Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors of 2013

It’s been a tough week friends. My husband has been out of town since last Monday, and I’m barely coping with the solo parenting and household management and meeting all my end-of-year deadlines. In any case, today’s Top Ten Tuesday, as always hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is top “New to Me Authors.” After a quick look at my Goodreads and shelves, here’s my quick list of authors I read for the first time in 2013. :

1. Tara Altebrando: Loved the dialogue and the themes in the smart and funny “The Last Night of Your (Pathetic) Life” and can’t wait to read her collaboration with Sara Zarr, “Roomies.”

2. Huntley Fitzpatrick: Wow, “My Life Next Door” is a universal favorite among my Selective Collective pals, and if you read it, you’ll know why: it’s a well-written, funny, lovely romance with depth and heart.

3. Alex London: I had an Alex London-filled November: I met him on Twitter the week before I went to YALLFest, got a recommendation for the “Proxy” audiobook from Lucy, met him at a YALLFest cocktail party, and then listened to the book on the way home. The next week I sold his middle-grade series “Dog Tags” at the Book Fair. Please READ “PROXY” — it’s a dystopian thriller with so much substance and humor and real thrills. So good.

4. Sarah J. Maas: “Throne of Glass”! Fabulous writer of a kick-ass heroine who breaks down stereotypes and knows how to make even the steeliest of men love her.

5. Meg Medina: “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kiss Your Ass” is one of the best books I read all year. I’m proud that my Common Sense Media review is featured on the book’s Amazon page. Such a powerful book; I’m going back to read her other books.

6. Katja Millay: Thanks to Brittany and Candice, I read “The Sea of Tranquility” and then couldn’t stop talking about it for months. It’s an unforgettable contemporary romance that stays in your heart for a long, long time.

7. Patrick Ness: I read four of his books this year: the “Chaos Walking” trilogy (thanks Tammy for the inspiration) and “More than This.” BRILLIANT. Todd and Viola forever.

8. Leila Sales: Zippy dialogue, well-drawn characters, and believable story lines and protagonists that grow and spread themselves — she’s a great contemporary novel find.

9. Ruta Sepetys: I resisted reading “Between Shades of Gray,” because it sounded so intense, but once I did, I was so glad to discover such an intelligent historical novelist in the YA realm. Her books (I also loved “Out of the Easy”) make you think and cry and fall in love with their protagonists.

10. Rick Yancey: “The 5th Wave is coming” — that is all the reason I need.

 

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