Welcome back for another round of Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. You can read more about Top Ten Tuesday and its previous topics here.
Up this week: New-To-Me Favorite Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015
Some of the authors below are new this year in general, but others have been around longer. Either way, they did something to attract my attention, and I’m grateful to have come across their work. Everything below will be pretty vague to avoid spoilers.
1. Celeste Ng – Everything I Never Told You
If anyone is still waiting to read this one, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life. Celeste Ng is an incredibly clever, smart, and talented writer. Her book speaks to identity, culture, and the heartbreak that comes from expectation. She’s also fun to talk to on Twitter.
2. Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
I want to read books like The Goldfinch all the time. Theo is one of the most human characters I can remember reading, and the rest of the cast is as equally well written and fascinating. I need to devour Tartt’s other books immediately.
3. Roxane Gay – Bad Feminist/An Untamed State
An Untamed State is a brutal yet essential piece of literature, and Bad Feminist needs to be read by everyone, period. Roxane Gay is one of the most “real” people I’ve come across. Her work is honest and oftentimes raw, rightfully so. She was also incredibly kind and appreciative one time I brought her a croissant at a reading.
4. J. Ryan Stradal – Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Stradal is a man after my own stomach heart. He brings together my favorite things: food, humor, and the Midwest. Such a wonderful a creative storyteller. Also, Pat Prager’s bars are amazing.
5. Cristina Henriquez – The Book of Unknown Americans
This book serves as a reminder that being an American doesn’t come with one look, language, or definition. Everyone has a different story to tell, and we are all unique. I can’t wait to read more of Henriquez’s writing.
6. Benjamin Alire Saenz – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
There are so many smart books out there about the beauty and struggle that comes with being a teenager. I put Saenz in my top five for brilliantly writing about teens as an adult author.
7. Noelle Stevenson – Nimona
I don’t know what to say about Nimona other than it’s genius. Likewise, I don’t know what to say about Noelle Stevenson other than she’s a genius. Her work is clever, feminist, and exciting. On point. Top marks. She needs to write more Nimona… and more everything.
8. Andy Weir – The Martian
I guess I like funny men, because here’s another one to accompany Stradal. Andy Weir is pretty great at making science/space sound interesting to people like me who aren’t so clever in those areas. I’m excited to see what he does next.
9. Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall
I have a Tudors obsession that has only grown by reading Mantel’s Wolf Hall. I still need to read Bringing Up the Bodies and watch the TV adaptation, but I applaud Mantel for getting me ever more interested in Thomas Cromwell.
10. Agatha Christie – And Then There Were None
Never read Christie until 2015!? You caught me. I’ve now read a few of her books and intend on reading more. My reviews vary, but And Then There Were None wins as a favorite. It brings together all the pieces that make a mystery novel enjoyable.
Be sure to check back next week for another round of Top Ten Tuesday.
Who are some favorite new-to-you authors?
I’m so glad you “met” Agatha Christie this year – she’s so wonderful 🙂 My TTT
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So many, where to start! This year I read for the first time Jamaica Kincaid and her novel the autobiography of my mother is one of my top reads for the year, I then read two other short books and have her latest still to read. Similarly I also discovered Maryse Condé and started with her Tales of the Heart memoir and then her wonderful novel Victoire/ My Mother’s Mother which was brilliant and I have another of hers to read too. There is a bit of a connection, both of them being writers from the Caribbean, Antigua and Guadaloupe and I began to feel a kind of cultural insight, that has to do with storytelling and the imagination and feeling connected to ones family who have passed. Highly recommend them both.
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Great choices, and I love Jamaica Kincaid. I read a few of her books for a Caribbean Literature course at university. I’ll have to look into Maryse Condé. 🙂
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Awesome list! Celeste Ng – yay! And – Tartt’s The Secret History is fantastic…give it a shot!
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Thank you, I will! I own it so it’s time to put it on the list to read soon.
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Great list! Some of these folks I’ve read (some this year for the first time), and others I’m looking forward to reading ahead of me. Specifically, I’m really excited to get to The Book of Unknown Americans, Everything I Never Told You, and Kitchens of the Great Midwest.
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Hope you enjoy them!
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Wonderful list. I love Then there were none. Yet to read Goldfinch and Wolf Hall. Still on my TBR, Have heard great things about those books
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Aristotle & Dante is fantastic. Saenz has a lot of great stuff.
And Then There Were None has been a personal favorite for 20 years. Love it.
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