You know what the best feeling is?! Falling in love with a new author.
Or, if you’re me, going straight from “hm, this seems like a good book” over to “GOING TO OBSESS ABOUT THIS DRAMATICALLY TILL 2029 THX.” Chill? There is no chill to be had. There is only INTENSE BOOK FEELINGS.🔥
I’m doing a lot of “best of” lists as this year ends, partially because I do those end of year wrap up posts and never get to mention everyone! And partly because…I have no posts ideas so you get to (gloriously) listen to me rant about my faves. But usually my lists end up being a line up of old favourite authors and sequels I already knew I’d adore. So I want to be sure to highlight the new authors I’ve discovered too!
These aren’t all necessarily debuts, but they all came out in 2019!!
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💬 Did I Love The New 2019 Books From My OLD Favourite Authors?
💬 Did My Highly Anticipated 2019 Books Meet My Expectations?
1. Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I’m just going to straight up tumble off a cliff with my appreciation and also intense need to SCREAM at this book. It’s an adult sci-fi so it was definitely heavier in style/world building than I was used to and I was confused, quite a bit. But it was also phenomenal. Clever. Mindblowing. Powerful. Queer necromancers in space!!! I want book two…I think my soul just fell out but I WANT BOOK TWO SO BADLY I just–
2. Slay by Brittney Morris
This is also a debut and may I just go heart-eyes over the writing, the plot, the characters (!!!), the way it made me sort of miss the fact I never playedvideo games growing up?! This book was so good 😭Sister bonds. Deep friendships. It had amazing themes that were discussed with such nuance, and had a bit of a thriller and mystery feel at times with the plot. There’s a lot of Black Pride here too and definitely an #ownvoices not to be missed! (I felt privileged to be able to read this.)
3. Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
Debut!! I really really loved this one 😍It had a lot of the “good ol’ paranormal YA vibes” which, to be quite frank, I absolutely freaking love. 😂It’s dramatic and angsty and the teens can be little deluded donuts while they batter away their feelings and maybe, nearly, eat each other. It’s all “WHAT MAKES YOU A MONSTER”, cue dramatic crying in the rain. And I am freaking here for it. Grumpy girl. Soft boy. Set in Korea. Nine-tailed fox legends. Yes thanks, I’ll take ten.
4. Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Let me just pile another book into the growing stack in your arms but this one? tHIS ONE. Again, one of my favourite ships of 2019. (If I read anything with a chatty sunshine boy and the girl who is firmly focused on achieving her goals, but he keeps flirting with her…then I will ship them until my heart explodes.) It’s also a bit of a Mulan retelling, set in an with Imperial Chinese fantasy world, where a girl must dress up a her brother to be the royal tailor and sew dresses out of the sun, moon, and stars. Also DEMONS. Good, good.
5. The Surprising Power of A Good Dumpling by Wai Chim
Okay finally we put a contemporary on this list. And this isn’t a debut, but it was my first time reading a Chim book and, oh, did I just absolutely fall in love. Anna was just so easy to sympathise with and adore, as she tries to keep her family together while her mum has serious mental illness struggles and her dad pretends it’s not happening. Also it had some really loving discourse about depression that both broke and healed my heart.😭💛I love this one so so hard.
6. All Of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil
Alright this one was controversial in the book community, and I truly think it should have been marketed as adult! It raised a lot of concerns about the romance (teen falling in love with a 30+ year old man), but I think the book was about why that was a concern. It’s a magical realism, so deeply #ownvoices for trauma and POC Latinx experiences, and it’s about healing. But the book does cover a lot of darkness to get to that healing. So it’s not a tidy book, but it made me think a LOT.
7. Shadow Frost by Coco Ma
Back to fantasy (apparently this is where I just EXIST) but omg this was one of those good YA fantasy romps, where it’s all demons and epic kickass sassy heroines and elemental magic. This was so much fun! It also had some fab unsuspecting twists and dialogue you can cackle quietly to. 👀 It also has some wholesome side-character queer rep, I kind of adore Harry completely, and Asterin’s quips (and intense love of cake) made my day!! (Also this is a debut and the author is only 18!!)
8. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
Brb I just found the most adorable, wholesome, and lovely graphic novel!!!! I still keep thinking about this one and how much I want more?! At least 12 more volumes, thanks so much. It’s all werewolves and witches, but QUEER. And so so soft. Both main characters are Chinese-American, and Nova is Deaf and wears hearing aids! Tam is nonbinary and also a werewolf…as sometimes happens to us. And it’s about love and found family. The art is SO CUTE. Addictively amazing. There’s also so so much food, which is how I define a good novel. “Does it have food? Yes? FIVE STARS.”
9. Tarot by Marissa Kennerson
I want to squish this one on because it’s such a unique and original story — and I so admire that! It’s like a magical realism x fairy tale x magical kingdom classic. Basically Anna is locked in a tower and makes tapestries…but turns out they’re portals to other worlds. And when she escapes the evil kind, she falls into one, and finds a soft and gentle community of young people who aren’t ready for the war Anna may be bringing their way. The commune was all very loving (but with their strifes) and it was nice to see Anna just finding love. 😭
10. Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts) by Lev A.C. Rosen
Oh this was AMAZING and honestly why isn’t it talked about more, hmm? 👀This isn’t a debut, but it came out this year! So it fits my list. 😌Basically it’s about a queer teen who accidentally ends up writing a relationship and sex advice column for school. It’s anonymous, but…eh not so much. Jack actually ends up enjoying helping other queer kids, until he winds up with a manipulative and terrifying stalker. And he has NO idea how to deal with it as the stalker further and further takes over his life. The whole book was an explosion of glittery love and queer empowerment…but also with such a dark undertone with the stalker?! I nearly cried for Jack SO many times. But gah this book is so so good.
who are some new authors you discovered in 2019?!? doesn’t have to be a debut, but has to be published this year!!
Unfortunately, I haven’t been caught up with releases this year (oops…) so I haven’t read a single book actually published in 2019 🙁
However, I will definitely check all these exciting recommendations, and next year I will try to keep up with releases! I love checking out new books, I just haven’t got to it this year.
Do you have any books you’re excited for coming out in 2020? I would really like to see, what kind of books are coming out 😀
Love, Lucy
Oh I have a massive list of 2020 lists I’m excited for 😂 I will do a whole blog post soon!!
This year I discovered Jonathan Janz, Casey McQuiston, and Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I NEED to read more from them. They are masters in their specific genres.
omg I’m super in love with Red White & Royal Blue too 😍😍
We are not getting Dumpling until late 2020, but I have been wanting to read it due to all these amazing reviews for it. How wonderful that you discovered and clicked with so many great authors this year.
Yesss, I really love finding new books to flail over!
Hhhhm, authors I’ve discovered: Mitali Perkins with Forward Me Back to You. So, so good! I’ve read plenty of other 2019 releases but none with authors I’ve just discovered.
I’ve read a lot from old-favourite authors this year too! But I’m glad you found one new one to adore!
I had to go on Goodreads to check this haha but Martina Cole, Linwood Barclay, Jeffery Deaver in the thriller section, Malcolm Gladwell in non-fiction, Mark Brandi and Alex Michaelides. Of those the ones I’d probably rave about would be Malcolm Gladwell and Linwood Barclay, but with a lot of the others I’m likely to keep up with their new work so we’ll see!
Goodreads is totally my brain for this kind of thing 😂 without it, I’d have NO idea what I just read 😂
I didn’t discover as many new authors this year as I would have liked, only 6, and of those, only 4 had books out this year. They were Alexandra Christo (definitely a new favourite, I loved both To Kill A Kingdom and her 2019 release, Into The Crooked Place), Mackenzi Lee (only read Gentleman’s Guide so far, but loved it), Gita Trelease (Enchantee was one of my favourite books of the year and I’m so excited for Liberte next year) and Keri Mansicalco (loved Stalking Jack The Ripper and currently reading Hunting Prince Dracula). I haven’t read any of these, but I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Oh I loved Stalking Jack too! I think I read it last year? But I keep meaning to continue with that series! I also still need to read Into The Crooked Place!
I discovered someone in 2019 you’ll definitely not know! They wrote about a boy stealing houses and a girl stealing his heart. Yeah, you won’t know, of course.
(lol)
No, I was really glad to meet you! I don’t remember how I first found your blog but I almost immediately bought The Boy Who Steals Houses and read it all in one night (instead of sleeping for my exams of course). I don’t read a lot of modern stories (fantasy is my go-to too) but I just loved TBWSH (I found out recently that I love the “find a family” trope). I felt a lot of love reading it and cried at the end (I don’t cry often, be proud of you!).
And thanks to you I discovered The Cruel Prince that was also a big thing!
And another 2019 book I read was the last book of “La Passe-Miroir”. It’s translated in English under the name “A Mirror Visitor”, read it, it’s some good French fantasy (we don’t have a lot (English books win the market so it’s hard to find good French writers) so obviously I cannot not promote it. And the cover is just awesome!
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a good New Year. 💗
Oh this MADE MY DAY!! I am so so honoured and happy you loved TBWSh so much 😭💛truly means the world to me to know it’s found a home in so many hearts. And also The Cruel Prince series is so excellent. I’m glad you adore it too!!
Ahh these are all amazing! I’ve heard amazing things, especially about Slay. I think my favorite new-to-me authors this year are Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner), Shelby Mahurin (Serpent & Dove) and Emily Wibberley (If I’m Being Honest) 😀
Oh I read Serpent & Dove too and I have If I’m Being Honest on my TBR!!
I’m planning to read Spin the Dawn this weekend! Somehow I haven’t read any of the other books listed here, though so I’ll have to check them out!
There’s too much to read, right?! 😂
I absolutely fell in love with I Wish You All the Best, Red White & Royal Blue, Crier’s War, and Tarnished Are the Stars this year!!
I seriously need to read Crier’s War!! It’ll probably be a 2020 read for me instead, but I am excited!!
A lot of these books are still on my TBR (Slay, Shadow Frost, Spin the Dawn, Wicked Fox) and even though there’s still time left before 2019 ends, I feel like these will just be on my 2020 reads *hopefully since I’m such a mood reader* I really wanna read Slay and Wicked Fox though! I heard so much positive feedback for those books.
Oh I’m the same with thinking I can read like 200 more books just before 2019 ends 😂 there’s so much to read! Slay and Wicked Fox are EXCELLENT picks.
I also read and loved Wicked Fox. A Hero Born by Jin Yong (U.S. edition) was another 2019 discovery that I enjoyed.
It’s so so fun to discover new amazing authors. 😍
I want to read a lot of these. I totally missed out so many new releases when I took four literature classes and didn’t get to see all that was coming out at the end of the year. So happy that there were so many awesome debuts for you this year!
Oh I can imagine it would be hard to keep up with reading AND class!! But I hope you get to read some soon 🤗
Ah this is such a good list, so many of these are on my TBR! I really want to read SLAY, as well as SPIN THE DAWN, both sound amazin and I’m so happy you enjoyed them so much!! 🙂
Look, you know who crap my year was and the only firm favourite I read was not released in 2019 so :’) I have just put Mooncakes on hold at my library, though!! It looks adorable but for some reason I keep forgetting about it. But I shan’t now!! I hope I love it. I read Wai Chim’s other book – Freedom Swimmer – this year and it was pretty incredible. If you liked her other book I think you should give it a go! It also has an OT3 in my humble opinion, and is just really heartbreaking and real and taught me about stuff I didn’t know, which is always a bonus when reading fiction. I have a copy of Spin the Dawn from an OwlCrate so I will read that one eventually!! Hopefully I love that one, too. I need 2020 to be better than 2019 was!
Lovely post, Cait! I met so many awesome new authors in 2019! One of them would definitely have to be Elizabeth Lim! I also had a blast reading If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka! It was such a spectacular novel and i think that the two authors make such a dynamic duo! 🙂