This was actually last week’s topic, but I mainly covered this week’s topic here, so I’m writing about new-to-me authors instead. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and is moving next week to That Artsy Reader Girl.
In 2017 I read an unusually high number of authors that were new to me. I generally think that’s a good thing, since it means I’m exploring new books. Some of these authors were discovered through NetGalley but most were discovered through award nominations like the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist. Some were part of my focus last year on reading more diversely. Most of the writers on this list are first-time novelists.
- Naomi Alderman, author of The Power, which won the Women’s Prize in 2017.
- Angie Thomas wrote her first novel, The Hate U Give, one of my favorite novels of 2017 and soon to be a movie.
- Imbolo Mbue wrote the fantastic Behold The Dreamers
- Yaa Gyasi wrote her first novel, Homegoing
- Viet Thanh Nguyen won a Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, The Sympathizer
- Denise Mina wrote The Long Drop, a true crime novel about Scotland
- Lisa Ko wrote The Leavers, her first novel.
- Paulette Jiles wrote News of the World, not her first novel but new to me.
- Ann Patchett wrote Commonwealth. I need to read more of her work!
- Katherine Arden wrote her first novel about Russian folklore, The Bear and the Nightingale.
I highly recommend all of these books.
What authors were new to you last year?
