
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week, she will post a new Top Ten list topic for everyone to weigh-in on. Link back to That Artsy Reader Girl on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists!
This Week
New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020 (If you didn’t read 10 new authors, that’s fine! Just do what you can.)
I actually read a lot of new-to-me authors last year. Many I didn’t care for, some were alright/good, and one in particular stood out as a new auto-buy author for me. Let’s dive in.
10 New-to-Me Authors from 2020
1 . Diana Peterfreund (In the Hall with the Knife)
I saw the synopsis for this book and thought, a YA CLUE-inspired mystery novel??? What could be better??? Turns out, a lot of things can be better. I didn’t care for the book and will not be continuing the series. It’d take a lot for me to read anything else from this author, unfortunately.
2. Victoria/V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic)
My friend Heather recommended this writer, specifically her Shades of Magic series, profusely. I trust her judgement and gave in, reading the entire series plus her new standalone The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Though I didn’t adore Shades as much as Heather did, I still really enjoyed it, and I loved Addie a lot. I’m hoping to make my way through more of this writers’ works, because not only do I like her writing style and story ideas, but I genuinely like her as a person from all the Instagram Lives and interviews and posts that she’s done on social media. I’m definitely adding her to my auto-buy author list, and look forward to reading some of her other series.
3. Isabel Sterling (These Witches Don’t Burn)
I read These Witches Don’t Burn and it was okay. I then read the sequel and didn’t really care for it. I don’t think I’ll continue the series after the major letdown of book 2, but I’d be tempted to pick up another book from Sterling in the future. We’ll see.
4. Rebecca Serle (In Five Years)
I enjoyed In Five Years fairly well. I thought it was a good novel. Could have been better, but I enjoyed the writing style. I would probably read more from Serle in the future.
5. Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)
I hated Red Queen. I know, I know. I was really getting into YA fantasy again, and not only have I heard so much about the Red Queen series, but those covers!! I guess you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover because wow this book was a letdown. I won’t be continuing the series, and I’m not sure I’ll read anything else from Aveyard, though it’s a possibility, I guess.
6. Erin A. Craig (House of Salt and Sorrows)
I loved this novel! Spooky and an excellent reimagining of a great fairytale. I can’t wait to read her next novel!
7. Lev Grossman (The Magicians)
I really enjoyed this series. I binge-read them all and especially liked the last one. Not sure I’d read more of his books, but it was a solid series overall.
8. Elana K. Arnold (Red Hood)
I did not really care for Red Hood. It was okay I guess, but not that good. I probably won’t pick up any other novels of hers.
9. Luke Jennings (Killing Eve)
Listen. I only read this series for my fiancé. I regret it. Books 1 and 2 were tolerable, but book 3 was a trainwreck. All throughout I disliked the writing. Though spy novels aren’t really my thing, I think this series as a whole was a letdown.
10. Elizabeth Acevedo (Clap When You Land)
Clap When You Land was beautiful. I loved the writing and will probably try to read more of Acevedo’s works. I hope I can connect on a deeper emotional level with some of her other works.
Have you read any of these authors, and do you like them? What are some of your new authors from 2020? Let me know in the Comments, or share a link to your own post! Happy Tuesday ❤
I still need to read Clap When You Land. Glad you liked it so much.
My post.
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I hope you read it and enjoy it as much as I did! Beautiful writing and such a heartfelt story.
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Bummer that IN THE HALL WITH THE KNIFE wasn’t better because it SOUNDS fantastic. Gah. I hate it when that happens!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Right! Great concept but not-so-great execution. Happy TTT!
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Brilliant list! I love Isabel sterling and I’ve always wanted to try Talia Hibberts books (although they seem a little daunting!). I seem to be really bad at following the ttt prompts lol so this week I tried top ten bookish things that annoy me. Although there could have been SO MANY MORE 😫 Here’s my post in case you’re interested 🙂 https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2021/01/26/ttt-26-1-top-ten-bookish-things-i-hate/
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I’m glad you love Isabel Sterling! I wish I could have loved her books more! I will absolutely check out your post, it sounds interesting 🙂 Who needs to follow prompts, anyway?
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Great list! I love VE Schwab and Elizabeth Acevedo!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thank you! I’m starting to love them both as well 🙂
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Elizabeth Acevedo! One of my autobuy authors. I always listen to her audiobooks the day they come out!
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She is really an amazing writer! I listened to Clap When You Land on audiobook and it was magnificent!
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Addie was brilliant!! I loved it a lot. I also really enjoyed A Darker Shade though. I really need to read Clap When You Land ASAP!! I feel like I’m the only one left out, haha.
My Top Ten
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She’s such a brilliant writer! And don’t worry there’s always time haha I hope you read it soon and enjoy it like I did!
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Thank you! I hope so too! 🙂
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Great list! I love VE Schwab and I’ve got Clap When You Land on my Kindle ready to read!
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Thank you! I hope you love it as much as I did!
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Great list! I really want to read Erin A. Craig’s book, it’s been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to pick it up. And while I haven’t read Clap When You Land yet, I did read Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X this year and loved it!
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It’s really a great novel, I hope you love it when you finally do read it! And I’ve heard The Poet X is incredible, I’ll have add it to my TBR ASAP!
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Thank you, I hope so too! I really enjoyed The Poet X, I hope you like it.
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We share an author – VE Schwab! My first book of hers was The Near Witch! I am working my way through the Shades of Magic. I am hoping to read the second installment in Feb! Addie LaRue is my favorite of hers, though! Great TTT!
My TTT: https://herbookishdesires.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/%f0%9f%93%9atop-ten-tuesday-new-to-me-authors-i-read-in-2020/
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I hope you love the series! I’m excited to read more of her works 🙂
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Elana K Arnold was new for me last year, too. Great list!
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I love Schwab’s books and she’s so lovely on Instagram, she was one of the first authors I followed on there 😃 I’m really hoping to read Erin A. Craig’s novel soon, it sounds so interesting!
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She really is such a lovely person. And I hope you enjoy Craig’s novel! She’s got a new one coming out this year and I’m very excited.
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I read the first in the Shades of Magic series and didn’t like it as much, but then Addie Larue was beyond amazing. Now I’m really tempted to buy all her books right this insight. And I agree with Red Queen. I only read the first 2 because the second was sooo boring. But I’m going to give her another chance with her new book this year.
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I think Shades of Magic was too hyped for me, and it fell kind of short in my opinion. But overall it’s a pretty good series, if you decide to revisit it! I hope Aveyard’s new book is better than Red Queen!
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I got about 25 pages into an Elana K. Arnold book once (What Girls Are Made Of, maybe? can’t even remember) and went OKAY NOT FOR ME. Read about Infandous later and was like “yeah definitely nope, not ever.” Just way too graphic/adult for me.
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I completely understand! It was definitely the writing for me, just not my style.
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Hello Alyssa, Not sure if you enjoy Cozies, but Susan Clayton-Goldner and Hope Callaghan are very good, in my eyes. I hope this helps. 😀 Blessings, Christine C Sponsler Sponsler.Ink
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