Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten (ish) New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015

Jo Walton

 Rachel Caine

Few books have surprised me as much as Ink and Bone. It was one that I found extremely addictive, kept me up way too late, and had a great balance of darkness to it. And it involves books! A love of books, control of books. It centers on books! Her other books have never been on my radar, and even now I haven’t been as motivated to go back and read them. But this series is one my MUST READ IMMEDIATELY list!

Lila Bowen

Another author that has a bunch of available books I’ve not gone back and read yet (shame on me). But I was so taken by Wake of Vultures and the protagonist, that I am anxious for the next. It features the girl dressed as a man trope, in this case partially necessity, but also partially because the character is questioning and exploring in relation to gender expectations and sexuality.

N. K. Jemisin

I read two books by Jemisin this year. I really enjoyed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but I absolutely loved The Fifth Season. I am hoping to read more of her previously published books, but her upcoming books are on my must read list.

Kate Elliott

Evidently there were lots of “new to me but already established” authors for me this year.  Black Wolves is another example. I am tempted to go revisit some of Elliott’s other books in this world, and no matter what I NEED to read the next in this series! The books was huge, but packed with so much awesome!

Erin Lindsey

I will admit, I don’t tend to be much of a risk taker. So anytime I have been offered a book 2 of a series I’ve not read I always turn it down (because what happens if I don’t like it?? I don’t want to commit to reading another book after it!). But I have made one exception to that rule with Erin Lindsey. And I was so glad I did. I read The Bloodforged and The Bloodbound back to back. They were such a great balance of fun, adventure, romance and intrigue. I’m really looking forward to the next one.

Margaret Atwood

OK, so maybe I read Atwood in high school. Maybe? I think I might have read Handmaid’s Tale? I kinda think I liked it. But honestly, I don’t even remember for sure, and that was SOO long ago, it was like an entirely different lifetime. So, in my current reading life, Atwood was completely new to me, and I absolutely loved The Heart Goes Last. Such a great balance of humor and darkness and just plain depravity. I can’t wait to read another of her books.

Ian Tregillis

I had heard many great things about Tregillis’ books, but this is the first that I’ve read him. The Mechanical was just an intriguing story that could be quite dark, but it balanced the horrific parts with a fascinating world and wonderful characters. Really looking forward to The Rising!

Alex Marshall

I don’t have a clue what Alex Marshall’s books are of if I’ve read them and until they reveal his identity, I’ll remain in the dark. But I do know that Marshall is not a debut author, and while it took me a little bit to get into Crown for Cold Silver, I absolutely loved it, was the great start to an epic tale I plan on reading as it is released.

Paolo Bacigalupi

This world has absolutely stuck with me like few others. Bacigalupi definitely includes social and environmental messages in his books, I had read that in reviews before reading this. But I found The Water Knife to not be the least bit preachy, just exciting and insightful. It is dark and violent enough, I suspect some readers may be unsettled by it, but it worked incredibly well for me. I will certainly be reading more of his books.

Joshua Gaylord

Years ago, I had Alden Bell’s The Reapers are the Angels very highly recommended to me by someone’s opinion that I trusted. But for some reason, I never followed through and read that book. But when I found out that Alden Bell was a pen name for Joshua Gaylord, and he had a book releasing called When We Were Animals, that sounded like it had serious potential, I had to read it. And I loved it. Seriously loved it.