Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at the Broke and the Bookish, and this week's theme is "
December 6: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2016!" I recently did a post where I talked about some pretty awesome new to me authors, but it was only three so I will include them here as well :)
1. Mindy McGinnis– The Female of the Species
review here
I'd heard about Mindy McGinnis before, about her
Not A Drop To Drink series and also about last year's
A Madness So Discreet, but I had just never gotten around to reading anything by her, despite the amazing things that I was hearing about her and her writing. So you can imagine my sheer delight when I read
The Female of the Species and was utterly blown away by it. One of the best books of the year, imo, and super important as well.
2. Anna Marie McLemore– When the Moon Was Ours
UM!!! Okay. So I received this book as an arc, and I definitely did not have very many expectations for it at all. Not that I wasn't excited, I just hadn't heard much about it and didn't really know what to expect. BUT HOO BOY!! This book was a gorgeous adventure into the world of magical realism, and it looked at contemporary issues through that lens, which ended up being super effective. I definitely applaud Anna Marie McLemore for this novel.
3. Susan Dennard – Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
review here
I know, I know... how had I never read Susan Dennard before this year?? I had heard so much about her Something Strange and Deadly Series, but I'm not a big fan of zombies, and so I just held off. But
Truthwitch? Truthwitch was ex-act-ly what I was looking for in a high fantasy. Best friends and magical powers and political intrigue and cute boys? YES. All of the above!! I absolutely cannot wait for the second book to come out in January!
4. Heather Demetrios – I'll Meet You There
I had heard about Heather Demetrios, both from her contemporary and fantasy stuff, but even though Exquisite Captive has been on my TBR for what feels like forever, I had never read anything by her until I picked this book up on a whim in the spring. I was absolutely in love with this story from page one, and I think it took me about a day to read. One of my favorite contemporaries from the year for sure, will definitely read more of Demetrios in the future!
5. C.S. Pacat – Captive Prince Trilogy (book 3, Kings Rising, pictured)
review here
Y'all do not even know how deep my love for
Captive Prince is. I feel like I've talked about it so much on here, but let me just go deeper into my love for it. It is a high fantasy m/m story and I just have no words for how amazing it is. The two main characters are my precious cinnamon rolls, the supporting cast is all kind of awesome, and book three in its entirety is just like everything amazing that you want to happen, happening all at once. I am planning on rereading this series first thing in 2017!!!
6. Alwyn Hamilton – Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1)
This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, because I honestly do not have a lot of interest in westerns, and this book was described to me as western meets middle eastern. BUT I picked it up because the first chapter grabbed me, and I barely put it down until I finished. Y'all this book is so much fun, it is just nonstop action with some awesome character development, magical powers, and a little bit of romance thrown in. Absolutely LOVE.
7. Carrie Firestone – The Loose Ends List
review here
This was my favorite contemporary that I've read this year. I absolutely adored it. I got it in arc form, completely fell in love, then bought two copies of it when it came out because that is how much I loved it. I have a couple of posts where I just gush about how much I love this one, so I'll keep this brief: This book is heartwrenching and heartwarming all at the same time. It talks about family in a way that just got to me, and I loved the settings. Would be a great Christmas read, IMO, but that's because I think it would be a great anytime read!
8. Adam Silvera – More Happy Than Not
I'd honestly followed Adam Silvera on twitter even before I thought about picking this book up, just cause I really like his tweets, so I felt like I had already read something by him, then when I picked this up I realized... no. But in the best way!! This book is so emotional and timely, it made me think a lot about big ideas about society and culture, while also keeping me 100% hooked on the story here. I would highly highly recommend this one!
9. Claire Legrand – Some Kind of Happiness
review here
Again, as with a lot of these authors, I had heard about Legrand, and wanted to read both her
Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls and
Winterspell, but I never got around to it. This book, however, completely clicked with me when I picked it up. This is a truly amazing depicting of what mental illness looks like in a child who has no words to describe what they are feeling. Magical and important, and I would like to erase it from my memory so I could read it again for the first time.
10. Colleen Hoover– November 9
Okay, before you say anything, I know that it is odd that I've never read Colleen Hoover before! I honestly don't read that much NA, but I'd heard so much about her from so many people, I had to pick one up. People have told me this is not her best by far, but I really enjoyed it and will definitely read her again!
what is on your lists this week?
xx
Caroline
