Top Ten Tuesday #352

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since I last did one of these, I had my friends round to stay over the weekend which was really great, it was so lovely to catch up in person as we hadn’t seen each other since before Christmas.

Anyway, it’s Tuesday, which means another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is another of our annual lists, this time we’re talking New To Me Authors I Discovered In 2021. Now though I read quite a few new authors last year, there weren’t enough that I would read more from to fill a whole list (I count New To Me Authors to mean authors I read for the first time and would read from again as that’s the mark of a successful new author discovery for me), so I’m splitting this list into two sections: New To Me Authors I Discovered In 2021 & New To Me Authors I Want To Read In 2022. Here we go:

New To Me Authors I Discovered In 2021:

1. Kate Quinn

My favourite new author discovery of last year, I devoured The Rose Code last spring, loving the characters, the focus on female friendship and the setting of Bletchley Park’s codebreaking hub of the 1940s. I quickly went onto read another book of hers, The Alice Network and loved that one too. I’m massively excited to see what Quinn does next with her 2022 release, The Diamond Eye.

2. Madeline Martin

Martin’s historical fiction The Last Bookshop in London was one of my biggest surprises of 2021, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the cosy story of a WWII bookshop as much as I did. Martin’s next book is set to follow spies working undercover as librarians in WWII and it’s safe to say that I’m very excited for it to come out in July.

3. Andrew Cotter

I’ve actually already read Andrew Cotter’s second book, Dog Days: A Year With Olive and Mabel, after loving his initial book about his lockdown sensation Labradors, Olive, Mabel & Me. I don’t know if he’ll ever do anymore books about Olive and Mabel but I will happily devour them if he does, as his writing is very funny and enjoyable.

4. Garth Nix

I know, I know, I must be one of the last people ever to read Garth Nix. Now The Left-Handed Booksellers of London may not have been my favourite book of last year, but it was quirky and creative, so it has me intrigued about reading more Nix books. He seems to be doing a follow up the The Left-Handed Booksellers, which I think I will probably read as I was interested enough by the first book to want to explore more of the world he created.

New To Me Authors I Want To Read In 2022:

5. Pat Barker

The Silence of The Girls is one of the books on my #RockMyTBR challenge list for 2022, and though I’ve heard from a friend who’s read it that it’s very similar to The Song of Achilles, and not quite want I thought it was, I’m still intrigued to see what Pat Barker’s take on the Trojan War and the women who experienced it is.

6. Stuart Turton

I’ve had The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle on my shelves for years, and courtesy of my #RockMyTBR challenge, this year is finally the year to read it. I’ve heard such high praise for this book, so I just really hope that it lives up to it!

7. Grace D. Li

Possibly my anticipated debut of 2022, never has a book screamed me more than this one. University students, heists, colonialism, history…..I could go on. I cannot wait to see what Grace D. Li has done with this book!

8. Marie Benedict

I love books about historical women that were underappreciated in their time and have always felt quite indignant about the way Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the discovery of DNA was brushed under the carpet, so I’m really excited to read Marie Benedict’s take on her story. I think this is going to be my next audiobook when I’m done with Resistance Women!

9. Maya Rodale

I’m interested in Maya Rodale’s book for much the same reasons as Marie Benedict, I love reading about historical women who aren’t as well known as they should be. I also have an extra layer of interest in Nellie Bly because she was also a journalist and think that what she did going undercover in an asylum was so brave and incredible. I can’t wait to see what Maya Rodale does with her story.

10. Freya Marske

I meant to read Freya Marske’s debut last year, as I had an ARC from Netgalley, but I never did get around to it. I’m really excited to get to it this year though as I love historical fantasy and Edwardian era historical fantasy is not something you usually find. Historical gays + magic is a combination I can’t resist.

So there we go, those were my favourite new to me authors of 2021, plus some new authors I’m looking forward to reading this year. Have you read anything from any of these authors (aside from the two who are 2022 debuts of course!)? Did you like their books? What new authors did you discover last year? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday, this time we’ll be talking Books With Character Names In The Title, which is a topic I actually suggested! I did this one last year, but since I suggested it, I’ll try to come up with ten more book titles for a part 2 to the post I did last year.