Today we are supposed to share Five Fave "New to Me" Author Discoveries This Year. Luckily, one of the things I record on my spreadsheet is if I am reading an author for the first time so it's easy to look back.
Bryan Lee O'Malley is the writer and artist of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and Seconds, one of my favorite graphic novels of the year. I read seven books by him this year so it seems like we're old friends but we really just met!
Ben Tripp debuted his first YA novel this year, The Accidental Highwayman. I don't think I actually reviewed it because I tend to forget to do that when it's an audiobook and there isn't something physical on my review pile. This was a really fun fantasy adventure and I look forward to the remaining books in the trilogy. It was one of those books where every element turned out to be something I love to read about. I have a physical copy of the book on it's way to me right now actually so I look forward to reading this one again too! (I won't be reading his earlier zombie series though because I don't like zombies.)
When I was reading from my big anthology of time travel stories, one of the best so far was a story of The Company by Kage Baker. I grabbed the first book of the series, In the Garden of Iden, but again, it was on audiobook and I forgot to tell you all about it! It's a complicated backstory of a company from the future that recruits early humans, changes them into cyborgs, and then employs them through time to save some of the many things that go extinct or disappear through time -- to their future financial benefit, of course. It was really well explained and the characters were complex, the plot interesting. Baker will probably end up being one of my science fiction go-to authors though I'll have to mete out the books carefully because sadly she died in 2010.
Zen Cho really impressed me with Sorcerer to the Crown. She's another debut author so I can't wait to see what she writes in the future!
And, last but not least, Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, author of Book Scavenger. That a middle grade book could keep me thinking about it for days and weeks is something rarely done but she managed it. And, she's another debut author -- well done!
Which new-to-you author was your favorite this year?
Celebrating new literary friends,
K
I've heard of O'Malley and Cho, but not the others. I guess that's why I read these posts, to see other authors that I might not know. Thanks for introducing me to a few I'm not familiar with.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteCrap! I wish I'd included O'Malley. I think this was the first year I've read him? Maybe it was last year. It all runs together.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I have a spreadsheet. I can't remember what I read eleven months ago! ;)
DeleteHave not heard of Ben Tripp or Karge Baker, and both those books sound wonderful! (Baker sounds like she might be something like Connie Willis?)
ReplyDeleteI just read the Book Scavenger! So fun! I want there to be a Book Scavenger game; I would so play that! *checks internet* There is! But only in the States. :(
Sorry: Kage Baker. And my library has 12 of her books!
DeleteThe Company series does seem to be like the Willis time travel series in some ways -- basically, what it would look like if a company owned time travel instead of Oxford. Lots more morality questions, especially with the "immortal" cyborgs added in. I think you would like the series. I need to get to the 2nd book!
DeleteAnd Book Scavenger was really fun. Last time I checked though there was only one book hidden in all of Seattle. I wonder if there's more now ...
Ok so you are one of the few who actually knows Kage Baker! I finished The Company series last year but am hesitating over her other books, mostly because I don't want to run out of her books. That sounds silly after I wrote it!
ReplyDeleteAlso yay! Zen Cho!
I had heard of her but don't know if I would have ever gotten to her if I hadn't read that short story! I definitely look forward to many years of getting through her books. And I totally understand not wanting to run out. :)
DeleteThese are all new to me... can't wait to check them out!
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a good new-to-you author!
DeleteZen Cho! And I really want to try O'Malley's works, another one for 2016 :)
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about discovering a graphic novels author is that none of the books are a big time investment. :)
DeleteI have heard of Ben Tripp, but I do not know any of the other authors.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My A Month of Faves
Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI am crushed CRUSHED that you didn't tell me you had read Kage Baker. Did you tell me that? Because I am a bit crushed but mainly I am so excited! I love her Company series (planning a reread in 2016), and I'm so jealous that you have that whole reading experience ahead of you. Oh just you wait until you get to The Graveyard Game. The plot HELLA THICKENS.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to tell anyone because I just listened to it on audio while I walked this spring! I hope to get to the second book soon.
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