Top Ten Tuesday | New-to-me authors I discovered in 2021

Hello, my lovely lemons! It has been SO LONG since I’ve done a Top Ten Tuesday post. Did I even do one last year?? Did I go a whole year without TTT? I absolutely LOVE doing this meme – it’s such a great tag and honestly my favourite ongoing series for post ideas. If I’m stuck in a blogging rut I just check the list and there’s always something that sparks inspiration. I love that you can look through all the archives of past topics for nearly 600 amazing post prompts.

And this one in particular took my fancy! I actually read quite a lot of new authors last year. I didn’t know whether I’d be able to fill all 10 slots on this list but I counted and it turns out I read 15 new authors last year! I’m impressed with myself. Without further ado, let’s get to the list!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. Marissa Meyer – Cinder

I can’t believe it took me so long to get to one of the most popular series in the book community, but it was only last year that I finally started the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I found a few elements of the world building strange, but overall this was a fun and enjoyable story. I really like the creative premise of this and Meyer’s other series Renegades, and I think that’s probably one of her defining traits as an author.

2. Anna-Marie McLemore – When the Moon Was Ours

I’d never read magical realism before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this. But what I got was a truly magical story, gorgeous prose, and a strong desire to read all their other work. I liked how delicate and personal this story felt – it wasn’t a huge, world-in-peril plot, but a small and important story all the same.

3. Adrian Tchaikovsky – One Day All This Will Be Yours

I love funny sci-fi that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s exactly what this book was. Tchaikovsky has written a lot of books, and most of them have pretty unusual plots. If they’re all done as well as this one, I’m sure I’ll have fun working my way through his catalogue.

4. Kristin Cashore – Graceling

I tried this book a long time ago as an audio but couldn’t get into it. When I finally tried again last year with a physical copy, I couldn’t understand how I failed to love it the first time. This was a beautiful, feminist fantasy with well-rounded characters and a core journey of self discovery. I was really impressed at the themes this book handled and how well it executed them, and I have faith the rest of the series will be just as good.

5. Tricia Levenseller – Daughter of the Pirate King

I ADORED this book. It was fun and filled with banter. As soon as I finished it I went and added every other book Tricia Levenseller has written to my TBR because this book just made me so happy.

6. Tamsyn Muir – Gideon the Ninth

I could be here all day trying to sum up my love for this book. The narrative voice (my favourite ever), the dark setting (truly atmospheric), the magic, the mystery, the lesbians. A gothic masterpiece that I could (and have) read again and again.

7. Sarah Rees Brennan – Fence: Striking Distance

I’m obsessed with the Fence graphic novels and as such was wary about how they would translate into a novel, especially with an author who hadn’t previously worked on the series. But I was blown away by how well Sarah Rees Brennan captured these existing characters and brought them to life in words. She retained all the original character and brought new antics to life – I think these novels may even be my favourite instalments of the franchise.

8. Emily Henry – You and Me on Vacation

It had been years since I’d read an adult romance, but Emily Henry eased me back into the genre wonderfully. Her characters truly came alive, and I was totally invested in their relationship. I’m definitely following her future work!

9. Annette Marie – Three Mages and a Margarita

I picked this book up because I was craving urban fantasy, and I couldn’t have chosen better. Annette Marie has created a series that has literally everything I love about the urban fantasy genre – a spunky female protagonist, a close-knit group of friends, and constant magical peril. Not to mention this series and world is HUGE! There’s so many books and spin-offs and I’m so glad because when I find something I love like this I can and would read 50 books about it.

10. Alexis Hall – Boyfriend Material

I adored this so much I listened to the whole (13 hour) audiobook in one day. I could not put it down! The swoony romance, the very British humour – Alexis Hall nailed it all. I’m so excited for the sequel coming out this year, along with the rest of their backlist.

That was so much fun! I love these posts and I really need to get back into doing them more often. What new-to-you authors did you read last year? Any you want to read this year?