Top Ten Authors I've Discovered This Year

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It’s been a busy year for books for me. At the time of writing I’ve read over 140 books, some written by authors I know and love and return to again and again. Others written by authors I have only just discovered. It’s been a wonderful mix of established authors that I hadn’t yet managed to read, and debut authors with stunningly eye catching first novels, and it’s so great to celebrate the top ten of those here.

 

Moira Fowley-Doyle

With the release of Moira’s debut novel ‘The Accident Season’ she shot straight onto my list of favourite authors. I adored ‘The Accident Season’ – the secrets, the magic, the tilting, shifting view of the world as everything unravels. It marked Moira as an author to watch, with a gorgeous writing style and an incredible imagination.

Leigh Bardugo

The first of my ‘Rosy which rock have you been hiding under to only just discover this author NOW’ authors, I’d somehow managed to avoid reading The Grisha trilogy until this year, but now that I have, followed by ‘Six of Crows’, I am hooked, HOOKED I TELL YOU. Basically I am on the Leigh Bardugo bandwagon and I cannot wait for the next book from her.

 

Rainbow Rowell
So my rock I’ve been hiding under has been busy. Technically I had already discovered Rainbow, but I’d not been particularly fussed on ‘Eleanor and Park’ so she hadn’t really caught my interest as an author to watch. But then earlier this year I read ‘Landline’ and it caught me at the perfect moment. It resonated so strongly with me, filled me with hope and longing and the magic that Georgie finds every night with this old clunky phone, and really captures both the wild reckless surety of love in your twenties juxtaposed by the deeper, more entangled love later in life. It was beautiful and perfect, and had me sobbing and auto buying every other novel Rainbow has written.

Diana Gabaldon
Outlander has been around for a while but it took getting hooked on the TV show (which is brilliant by the way, go watch it now if you haven’t seen it yet) for me to finally look up the books and immerse myself in Claire and Jamie’s world. These books are epic. Truly epic. They are so much more than the romance at their heart. They’re time travel, they’re historical novels, romance, war, political. A mix of everything into one glorious series. I fell in love with Claire and Jamie, with this world that Diana is depicting. It cemented my love of Scotland yet further, and illuminated a period of history I was shockingly hazy on. It also turned Diana into one of my favourite authors, and one whose books I am loving working my way through.

 

Sabaa Tahir
A dark, intriguing and complex novel, the hype surrounding ‘An Ember in the Ashes’ was huge and well deserved. It was a surprising novel that came to me at just the right time and sets up for a thoroughly fascinating series. The cliff hangers we were left with at the end of the first book have left me longing for book two to see more world development, character arcs and a plot worthy of the excitement the first book left me with.

Renne Adieh

This book was gorgeous. One of those beautiful novels that sweeps readers away and I saw the wave coming towards me and knew I was going to love this book. I was so right. Heart breaking, beautiful with such a rich and vivid story folded within its pages, I loved this one. I’m both eager to get my hands on the next book and sad to see the story conclude. If you’re a fan of the tale of 1001 nights and you haven’t picked this one up yet, you need to get onto this asap…

Martha Brockenbrough

I’d not come across any of Martha’s writing before, and then ‘The Game of Love & Death’ fell into my lap and broke me completely. It’s a stunningly beautiful novel. Unique, magical, and filled with hope. I loved the complexity of the characters, the added depth the game and the personification of Love and Death gave to the story. But above all I loved Flora and Henry, watching their story unfold and their emotions unfurl. It’s an incredible novel, one of my favourite reads of the year.

Sarah Benwell
Ok, so technically I have known Sarah and her writing much longer than just this year. However her debut novel ‘The Last Leaves Falling’ hit shelves way back at the start of this year and I want to show it some more love. Because it’s almost Christmas, and you should really be giving this book to everyone you know. Sarah’s debut novel was stunning. A beautiful, hauntingly quiet novel suffused with longing, the fragility of life and working out what it truly means to live, and hope. It’s beautiful, a uniquely different young adult contemporary that smashes the moulds and greets difficult subjects head on. It is an incredible debut and I cannot wait to see what Sarah writes next.

 

Marie Rutkoski

The first book in The Winner’s Trilogy somehow didn’t make it to the top of my to read pile before the second book came out, so I marathoned both books in a matter of days. My only complaint? That I didn’t wait for book three to be out first because THAT CLIFF HANGER. Despite the fact that my nerves will be in shreds by the time I read the third book, I LOVED this series. So well written, such a brilliantly constructed world with fascinating and morally grey characters, and such TENSION AND STRESS. I cannot wait to get my hands on the last book.

Terry Pratchett

Another author that yes ok I technically discovered a long time ago. But whilst I had read the odd Discworld book before, I don’t feel I truly discovered and started to appreciate Pratchett and the Discworld before this year. I enjoyed previous books, but something about the Witches thread has me thoroughly captivated. I’m loving getting to know Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and co, and these are books that have definitely fallen into my lap at precisely the moment I’ve needed them most. I’ve stopped just enjoying my visits to the Discworld and started loving them, and I’m so glad I have so many more outings and stories yet to discover.

So there you have my top ten authors I've discovered this year. Do we share any? Are you appalled that it's taken me so long to discover some of these? Let me know and link me to your own top ten lists in the comments below!