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?
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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.
She is incredible! Allegedly really messed with me, but in the best way possible.
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!
Right?? I love finding authors who are new to me.
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.
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!!
I heard a Britt Bennett interview, too, and she’s great!
She is really amazing! Can’t way for more from her.
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.
Amazing! I always find it interesting to look back and see the new favourite authors I discovered in a year. It’s exciting!
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
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.
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!
i loved this post!! i haven’t read any of tiffany d. jackson’s books yet, but i’m hoping to soon!
She’s amazing! No one writes thrillers quite like she does.
Just ordered The Vanishing Half and am excited to read it over Christmas! Hope it’s as good as everyone says 🙂
I thought it was fantastic! I think you’ll want to read The Mothers right away.
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!
They are really different books but both amazing. The Mothers is the one I think about most!
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 😊