When it comes to convincing me to try a new author…dude, you will have zero problems at all.
I WANT TO READ EVERYTHING. Things keep getting in my way, however. Like the fact that there are only 365 days in the year (rude) and I can’t read all day anyway (ruder) and I’m expected to do other human things occasionally (so so rude wow).
Of course I have my old favourite authors and I’ll read everything they write and obsess over it completely (DID YOU SAY MAGGIE STIEFVATER) but the shiny prospect of finding new favourite authors???? Bring it.
I am so easily convinced to read new authors, eat more cake, and wear a red cloak so I can skip into the woods and eat wolves. (That seems how the story went??)
I discovered some marvellous authors in 2018 that I’d never read from before! I’m about to whack you with a list of them (but I’ll whack you softly because I’m secretly nice, despite my fearsome demeanour) and you are so welcome.
[Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read In 2018]
1. NATASHA NGAN
I confess to being one of the deluded marmots who was like: “OH THIS DEBUT AUTHOR IS GREAT!” after I read Girls Of Paper And Fire. But…ah no, she actually wrote other books before that. Including The Elites and The Memory Keepers. So what do I know? Nothing, Jon Snow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I read GIRLS this year and ajfsdkald it was harrowing and powerful.
2. ELIZABETH MAY
Not only did I discover the stabby faerie goodness that is The Falconer…this author actually follows me on twitter and has said nice things about my book. afjksdlad my heart. Does that make me a lifelong fan?? Is my loyalty so easily bought???
UM, HECK YES.
(Also The Falconer contains a girl waging ware against 99% of faeries while falling in love with one AND it’s Scottish, steampunk, and she has a sassy pixie friend. What is not to love here.
3. KRISTEN CICCARELLI
FOREVER MAD THAT I DIDN’T READ THE LAST NAMSARA SOONER!! It’s so so good. Dragons! And the heroine is an absolute burnt crockery pot and she meets a marshmallow boy who she frequently has to save. She is very grumpy while she does this. It’s beautiful.
(Also there’s like rebellions and magical-stories and swords and things, but like: DRAGONS. That’s what’s important here.)
4. NORA SAKAVIC
Ok I couldn’t find a high enough quality author photo so instead = HAVE MY SOCKED FEET. And also my precious damaged boys from The Foxhole Court, who have anxiety and an urge to kill things and kiss on occasion and also hit things with sticks and call it sport. (I HATE SPORT. WHY DO I FREAKING LOVE THESE BOOKS.)
Literally my favourite things ever uggghghgh. I’m so obsessed.
Also there are THREE and I ate them whole in like A WEEK and there are NO MORE and I am lost.
5. COURTNEY SUMMERS
So also apparently this author has a heck ton of books…definitely more than FIVE. (This is as high as I can count, ok, I grew up a musician and we only needed to count to four mostly.) But the first one I’ve read of hers was Sadie and after it broke me into millions of pieces, I logically decided I need to read MORE. MUCH MORE.
2019 goals???
(But seriously, Sadie is about sisters and poverty, it’s about sexual assault and hunting for revenge, it’s about a girl with a stammer who’ll stop at nothing to find her sister. THE ENDING THOUGH. AJFDKSLAD.)
6. SARA WOLF
Again, she has toooons of books, but Bring Me Their Hearts was my introduction to Sarah Wolf and ooffph was this book just so super funny. It’s about witches who keep Heartless servants, aka bodyguards who need flesh to survive but will die for their witch master. Zera is just the SASSIEST Heartless ever and 10/10 will talk herself out of trouble. It’s just such a good fantasy romp, ok?! And I don’t talk about it enough!
7. MEGAN SHEPHERD
My very first read from this author is Grim Lovelies (which I keep typing “Grime Lovelies”??? But it’s ok, these little Parisian witches do take baths.) And it was FANTASTICALLY MAGICAL. It’s pretty and wicked and features the enchanted beasties that witches make in all the fairy tales. But what happens if the enchantment ends?! Or the beasties-as-humans are lowkey DONE with being slaves? It’s glorious. 10 more thanks.
8. MARK OSHIRO
Anger Is A Gift is an actual GIFT as well, thank you very very much book for existing. Also prepare to cry yourself a small salty dead sea. It’s brutally accurate with the anxiety rep (like you will ache with Moss) and, omg, the things these kids go through just to gET AN EDUCATION. They’re poor and black and queer and disabled…and this book is such an equally bitter and loving view into their lives. (Also excellent writing and characters you would die for. JUST EVERYTHING.)
9. MARGARET ROGERSON
AND HI, I LOVE FAERIE STORIES. And “love” is a little word which here means am obsessed with magical catlike fey who are curious about humaning but do it badly themselves and may yell at a teapot or kidnap a painter and then halfway through the kidnapping feel bad and pet her hair and let her save him from monsters.
Aka ROOK. I love Rook. I love Isobel (a human dealing with faeries and, tbh? Most likely to survive them all.) An Enchantment Of Ravens her first book so I’m not behind but SO excited for A Sorcery Of Thorns this year ahhhhhhhh.
10. K. ANCRUM
I LEFT THE BEST TILL LAST. Because ohhhhh wow where do I even start with one of my all-time favourite books?! The Wicker King just stole my entire heart. I read it twice last year and each time it was just…everything?!? It has soft messy neglected boys, and hallucination mental illnesses, and codependency and queer kids just trying to Do Their Best when the world lets them down. It’s dark. But hopeful. AND THE AUTHOR’S NOTE NEARLY MADE ME CRY.
(If I could only recommend one book from 2018…thiiiiis.)
Great list! I desperately need to read Girls of Paper and Fire asap because I need more f/f fantasy in my life. Elizabeth May is so much fun to follow on Twitter – I read The Falconer a few years ago and for some reason haven’t continued the trilogy, so that’s something I need to get on top of soon.
Saaaame 😍 I’m also glad there’s more diversity coming into fantasy. Like usually we only get f/f in contemporary. SO BLESS THIS AUTHOR. Also I did that with The Falconer! I don’t even know why 😂But I’m finally reading the sequel now!
Uh, all of these are on my TBR and I’m very mad at myself for not picking any of them up yet because you make them sound SO GOOD, like, have to pick them up NOW good. WHY DOES COMING TO YOUR BLOG ALWAYS END WITH ME FEELING THIS WAY?
If it makes you feel better, there are still 3048 books screaming at ME for still having not read them.😂 WHY DON’T WE HAVE 9+ MORE HOURS PER DAY FOR READING???
Ohhhhh!! Grim Lovelies was so so so good!! And I also read The Last Namsara AND The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli last year. I loved them both, despite them being very different stories. Elizabeth May, Nora Sakavic and K. Ancrum are all on my giant TBR, but I will definitely move them up the last. I mean, Sakavic will be read as soon as Foxhole turns up in the post – why the other two came first I have no idea… Apart from Aus Post wanting to punish me for making them deliver SO many books to me?
I also read Holly Black for the first time last year, and then ordered and devoured half of her back catalogue. And Adam Silvera too, he was a newbie for me – but I already knew that I liked to cry a LOT. Also read this other book by some debut author… C.G. something? There was a piano and a soft marshmallow boy called Beck and a sparkly rainbow sunshine girl called August, and there were a lot of tears and I ended up in the foetal position and therapy after finishing it. Maybe you’ve heard of it?
Omg the Australian Post is a little mad hellish cacti but I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE GOING TO READ THE FOXHOLE COURT!! It’s pure and lovely torture. 😂 And fajksdl I’m about to read The Caged Queen. As long as I get to it before the library due date comes back to bite me lmao.
Aw I’m so so glad you discovered Holly Black. She is a QUEEN. I’ve been reading her books for years and absolutely swear by all of them.
Ohhh yeah I feel like I’ve heard of the Drews person??? Apparently the author needs to be tossed 90ft into the sea? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I thought it was only 50ft?? 😂
I really hope you enjoy The Caged Queen – I have so much love for Roa now (also, I may need therapy from this book too).
And i LOVE all the Holly Black books. I mean, Cardan is obvs my fave because cheekbones that can slice you is absolutely my thing, but Roiben and Severin are all up there too… and Ravus. Because hot-trolls is now something I need in my life.
Somehow your new fav authors have gorgeous book cover 😍😍 😍😍 I only have read An Enchantment Of Ravens and sadly I did not like it, but I still keep the book since the cover is so gorgeous 😍😍 😍😍 I love emma hart’s wiriting in four day fling but has not read her other book so I has not decided
Covers are just out of this world with levels of gorgeousness these days 😍😍
I should have Kristen on my list too. The Last Namsara was so amazing. I really regret letting The Last Namsara sit around unread so long. Of course I’m going to do the same thing to The Caged Queen. 😂
Ahhh totally same.😂 I mean, it got a lot of hype when it came out but for some reason I never picked it up? But I DO have The Caged Queen from the library and I need to read it before the due date comes in to bite me.😂
Yeah, I really do need to read Anger Is a Gift one of these days. You’ve convinced me. 🙂
This is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
Excellent!! I am so happy to hear that *flails*
AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS, YAS. Loved that book so much and SO excited for A Sorcery of Thorns!! (also I NEED TO READ THE LAST NAMSARA. But for some reason I keep calling it the last Namasari? Because my brain keeps reading it weird? Idk xD. But I’m excited to read it!!)
Honestly my brain renames books all the time 😂 like there’s a book coming out called To Best The Boys and I keep calling it TO THE BEST BOYS 😂 Whyyy, brain, why. (But afjdkslad Sorcery of Thorns is going to be amazing. Also she gets the most gorgeous covers!?)
I loved so many of these too. I received the Wicker King from my bestie for Christmas and now I have to read it asap!
omg you have been BLESSED 😍😍 it is absolutely the best thing
I really want to read Sadie and The Wicker King, but the waitlists are so long! I feel left out. Anger Is A Gift has been getting a lot of hype, too, so I should probably add that to my TBR mountain.
THEY NEED YOU. They will both wreck you in different ways, which is so nice of them!! (Ok one of these days I will write a list of happy books but pfft. Not today apparently.)
I actually haven’t read any of the authors on your list! Quite a lot of them are on my TBR though, so hopefully I will be able to change that soon. Several of the new authors I found last year have written some of my most anticipated reads for 2019 (Children of Virtue and Vengeance, A Girl Called Shameless, King of Fools, Romanov), so I think I did quite well there! I do a mix, I do love my tried and tested authors, but I realise that had I not tried them for the first time, they would never be favourites now, so I like to try lots of new authors, in the hope of finding new favourites.
kING OF FOOLS YESSS. I read her debut the year before so I couldn’t count Amanda Foody, but I loved Ace of Sahdes so much. Also Nadine Brandes was new for me last year too, with Fawkes. SO excited for Romanov.
Wait, Natasha Ngan wasn’t a debut author in 2018? xD Oops . . . I was definitely also a deluded marmot, then.
Courtney Summers was a discovery of mine, as well! Also Mary H.K. Choi, whose writing style reminded me a lot of Rainbow Rowell’s, so I’ll definitely be picking up her books in the future. I’m not sure I’ve had a greater discovery since Becky Albertalli, but there’s still hope!
We can both be totally clueless here.😂I feel bad though, because her first books must’ve been very VERY smol and it probably feels weird to have everyone assuming GOPAP is her first haha. But afjkdslad I JUST READ EMERGENCY CONTACT THIS WEEK AND I’M D E A D. I love it so so much!! Does she have more books? I need them.
2018 had some of my new favorite authors get discovered, I actually don’t think 2019 will be able to top it. My top eleven (couldn’t narrow it down) are
-Leigh Bardugo, I consumed the entire Grishaverse within like three months and now I need King of Scars
-V.E. Schwab, I know I’m really late but I read Vicious and Vengeful this year and need more murder children
-Brandon Sanderson, I’ve read only Skyward, it’s called Skyward because my love for it is that high
-Akemi Dawn Bowman, Starfish was my favorite book of last year and Summer Bird Blue was the best aro\ace rep I’ve ever read (and unfortunately only aro rep, I’m suing)
-Courtney Summers, SADIE!
-F.C. Yee, who only has one book (The Epic Crush of Genie Lo) but it was so good I’ve sworn a blood oath to read the rest
-Francesca Zappia, Eliza and Her Monsters
-Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
-Nadine Brandes, because Fawkes and her YouTube channel are amazing
-you
-Maggie Stiefvater, wow The Scorpio Races tho and I’m currently reading The Raven Boys
omg I so highly approve of the Schwab and Bardugo and Stiefvater on this list. ONLY MY QUEEN THREE. (And afjsdkald you mentioned meeeee 😭💛shh you’re going to crack my fearsome and terrifying demeanour here) 😂
Also Starfish is absolutely amazing. Omg. Also did you know Alice Oseman’s next book is ace/aro?? I’m SO excited. It’s called Loveless! I’m not sure when it comes out but possibly end of this year?
Okay so obviously I have A LOT of reading to do, because I haven’t read any book by any of these authors, oops. I can’t WAIT to read Girls of Paper and Fire, I heard so many great things about it and … I didn’t know that this book wasn’t her debut, either, thank you for enlightening me haha I seriously had no idea! 😀 I also really need to read The Wicker King, you make it sound even more awesome every single time you talk about it and I can’t wait! 💖
Wonderful post! 💖💖
Ahhh I hope you end up liking Girls Of Paper And Fire 😍 it COMPLETELY lived up to the hype in my opinion! I also was talking about her book on instagram and someone corrected me that it wasn’t her debut, ahhh I feel bad 😂
I am even more behind than you, because I haven’t read any of these authors’ books!
There’s too much to read, right?! 😂
I haven’t tried books by any of these authors before. I will check them out though!
I’m glad you enjoyed my recs 💛
I read The Falconer by Elizabeth May back in 2014 and loved it! And I found Derrick the pixie to be so hilarious! It’s so weird that I’m reading this post just as I’ve decided to read The Falconer again (I’m about 160 pages through at the moment). But yeah, Elizabeth May has been a favorite author of mine for a few years now and I always thought she was so underrated by the bookish community!
Ahhh that’s such weird but cool timing right?! Did you ever finish the series? I read it at the beginning of 2018 and then never went on (GAH I’m so bad at focusing on just one series) but now I’m currently reading bk 2 and loving it!! And she IS an amazing author and so epic on twitter too!
OMG weird, again! Because I actually didn’t finish the series either! I read the first two books and then got distracted by other reads and never read the third! I’m hoping to change that this month though!
I am personally blaming you for convincing me to read The Wicker King and making me cry at like 3am because I had so many feelings and the author’s note didn’t help. (THANK YOU SO MUCH CAIT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE 10/10) Anyway I’ve never read anything by Elizabeth May before, but I signed The Falconer out of the library super recently and I am v excited to read it. Also, I want to read Girls of Paper and Fire because it seems right up my alley!!!
EXCELLENT. MY WORK HERE IS DONE. 😭💛💛My #1 goal here is to make everyone suffer like I have suffered (but omg the author’s note right?? I cried. I NEVER CRY.) And I hope you also end up enjoying The Falconer!! It’s hand to have book 2 ready though. 😉
omg that quote from Bring me Their hearts…. i need that book in my life now
also YES ISNT GOPAF SO AMAZING?? natasha ngan is a literal god
It is just SO funny 😂 I love good sassy banter omg. And Natasha Ngan is an absolute gift to this world sfkaldsfjd
Mark Oshiro and Courtney Summers are also new to me that I absolutely ADORE, and I still need to read Grim Lovelies… my copy is just hanging out on my shelf weeping. Great list, Cait!
I have so many books weeping from neglect on my shelves, so I relate 😂😂
I did read Rogerson last year, and I have pretty much all of the rest of these on my tbr. 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
Then you have an excellent upcoming TBR right?! 🎉
I have read none of these authors but they are all on my TBR. I agree with how rude it is that there are human things to be done that mean you can’t read all day and there are only 365 days in a year -_-
It is just SO rude smh. We deserved better than this, like at least 9 more hours per day for reading.
Sooo I hideously read only FOURTEEN BOOKS last year… *internal cringe* but a little over half were old fave authors. Six were new, and Natasha Ngan was one of the new authors for me, too! I’d never heard of her either and thought she was a new author…ha, oops! I need the sequel in my hands.
I’m so glad we both found Natasha Ngan this year 😍 At least we have her older books to dig up now?!? I WANT MORE OF HER WORDS!!
From your list the only authors I know and have read are Margaret Rogerson and Kristen C!! The rest I still need to read something by. I thought The Last Namsara was okay but I will definitely be reading The Caged Queen at some point. I LOVED An Enchantment of Ravens. It made me laugh, Rook was adorable, and we need more fantasy romance stories – where a major war isn’t the plot but it’s like meshing two genres together 😀 I also discovered Maggie Stiefvater this year and fell in love with the Raven Cycle so I think… I might be even more behind than you DD:
My recent post: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2019/01/4-mini-reviews-shakespeare-edition/
Eeeep I’m so glad you found the Raven Cycle this year 😍😍 this IS ONLY THE BEST NEWS EVER AHH. And honestly Rook is just a GIFT and I really can’t wait to read more from that author!!
Isn’t it funny when you read a book by a “new” author and then discover that they have like twelve hundred books that you just didn’t know about? I find that happens to me all the time.
I know right?! I feel kind of bad when I do that, like I wasn’t paying enough attention 😂
A thousand times yes for K. Ancrum! I loved The Wicker King as well and her writing broke my heart. It was lyrical and beautiful, and yet so hard to read. I remember that I was reading this on class (oops) and I was getting teary-eyed for no reason at all. It was hard to explain to my friends, because to them it was just a quote, but it meant so much when you were inside the story. I really hope to read more from her in the future, because I think she was able to write from these male perspectives very well.
I am lowkey scared to read Anger is a Gift. Education is something I am very, very passionate about, and this book talks about it very heavily, in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever been introduced to before. I was raised in middle-class, private and white school, so for a long time I never gave it much thought. I really think this book is going to rip my heart to pieces, and I’m not sure I’m prepared.
If I had to choose a favorite author I met in 2018, I’d say Robin Roe. I’m sad that we still have no news from future books by her, because A List of Cages was sooooo good! I love reading from male perspectives, and I think that along with K. Ancrum, she did a very, very good job. Definitely wish there were more books by her to pick up!
I totally understand how you feel!! Like the whole book was just an absolute work of art and emotion…and I can’t even believe a book can be jUST THAT GOOD OMG. I love it so hard. ahhhh.
And honestly Anger Is A Gift massively opened my eyes to a lot of things underprivleged kids face in American schools (which are SO differnet to Aussie schools too).
omg I LOVED A List of Cages!! I’m definitely going to reread that this year!
YESSS NORA SAKAVIC!! K. Ancrum and Courtney Summers are also great choices! I just finished Sadie a couple days ago, and it was awesome. I think my favorite new-to-me authors of 2018 would be Donna Tartt (A Secret History), Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow), Hieu Minh Nguyen (This Way to the Sugar), and Christina Lauren (Autoboyography).
Eleanor | On the Other Side of Reality
I’m hoping to read Donna Tartt this year! And yES TO AUTOBOYOGRAPHY THAT BOOK IS A GIFT.
Great list! I love the beautiful pictures
Aw thank you!
Some of those quotes are fabulous. I will definitely be checking out An Enchantment of Ravens.
Well I’ve been binge-reading Agatha Christie novels, so I guess she counts, though I did read a book by her at the end of 2017, I think?
I still need to read something by her! I’m a bit ashamed that I haven’t yet.😂
The Last Namsara was great for sure. <3
I’m hoping to start The Caged Queen tonight!!
Yeay~ I liked it but not as much as the Last Namsara.
I haven’t read any of these but now I want to! I’m really excited about Girls Of Paper and Fire and have it on hold at the library, so impatiently waiting. You are really, really bad for my TBR pile!
I hope it comes in soon!! *flails wildly*
Ooh, I’m reading The Wicker King at the moment and really enjoying it, not to sound morbid. The depth to the narrative was so unexpected, I’m expecting big things though. I loved the Last Namsara too. A bit of the mythology was lost on me but I loved seeing female protagonists in control and the typically traditional roles reversed. If only more authors adopted female characters saving soft boys. I bought the Foxhole Court after a friend of mine absolutely raved about it but still haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I seen someone once mention that it has a Raven Boys feel but without all the wordyness and thinking it might be my cup of tea. Those covers though. Imagine if they were updated and umm, nicer. People would be discovering how incredible it is. The cover really doesn’t do the series justice.
It’s BEAUTIFUL. So I totally get it! It’s so heartwrenching but the ending just had me tearing up like a sappy bucket ajfkdlsad I love that book too much. And omg The Last Namsara was just freaking badass. I’m meaning to start The Caged Queen tonight. 🎉
Also I know people call The Foxhole Court like The Raven Boys buuuut…it’s not. Haha. It has a lot of boys and the found-family-friendship aspect, but so do a LOT of books. So yeah, I don’t really get that comparison, tbh!? Still love them both, obviously!!
AMAZING list Cait! I’ve read The Falconer and The Last Namsara. I thought they were pretty cool! I need to read The Foxhole Court and Wicker King soon. You’re always raving about them! I’m a bit hesitant about GoPaF because of the rape bit but I may still read it! I didn’t know that the MC in Sadie stammers. I stammer too and I’ve never any books with that representation. Thanks for including that info!
Taiwo x
I feel like the stammer rep in Sadie isn’t talked about enough!? And it’s such an important part of the book. I hope you end up being able to try it! And ah, yes GoPaF is really tough going but not graphic…dark though.
Always hearts and love for Nora Sakavic and K. Ancrum 💛💛
THEY ARE TRULY GIFTS TO THIS WORLD.
I keep seeing The Last Namsara when I browse the audiobooks at the library on my Overdrive app but I haven’t heard anything about. I’m gonna have to give it a try. Okay, I am currently on the hold list for Sadie. I NEED to read this book. I just recently found out what it’s about and I AM HERE FOR IT. Megan Shepherd’s Madman’s Daughter trilogy is awesome (although I haven’t actually finished reading the third book in it).
I didn’t read much in 2018 so I didn’t really find any new authors last year, but I did FINALLY read And I Darken by Kiersten White. Such an amazing book.
It is just SO good! I hope you get to try it. I just finished The Caged Queen now and am officially in love 😍😍
I’m so glad you liked And I Darken!
EXCELLENT list! When I finished Girls of Paper and Fire I went straight out and bought The Elites haha.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
I really want to read her older works now too! 😍