Today, the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish have asked us to list ten new to us authors I discovered in 2014.
I read a lot of new to me authors in 2014, some of them were genuinely new (as in début authors), but more often than not, they were well-established writers whose books I never read till now.
- How come I never discovered Diana Gabaldon before? I read Outlander early this year and am amazed that I never picked her up earlier. Historical romance with dashing heroes so used to be my go-to genre. But, still inexplicably, I have never read her. I looked up the date of publishing and got an aha moment. It was 1991, the time when I was totally focused on my school studies and never read anything. And also, it would have been a tad bit unsuitable for my age. But still, better late than never, right? I’m glad I discovered her this year.
- Another huge literary name I didn’t know about was Donna Tartt. I found The Goldfinch a little uneven, but gosh, she is an awesome story-teller and writer. I look forward to reading The Secret History which everyone assures me is even better than The Goldfinch.
- NoViolet Bulawayo’s début last year We Need New Names justifiably made it to the Man Booker shortlist. It was an awesome read and am thrilled to discover a wonderful new talent.
- Another début author I read in 2014 was Erika Johansen. Her book The Queen of the Tearling was a solid start to a trilogy and I am looking forward to reading the next two books.
- Soniah Kamal was probably the best Indian début this year as I enjoyed An Isolated Incident immensely.
- I discovered some new to me Fantasy writers as well. One of them is Robin Hobb. I had seen many of her books in the library but the dated covers put me off actually reading them. But I read Assassin’s Apprentice and even though it was a little slow, I like her straight-forward writing style very much, and look forward to reading more books in this series – The Farseer trilogy.
- Patrick Rothfuss is another Fantasy writer I discovered. I have similar thoughts about The Name of the Wind as I have for Assassin’s Apprentice, as in a bit overlong and slow, but still it’s a promising start to a series – The Kingkiller Chronicles, and I look forward to reading the next two books.
- I discovered an oldie but goldie writer Anita Desai, whose book In Custody was shortlisted for the Man Booker in 1982. I enjoyed her writing style, and the glimpse into an older, slower India.
- I guess Arthur Golden could also be classified into the oldie but goldie bracket? I enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha which was first published in 1997.
- To round off my list, I read many new Indian thriller writers this year, but the one that sticks to my memory is Saurbh Katyal’s Seduced by Murder. His brand of crime noir is something I’d like to revisit and I do hope he writes more books.
So, what new authors did you discover this year?