Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors in 2017

I’ve been absent for a long time, and to my patient followers, my sincerest apologies for that. I’ve been planning a blog redesign and ways to get more serious about this blog even though I haven’t posted much on it. In case you haven’t noticed, I got my own domain (.blog) and changed my header image as well. Subsequent posts will reveal other changes in the content and graphics. The posting schedule has been tweaked as well. On Tuesdays, I’ve planned to join the huge community of book bloggers in doing the Top Ten Tuesday meme (more information below). Book reviews will be posted on Thursdays and discussion posts/book tags/other miscellaneous posts on Saturdays. I also joined Bookstagram recently. All my social media links are in the sidebar, in case you want to follow me elsewhere. For now, let’s get into the actual post.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010. It will be moved to That Artsy Reader Girl from January 16th, 2018. For more information, check out this page. The topic for January 2nd, 2018 is: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2017.

 

1. Sandhya Menon

Sandhya’s debut book, When Dimple Met Rishi, was one of my favourites of 2017. A cute, light-hearted romantic story that warmed my heart with its Indianness. Both Dimple and Rishi were excellent characters and I was rooting for them from the get go. Check out my full review here.

2. Roshani Chokshi

I just had to give a shout out to my desi girls first, although this list is in no particular order. A Crown of Wishes (full review) was a book that surprised me with its setting, prose and amazing main characters. Although I didn’t like The Star-Touched Queen (full review) by her all that much, the Indian touch to a fantasy story takes me back to my childhood and there is no better feeling than that. When I found out about Aru Shah and the new imprint by Rick Riordan, I jumped up and down with joy like a child. It is one of my most anticipated reads this year and I can’t wait to see how Chokshi handles a middle grade story.

3. S. A. Chakraborty

I didn’t know The City of Brass was going to be one of my favourites until I had turned the last page. It had the most devastating cliffhangers of 2017 and I’m stumbling for words now because the need to know what happens next is driving me nearly insane. I still can’t believe it’s a debut novel because the world-building, political intrigue and the crafting of characters was top-notch. Colour me impressed, and also, very impatient.

4. Heather Fawcett

I liked everything about Even the Darkest Stars, which I believe is her debut novel. With a gorgeous cover, teasing synopsis and a journey that captivated me till the very end, it quickly wormed its way into my heart. I devoured the book in one sitting, reading into the night, as it was just that good! Needless to say, I’m impatient to get my hands on the next book in the series, All the Wandering Light.

5. Andy Weir

Allow me talk about the masterpiece that is The Martian. I did not expect to like it as much as I did and that was a rather stupid notion because it was everything and more. I had watched the film before reading the book, but this proved that books will always remain better than their movie adaptations. It deserves all the hype that it gets. I wish I had 1/10th the resilience, determination and resourcefulness that Mark shows. I can’t wait to get my hands on Artemis! Hopefully it is just as much fun.

6. Jennifer Mathieu

An English teacher by profession, it was her fourth novel, Moxie, that caught my attention this year. A wonderful tale of feminism, friendship and growing up, it is the one book that I will recommend over and over because it was such a powerful read. It had a romance that I was extremely pleased about because it portrayed such a healthy relationship, which I find is quite rare in young adult literature.

7. Rhiannon Thomas

Strong female characters don’t have to wield a sword and cut down everyone standing in their path, and the protagonist of Thomas’s fantasy standalone, Long May She Reign, proved just that. I love it when the heroines use their brain instead of brawn and Freya was a delight to read about. Her love for science, her desire to stay true to her roots but also grow and learn was a combination of all the traits I like a leading lady to have. I really need to check out more of her works as soon as possible.

8. Kathryn Berla

I read two of her books this year, both of which I enjoyed. I liked The House at 758 better than Dream Me, although I read the latter first. I was impressed by the writing and the imagination of the author in Dream Me, which made me request an ARC of her next release. The author was interactive and extremely sweet on Twitter, so I had a really positive experience with her. If you’re interested, you can take a look at my thoughts on Dream Me here and The House at 758 here.

9. Nicole Luiken

She is a hidden gem of an author whose Otherselves series deserves way more hype than it’s getting. It has such a cool concept and the execution is brilliant as well. This is another series where I admired the world-building as well as the characters. If you’re a young adult fantasy fan, do check out this series because it is nothing short of amazing. Find my review of the final book here.

10. Ashley Poston

Geekerella was the surprise favourite of 2017 for me. I wasn’t into reading contemporaries at all, but this one caught my eye as I read an excerpt of it and I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of it on Net Galley before the hype started. The theme of fandom was the best part about this book and it was the perfect Cinderella retelling that I think I like more than the original. To know more on my intense feelings about this book, check out the review here. Her next book, Heart of Iron, is definitely on my TBR for 2018.

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That’s it for my list. I actually left out a few authors, but I had to since I didn’t want to break the rules on my first time. What are some of the new authors that you loved in 2017? Do you participate in Top Ten Tuesday as well? Have you read any of these books and want to talk about them? What do you think of the changes to the blog? Let me know in the comments section below.