia San Andres – I was lucky enough to be online when
Lydia offered a free copy of one of her books to the first few people to
respond to a tweet, and grabbed The Infamous Miss Rodriguez, a novella about a
girl trying to ruin her reputation to get an eligible bachelor to break off
their engagement. Since then I’ve bought and read her novel A Summer For
Scandal, which sees a woman writing a raunchy serial under a pseudonym
encounter a respected author who (also under a pseudonym) has trashed her
writing. Sparks fly in one of my favourite relationships for AGES; both of
these books are gorgeously romantic and hot.
Nicola Yoon – I avoided Everything, Everything having heard
mixed things about it, but read The Sun Is Also A Star and loved it. I’m a huge
fan of dual narrative and seeing things from so many minor character’s POVs too
was really interesting.
Robyn Travis – Despite not reading that much adult fiction
these days, Robyn’s 2016 debut novel Mama Can’t Raise No Man sounded so
intriguing that I took a chance on it and was really glad I did. I loved this
so much I actually wrote a mini-review on it, which was super rare last year
for me.
“Breathtaking debut novel told in letters between a young
Black man in prison and his friends and family (with a few court transcripts.)
The voice of every character is stunning, while the book is an entertaining,
sometimes heartbreaking, and always deeply thought-provoking story of Black
masculinity, injustice, life in prison and on the streets, and of being the
child of a single mother. It builds to an incredible climax - a truly superb
read. “
Carrie Mac - Ten Things I Can See From Here is, according to
Goodreads, Carrie’s 14th book but I hadn’t heard of her before
seeing this one recommended (by LGBTQ Reads, I think) as she’s sadly not
published in the UK as far as I’m aware. I initially had to give up on this one
because the anxiety rep is SO incredibly realistic that I found it triggering;
I went back to it when I was feeling more up to coping with it and absolutely
loved it. As well as the superb depiction of anxiety it has one of the cutest
and sweetest f/f romances I’ve read for ages.
Jen Wilde – Another author who’s written several books which
I wasn’t aware of (I really wish more UK publishers would pick up some people whose
writing I adore!) Queens of Geek is a gorgeous, super lovely story about three
friends at a convention. This features an m/f best friends to lovers romance,
and an f/f celebrity one, both of which are utterly charming. It also has lots
of really great rep – especially of autism – while the setting is brilliantly
portrayed. This is near the top of my ‘reread’ pile because it was such an easy
and heart-warming read.
Mackenzi Lee – I am a massive fan of #BygoneBadassBroads on
Twitter and have loved the sound of Mackenzi’s This Monstrous Thing for ages
but not got around to reading it yet. However my amazing friend Kate devoured
The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue and promptly pushed it on EVERYBODY
she knew, kindly lending it to me. This is a breathtakingly romantic m/m
historical with one of my favourite couples for ages and a brilliant supporting
character in Felicity, medicine-loving younger sister of MC Monty. (I am SUPER
excited for the upcoming book about her, The Lady’s Guide To Petticoats and
Piracy!) If you’re on board for a historical road trip which will have you
screaming “KISS, DAMMIT!” for much of the book, don’t miss this!
Jennifer Mathieu – Another author who’s got several books
out in the US, Jennifer Mathieu DID get picked up by a UK publisher with Hodder
bringing Moxie over here and pushing it super-hard. It’s easy to see why so many
people – including Zoella, who made this her own pick for the latest of her
book clubs – fell in love with it. It’s an empowering story of feminism, fighting
the patriarchy, and zine culture. So many great characters here, I thought it
did intersectional feminism really brilliantly, and it’s both hard-hitting and
a really entertaining read.
Ayisha Malik – I finally read Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged and
was absolutely kicking myself for not doing it sooner; this novel about a singleton
writing a tell-all expose about the Muslim dating scene is hilarious and
insightful. I loved the main love interest, too!
