Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt was Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2020, but, of course, being me I couldn’t stop at just 10. Thus, here’s my Top 17 New-To-Me Authors I Read Last Year!
Maureen Johnson
The Truly Devious series was my absolute favorite read from last year, so Maureen Johnson’s place at the top of this list was an obvious choice for me. I’m super excited for The Box in the Woods to come out this summer!
Ashley Poston
I read the entire Once Upon a Con series last year, which was so fun and perfect for my fairytale-retelling-loving heart. I’ve already read Among the Beasts and the Briars this month, which was super different from the other series but still so good!
Jenny Han
The To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series was wonderful and definitely one of my favorite YA contemporary series ever. I read The Summer I Turned Pretty as well, and hated it, but my adoration for the former work by Han definitely ensures her place on this list.
Katherine Arden
I loved reading The Bear and the Nightingale, and I’m so excited to finish that series soon!
Hank Green
I’ve watched Hank and John Green’s YouTube channel (vlogbrothers) for over 5 years, and, although I don’t enjoy John Green’s books that much, I absolutely adored Hank’s debut novel! Its sequel is another read I want to get to in the near future.
Nathalia Holt
I read Queens of Animation this past year and was absolutely enthralled, which is very rare for me with history/biography books. Part of that likely has to do with the fact that it’s about women in animation, which is a career I personally am very interested in, as well as to do with it being about Disney movies, which I love, but the fact that I loved reading the book as much as I did despite the genre is definitely a credit to Holt, and I’ll definitely check out her other work.
Quan Barry
We Ride Upon Sticks was an unexpected favorite of this past year. The narrative style (which often was told in first person plural) was very interesting and fluid, and the plot was completely unlike any other book I’ve ever read. I highly recommend the book, and I’d definitely be interested in reading Barry’s other books.
Ciara Smyth
The Falling in Love Montage was so cute and fun, and just a really enjoyable read!
Ashley Elston
10 Blind Dates was adorable and cozy and everything one could want out of a holiday-themed book. The family dynamics and friendships were great, and I’m definitely hyped for the sequel/companion book 10 Truths and a Dare in May!
Kathryn Ormsbee
I loved absolutely everything about Tash Hearts Tolstoy. That’s really all the explanation I feel is necessary.
Alex Flinn
Girls of July had such wonderful characters and friendship dynamics, and I very much enjoyed it. Kinda hoping for a sequel, though that seems unlikely (I just ship Britta and Spider too much).
Julia Drake
The Last True Poets of the Sea was written in absolutely beautiful prose, was very melancholy-but-hopeful, and I adored reading it. Definitely excited for anything Drake has up her sleeve in the future.
Leah Johnson
You Should See Me in a Crown was so fun, and I’m sure Rise to the Sun will be at least as good when it comes out in July!
Jennifer Dugan
Verona Comics was such an excellent Romeo and Juliet retelling that it automatically makes me interested in anything else Dugan has written.
Adi Alsaid
We Didn’t Ask For This was such an unusual read. It’s one of those rare books where the timeline is very compressed, but it doesn’t feel at all rushed. I loved all of the characters and the setup, and I’m overall very interested in Alsaid’s other/future works.
Adiba Jaigirdar
The Henna Wars was adorable while also having very important messaging about cultural appropriation. I’m super excited for Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating to come out in May!
Amy Spalding
We Used To Be Friends was simultaneously sad and hopeful. It’s about friends growing apart, and is a little painfully relatable to anybody who’s ever stopped being friends with their former best friend. I don’t know that any of her past work appeals to me, but I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for future releases from her.
Great list! Love the sound of the Last True Poets of the Sea! These are the fifteen authors who were new to me last year – quite a few outside my usual reading genre.
I loved and would definitely recommend The Last True Poets of the Sea!
Wow, you tried a lot of new authors last year. That’s awesome.
My post.
The funny thing is that I thought I’d tried more, but noticed while looking over Goodreads as I made this list that I’d read some books by authors I’d already read and not realized it at the time.
I love your list. Amy Spalding is one of my actual faves — I’ve read 2 of hers so far (The Reece Malcolm List and The Summer of Jordi Perez) and they’ve both been 5-star reads, which is rare for me, and I’m anticipating this one even more.
I haven’t read Alex Flinn yet but I’m SUPER excited about getting to Girls of July this summer. …I also thought that Girls of July must have been her debut; I had no idea she’s been writing YA for almost 20 years until just now! And I’ve been READING YA that long, so I’m really surprised I don’t even recognize any of her books except Beastly. She does have quite a few that look good.
I definitely recommend both We Used To Be Friends and Girls of July; I absolutely loved both of them! I’ll definitely take a look into the two Amy Spalding books you mentioned. I’d never heard of Alex Flinn until Girls of July either, but I’m definitely planning on checking out her older books since I loved it so much.