I have discovered so many new authors this year, but there are a select few who I will now read anything that they write. I have gone through their backlists and have either read more of their books or added them to my TBR. These are the authors I discovered this year whose careers I will follow and you’ll hear me talking about over and over again.
Tiffany D. Jackson
Truly my greatest discovery of 2020 was Tiffany D. Jackson. I read Let Me Hear a Rhyme in May and fell in love with the characters. I then read Allegedly in the summer, and it blew my mind. I read Grown on release day and I am still thinking about it. The only book of hers I have left to read is Monday’s Not Coming, and that is only because I am saving it. I am not ready to be done with her backlist! Thankfully, she has another book coming out next year and two more after that. I will read anything she writes. No one creates characters or writes mysteries in quite the same way that she does.
Brit Bennett
I read both of Brit Bennett’s novels this year and thought they were equally brilliant. If I had to choose a favourite, I would give a slight edge to The Mothers, but I highly recommend them both. I cannot wait for the adaptation of The Vanishing Half and to read whatever Bennett writes next! I am thrilled that her books received a lot of well deserved hype this year. I also listened to her interview on The Stacks podcast and loved hearing her perspective. I need to watch more of her interviews!
Abby Jimenez
So far, the only one of Abby Jimenez’s novels that I have read is The Happy Ever After Playlist, but I was surprised by just how much I loved it. It is always fun when I find a new favourite romance author. I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out next year!
N.K. Jemisin
N.K. Jemisin has quite an extensive backlist, which makes so happy because I adore her writing and her worldbuilding, so one of my goals is to eventually catch up and read everything she has written. I have a lot of work to do because so far I have read only The Fifth Season and her short story titled Emergency Skin. I highly recommend Emergency Skin if you want to get a feel for her writing. I am also halfway through The City We Became, but December sneaked up on me and I wanted to focus of holiday books. The City We Became will be one of my first reads of 2021, which I think is the perfect way to start a new year.
Natalie Haynes
I recently read and loved A Thousand Ships, so Natalie Haynes is a newer discovery for me. It is no secret that I adore Greek myth retellings, so I am thrilled to have found another author who writes them and writes them well. I believe Pandora’s Jar comes out next year and The Children of Jocasta came out a few years ago. I am looking forward to reading them both in 2021!
Who are some of your favourite authors who you discovered for this first time this year?
Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads
Tiffany Jackson is a favorite on mine, too. The only book I have left to read is Allegedly. I started with Monday’s Not Coming. Now she’s an autobuy for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is incredible! Allegedly really messed with me, but in the best way possible.
LikeLike
Haha! Your title is so true! I find great authors all the time and classify them as “new authors”. Then I realize, they’ve been around since before I was even born! lol Nice post, Kristin!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right?? I love finding authors who are new to me.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love this post! I also read & loved Grown this year and will be reading Allegedly soon this month. Elizabeth Acevedo & Rachel Lynn Solomon are two of my favorite new-to-me authors this year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Elizabeth Acevedo is an autobuy author for me. I always read her books on release day!
I have all of Rachel Lynn Solomon’s books on my TBR. She will probably be on this list next year!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I heard a Britt Bennett interview, too, and she’s great!
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is really amazing! Can’t way for more from her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this post and I love that you have discovered new authors. I did the same this year. I discovered Gwendolyn Kiste, Shanae Johnson, Leslie North, Jason Schmidt, John Lyttle III, Kate Alexander, Vivian Arend, and Palmer Jones. I look forward to discovering more like the ones in this post.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Amazing! I always find it interesting to look back and see the new favourite authors I discovered in a year. It’s exciting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a few authors that I like so much that I read everything they write, but I tried to get out of my comfort zone and tackle some books that I had downloaded on my e-readers (yes, I have several). This year I read books written by 68 new-to-me authors, but not all of them were just from my e-reader as I read plenty of other books as well. I always try to read new authors, but this year about half of the books I have read turned out to be written by authors that I had never read before. Still, after reading a few of these new authors, I ended up reading more of their books.
I have to say, though, I have not read any of the authors you mentioned, but maybe in 2021, I will a few of these a try. ~nan
LikeLike
I read Brit Bennett for the first time this year too. The Vanishing Half is absolutely exceptional. I definitely need to pick up The Mothers soon! Thank you for reminding me about her interview on The Stacks. I keep meaning to listen to that podcast and forgetting.
It’s really interesting, I have heard that 2020 was really the year of the backlist read – as in debut novels really suffered. I guess we have had more concentrated time to really lock in with particular authors in a way we might not have had before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The interview is definitely worth the listen. I love that podcast!
I found a few amazing Debut authors this year, but I have definitely turned to more familiar authors this year!
LikeLike
i loved this post!! i haven’t read any of tiffany d. jackson’s books yet, but i’m hoping to soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
She’s amazing! No one writes thrillers quite like she does.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just ordered The Vanishing Half and am excited to read it over Christmas! Hope it’s as good as everyone says 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought it was fantastic! I think you’ll want to read The Mothers right away.
LikeLike
There is nothing better than discovering new favourite authors. I agree that The Vanishing Half was a great read and if you think The Mothers is equally good or even better, I definitely need to read that one as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are really different books but both amazing. The Mothers is the one I think about most!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still to get round to Brit Bennett.
Tiffany Jackson sounds interesting and, as a fellow Greek mythology geek, so does Natalie Haynes. Great post Kristin 😊
LikeLike