While I usually find end-of-the-year posts with favorite books super easy to write and only struggle with limiting myself to a certain number of books I always have a hard time putting together my „Top new-to-me authors of the past year“ list – mostly because I feel like I don’t give enough new authors a chance to impress me with their books so when I count all the new authors at the end of the year there are often barely enough to fill a Top 10 list.
This year though I found more than enough new-to-me authors and while part of my list proves once again that I’m always late to the party when it comes to hyped authors I’m also a little proud of myself for finding one or two gems on my own.
- Mark Roberts – Totenprediger (Blood Mist)
It didn’t take me long to realize I found a new potential favorite author of mine when I read Mark Roberts‘ first DCI Eve Clay thriller – it was so shocking and disturbing, I just couldn’t put it down and am already impatiently waiting for the German translation of the second one. - Victoria Schwab – Vicious
Shame on me for not having read a Schwab book earlier but I’m finally no Schwab virgin anymore. I have to say that I was a tiny bit disappointed that I found „Vicious“ just very good and not as awesome as everyone else but for my taste the plot was a bit too predictable and the worldbuilding not good enough. - Oscar de Muriel – The Strings of Murder
I’m always a sucker for Victorian crime novels but I have to admit I bought „The Strings of Murder“ mostly for its amazing cover. However the story didn’t disappoint and provided an exciting murder mystery, great atmosphere and two wonderfully snarky detectives. - Becky Albertalli – Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Becky Albertalli only made it onto this list last-minute since I’ve only just finished her book a few days ago and while I think that it couldn’t completely live up to the hype I still found the story quite cute and had a great time solving the mystery of Simon’s secret lover. - H.P. Wood – Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet
„Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet“ was one of my favorite books in 2016 and it makes me a bit sad that so few people have read it so that I don’t have anyone to discuss the book with. If you like diverse characters, have a thing for freak show settings and enjoy historical fiction in general, then you really shouldn’t miss this one!
Hideo Yokoyama – Six Four
I definitely wouldn’t recommend Hideo Yokoyama’s crime novel to every crime reader because the book is quite slow-paced and you need to pay a lot of attention to not miss important details and to not confuse all the Japanese names but I found it super interesting to see how Asian culture influences the police work and was blown away by the fantastic plot twist.
Linus Geschke – Die Akte Zodiac
It makes me happy that I also found a German author to add to this list. I didn’t have the highest expectations when I started this thriller about a Zodiac killer copycat but was positively surprised by how entertaining and suspenseful it was.
Mira Grant – Feed
While I love reading horror novels I’m not really a fan of Zombie stories because a lot of them are just dumb action stories with lots of splatter and no real plot, but experiencing the Zombie apocalypse through the eyes of some fearless bloggers (!) was pretty interesting and exciting.
David Hewson – Macbeth
I really can’t claim to be a Shakespeare fan so it’s quite a surprise that the author of a Macbeth story made it onto my Top 10 list, but David Hewson turned Shakespeare’s play into an epic Game of Thrones-like audio drama that was just fantastic. I want more of that!
Jennifer Lynn Barnes – The Naturals
I wouldn’t have expected to add the author of a YA thriller to this list since I usually don’t find those books exciting enough but Jennifer Lynn Barnes‘ teenage version of Criminal Minds was actually pretty addictive and even a love triangle couldn’t keep me from devouring it.
I have the same issue and this year I probably read 5 new authors. Or 4, haha. I do know that it’s the lowest number this year, though.
Yay, Schwab! I’m curious to see what you’d think about her other books.
Glad you finally read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda! XD I had a feeling about who could be Blue and turned out to be right.
I definitely have Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet and The Strings of Murder on my to-read list!
I have only read one book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and I do want to read more so it’s good to know The Naturals series is worth reading.
Wow, now I definitely feel a bit better about not giving many new authors a chance, seeing that you only read 4 or 5 new authors ;P
I’m going to read „This Savage Song“ next year and I really hope it won’t disappoint!
To be honest I found it pretty obvious who Blue was but it was still fun to look for more clues to undermine my theory 😀
Yay, I’m really glad you want to read both Magruder’s and Strings of Murder! 🙂
I guess you read „The Fixer“ then? Maraia just gave it to me and I am already pretty excited to read it!
I have Feed and Simon both on my TBR…glad they were both enjoyable for you!
I hope you will enjoy them, too! 😉
I still need to read Totenprediger! Hopefully I have time to read it after I move, in time to read the sequel with you.
*Resists urge to comment on second bullet point* xD
We really need to continue the series we started this year! We don’t even have the excuse of not having the next books, haha.
I was wondering if Becky Albertalli would make the list, and I’m surprised but glad she did!
Besides the authors you mentioned, my favorite new-to-me authors I read this year are Zoran Drvenkar, Katrina Leno, Chelsea Cain, Ivar Leon Menger, and Kristina Ohlsson, (Oh look, all but one was a suggestion from you. ;P) I’d also recommend John Scalzi, who I finally read this year.
I’m not sure if I can add Cody McFadyen to the list or not. xD
I just saw that the sequel to „Totenprediger“ comes out at the end of May, so you still have some time to read it 😉
Send me your comment in private then! ;P
Why are you surprised Becky Albertalli made it? I think I liked the book more than you expect ;P
I’m glad you discovered quite a few new favorite authors because of my recommendations and I really want to read „Lock In“ soon! 🙂
Why not, at least the first book(s) were pretty good? ;D
I’ll tell you tomorrow. xD
Oh, I believe you that you liked Simon, I would just be surprised if you wanted to read more of her books.
The first book was great! But that last one…I’m still worried about McFadyen’s mental health.
I read VE Schwab for the first time this year too, but I read her Shades of Magic books. You should give them a try, the world building in those books is great!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/top-ten-tuesday-86/
I’m really not sure if her Shades of Magic books would be my cup of tea, I’m still afraid they are a bit too swoony 😀 The next Schwab book I’m going to read will probably be „This Savage Song“!