I decided last minute to participate in the Top 10 of 2017 Event, which is being hosted over at Kimberlyfaye Reads. Each day has a different top ten list associated with it (you can see the list in the image above). You can choose to complete some or all of the lists (I’m not sure yet if I’ll be doing them all). Feel free to join in at any time!
TOP TEN NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS
1. Rae Carson
I jumped into the Gold Seer Trilogy two years late. Now I just need to read that final book!
2. Jason Reynolds
I read two books by Jason Reynolds this year (both in verse) and really enjoyed both of them. I was introduced to him with Long Way Down, which was a HUGE favorite for me!
3. Becky Albertalli
I finally joined the rest of the world and read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda this year and discovered the magnificence that is Becky Albertalli.
4. Laini Taylor
I listened to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy this year! Now I need to dive into Strange the Dreamer!
5. Claudia Gray
I dove into Claudia Gray with Defy the Stars. I plan to read the Firebird Trilogy very soon!
6. Julie Buxbaum
I read both What to Say Next and Tell Me Three Things this year and I can’t wait to read more!
7. Emery Lord
Oh, how happy I am to have joined the rest of you in understanding Emery Lord’s Brilliance. The Names They Gave Us is an absolute favorite! I need to pick up her other books now!
8. Jeff Zentner
Goodbye Days was fantastic, and now I am even more sure I’ll love The Serpent King. So why haven’t I read it yet?
9. Marie Rutkowski
I finally read The Winner’s Trilogy!
10. Maggie Stiefvater
I saved the best for last!! I am so excited that I “discovered” Maggie Stiefvater this year! Her writing is just … I can’t even describe how much I love it. I listened to her entire Raven Cycle and all four books in The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series. Next, I’ll be reading All the Crooked Saints!
What authors did you discover in 2017? I want to know!
I love your graphic on this post. I read my first Jeff Zentner book this year, too. It was The Serpent King, and I loved it. I also wrote a new-to-me-author post, but I don’t remember when it’s scheduled. Probably next week sometime.
I’ll be watching for yours!
You have a bunch of my faves on your list – Carson, Zentner, Albertalli, Buxbaum, and Stiefvater. My co-blogger turned me on to Carson with the Fire and Thorn books, and I am huge fan of the Gold Seer books too. I read three of Buxbaum’s books, and I enjoyed them all. I have only read the Raven Cycle books, but I enjoyed Stiefvater’s writing style. And, well, Zentner and Albertalli just know how to deliver the feels. I read my first (and second) Emery Lord book, and I thought they were fabulous! My hold just came through for Long Way Down, and I am anticipating it being as incredible as Reynolds is in person.
I’m pretty sure I own the first Fire and Thorn book, so I’ll have to read that one too.
I can’t believe you just now read Maggie Stiefvater! She is one of my all time favorites! 🙂 You’ve got some great reads on here. I loved the first book in the Gold Seer trilogy, but haven’t read the other two yet, need to do that soon.
I know, I know—I’m way behind the rest of the world with Stiefvater. Glad I jumped onto the bandwagon now!
I just adore Becky Albertalli. I read Simon last year and Upside this year… and I still want more. I loved Buxbaum’s Tell Me Three Things and definitely want to read more from her. I might officially be the last person to read the Winner’s trilogy. I so need to get to those soon!
Ha! Glad I’m not the last person to read The Winner’s Trilogy. I loved it!
This is a great list! I also just discovered Maggie Stiefvater this year. I will definitely be reading the Shiver series. I do love Rae Carson, but I read A Girl of Fire and Thorns (her debut) this year and it was not good, like at all. No, just stick with her newer stuff is all I can say. Thanks for sharing!
I will also be sharing some of my favorites from 2017 but I am not committing to any schedule. I am looking forward to your posts on the rest of this series.
I think I actually liked the Sinner series more than the Raven Cycle, which was a surprise to me. I just adore Stiefvater’s writing style.
Emery Lord made my list too. I love her!! Zetner was one I read this year for the first time and liked it. Buxbaum and Albertelli are great!!
Yay for Emery Lord! I’m eager to read more of her books, now.
Glad you enjoyed Claudia Gray! She also has a Star Wars Princess Leia series.. and the Firebird Trilogy?! OMG SOOOOO GOOD! Such an amazing read. It’s also better on audio since it’s narrated by one of my fave narrators, Tavia Gilbert.
Also, Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Trilogy is sooo good!
I actually started listening to the Firebird Trilogy, but then our library suddenly switched online providers (from Axis 360 to Overdrive) and I couldn’t get access anymore. 🙁 It was really frustrating because I was in the middle of the first book!
Oh no!! That sucks! I use Overdrive for my library books and I don’t have problems with it.
You can try the app Libby. It’s still by Overdrive but I love their format better than Overdrive. Hope this helps!
I’d never heard of Libby. Thanks for the advice!
Claudia Gray is fairly new to me as well land I’ve liked the books I’ve read by her so far. Julie Buxbaum’s books look fun too.
I definitely need to read more Claudia Gray!
Oh you have discovered so many great authors this year! Becky Albertalli is such a great writer, I loved Simon, I can’t wait to read The Upside of Unrequited at some point 🙂 And YAY for Maggie Stiefvater, she’s so incredible as well, I love her writing 🙂 I only read The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, but I loved it so much! 🙂
Great post! 🙂
The Serpent King is on my list to read SOON. So many books!!
Claudia Gray is a new favorite for me as well. I loved DEFY THE STARS and I just finished her Star Wars book, LOST STARS. She has a writing style I totally love. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books in 2018.
Oooh, I have Lost Stars—I need to read that one!!!
Laini Taylor is my fave!! I read Strangee the Dreamer this year by her too – and loved! And Stiefvater – yes! If you haven’t read Scorpio Races yet – do it 🙂
I really need to read Strange the Dreamer—I got it (even signed) when Laini was on tour, so what am I waiting for?
You definitely have some of my favorites on this list…..especially Jeff Zentner and Becky Albertalli (both being people you need to follow on Instagram if you do not already). I adore Emery Lord on Instagram as well, but I cannot believe that I have not read any of her books yet! I need to get on that one soon!
Oooh! Thanks for the Instagram tip!
I haven’t read Defy the Stars yet but I loved the Firebird trilogy. I found it really enjoyable, I hope you like it as well! She’s the only one on your list I’ve read.
Thanks for visiting my Top 10s, I look forward to the rest of yours!
Don’t forget to read The Shadow Cipher (York #1) by Laura Ruby. It’s really super good, made my top 4 books of the year. It’s so cute and fun, I can’t wait for the next one!
Okay, The Shadow Cipher has officially been added to the TBR! 🙂
Read The Serpent King! ::Throws book:: I actually read Laini and Becky for the first time this year too- but different books hahah. And Jason Reynolds, same book 😀 And you reminded me that I need to continue the Firebird series, because I loved Defy the Stars too! Glad you found these authors!!
I know, I know. I even bought it because of you. But for some reason I haven’t actually read it. I have no excuse!!
I really need to read The Serpent King still too – but I liked Goodbye Days. Totally agree with Maggie Stiefvater, Becky Albertalli, and Laini Taylor!
(Pssst… Don’t tell Shannon you haven’t read The Serpent King yet. You’ll be in trouble.) 🙂
I read The Firebird trilogy but have still to get to Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray. I’ve heard great things about it though. It is sitting on my shelves, judging me.
Oh, I have so many books like that. 🙂
The only one I’ve read is Daughter of Smoke and Bone but, never continued on with the trilogy. I’ve been seeing it around a lot lately and I’m definitely thinking about re-reading it and picking up the rest of the books. Also, I can’t wait to get my hands on All the Crooked Saints. I haven’t had much luck with Maggie Siefvater’s books but, her newest release is extremely intriguing. The Names They Gave Us is at the top of my TBR list for next year and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Same goes for The Winner Trilogy. I’ll probably end up starting it and finishing it throughout the year. I’ve had my eye on it for ages! Hope you’re having a wonderful time!
There are SO many series like this for me—series I’ve had my eye on for ages!!
You have so many on your list that I was planning to read this year but didn’t get to ack. Like Rae Carson, Laini Taylor, Claudia Gray, Julie Buxbaum and Marie Rutkowski. Next year! One of my new fave new authors this year was Cookie O’Gorman, she easily become one of my favorite YA Contemporary authors.
I’ve never even heard of Cookie O’Gorman—now I’ll have to go check her out!
Her books are super cute, like Kasie West, but I end up connecting with them better and I also end up falling harder for the guy. She only has two books out so far, and I loved both of them so much. Adorkable is her first book and it’s a fake boyfriend troupe. I was texting Chelsea while reading it and telling her I was loving it even more than our favorite fake boyfriend book and she kept going noooooo there’s no way lol. So she picked it up and fell so hard in love with Adorkable. It’s just super duper cute. I hope you give it a try. ♥
I actually went and looked her up on Goodreads and saw that Adorkable was one of hers—I remember hearing about that one, but her name didn’t stick in my head, apparently. I’ll have to try her out!
I can’t say I’ve read any of these 🙂 but they make for good recommendations! 🙂
I agree that these types of posts are amazing for people looking for recs!
I haven’t read any Claudia Gray or Marie Kutkowski, but I agree that all the others are FABULOUS. I loved Carson’s earlier trilogy, and while I haven’t been a fan of any of Stiefvater’s series, The Scorpio Races is a favorite of mine. Zentner, Reynolds, Albertalli and Taylor are all fantastic writers for sure. So fun!
I really need to read Scorpio Races. I picked that one up at a Scholastic sale, and I’m now convinced I’ll love it.
*Restrains self from rant regarding Maggie Stiefvater’s misunderstanding of Welsh culture* (it’s not safe to get me started, honestly)
Glad you managed to find a bunch of new-to-you authors to enjoy! 🙂
Okay, I’ll confess that I don’t remember a link to Welsh culture in the book. That probably shows my complete ignorance. Like I said in my other comment, feel free to rant if you want. I could learn something!
*groans* The entire Raven Cycle is set in Wales. I haven’t actually read it – and I will freely admit that – but after hearing just a little about it, I’m really hesitant to.
I wrote a whole blogpost a while back about my reasons for not reading it – you can check that whole rant out if you like! Let me know if you have any questions, because I could go on for quite a while! Lol.
I just went and read your post and I can see that there’s a lot of history there (and a lot of historical tension, which makes this trickier). It’s great to know this history and why the misspelling of Glyndŵr’s name might be disturbing to people in Wales. I wrote more in a comment on your post, if you’re interested!