Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-me Authors I Read in 2013

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Today's topic is the top ten new-to-me authors I read in 2013. I read a lot of books this year, guys, so be happy I contained myself to ten! They are roughly in order of their importance to me.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme started on the Broke and the Bookish blog.

They set the topic, we make the lists. Visit their site to see more on this topic!

1. Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor & Park, Attachments, and Fangirl (all of which I read this year). I am so happy that I found Rainbow Rowell this year. I have loved her books and her presence as an author. She has been making waves this year, and I can’t wait for her next book!

2. John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars. Believe it or not, I had never read a John Green book before this year, and I started with TFIOS, which hit me hard. An excellent novel, and it led me to other Green works. He is also a pretty awesome internet presence.

3. Lauren Graham, author of Someday, Someday, Maybe. I have loved Lauren Graham for years, first on Gilmore Girls, and then on Parenthood, but this was her first (and as of now, only) novel. Being accomplished in one field does not necessarily mean a person will be good at another, but Lauren Graham wrote a great story here, and I am looking forward to reading more from her.

4. Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is another one of those books that I just somehow missed. I recall friends in high school singing the praises of Perks, but I had never really felt compelled to read it. I wish I had sooner-and why has Stephen Chbosky not written anything else?

5. R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder. Palacio had the unique ability of not only getting in the head of a young boy facing adversity, but to also explore the minds of those around him. Her writing felt realistic and true, without being super preachy about judging others. They felt human.

6. Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. My love of this book is well documented, and I have to say again that Joyce really surprised me. I never expected to become so enthralled in her story. I have just gotten her second book, and I am trying not to set my hopes too high, because for me it would be hard to beat Harold Fry.

7. Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan. I am so glad I read this book. My colleagues were reading it and told me I had to, but I was hesitant. I grabbed it on a whim one day and finished it that same day. Applegate caught me with her tale of a gorilla at a highway sideshow, and I was invested. I doubt it can be topped.

8. Therese Anne Fowler, author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. With The Great Gatsby being made into film (again) this year, I was feeling intrigued by the people behind the story. Z was a really unique tale because it was historically accurate, narrated by Zelda, and made her crazy look almost sane. Fowler definitely did her research, and Zelda’s voice felt real to me. She sent me on a spiral of Fitzgerald books for a while there.

9. J.A. Kazimer, author of Curses! A F*** ed-Up Fairy Tale. It’s rare to find an author who writes funny novels. At least that I find funny. Kazimer took classic fairy tales and turned them on their heads. Not only that, but the characters from these tales were then placed in the middle of a murder investigation and things got crazy. This one was a great find for me.

10. Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants. I owned this book for a long time, but had never gotten around to reading it. I also have never seen the movie. Randomly, I decided to give it a go, and I was entranced, not only with the circus, but with the voice of an old man telling the story. I liked the back and forth between present and past, and the book had a lot of surprises. Beautifully written, and I can’t believe I waited so long.

Who did you discover this year?

~Cailey W.