I definitely read more new authors than familiar ones in 2022, and I’m planning to keep that going in 2023. Here’s my pick of the bunch…
Karen Joy Fowler
Who’s she? An American author of literary fiction, sci-fi and fantasy.
What did I read? ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ – a story about a young woman whose sister mysteriously disappeared during childhood.
What do I want to read next? I’ll probably go for her most well-known novel – ‘The Jane Austen Book Club’.
Philippa Gregory
Who’s she? Only the queen of historical fiction.
What did I read? ‘The Queen’s Fool’ – the story of a teenage girl who becomes involved in a Tudor power struggle.
What do I want to read next? ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ is her most well-known novel but I’m more drawn to ‘Tidelands’ – a novel set in 1648, about a woman suspected of being a witch.
Peter Carey
Who’s he? An award-winning Australian author. He is frequently named as Australia’s next contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
What did I read? ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ – a fictionalised account of the life of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.
What do I want to read next? ‘Parrot and Olivier in America’ – strange adventures, an unlikely friendship, and an exploration of American democracy from the perspective of outsiders.
Zoraida Córdova
Who’s she? An Ecuadorian-American author, best known for her ‘Brooklyn Brujas’ series.
What did I read? ‘Labyrinth Lost’ – a YA fantasy about a young bruja who casts a spell with dire consequences and has to rescue her family from a strange world.
What do I want to read next? ‘Bruja Born’ – the next book in the ‘Brooklyn Brujas’ series.
Noel Streatfeild
Who’s she? A British author who published children’s and adults’ fiction from the 1930s to the 1970s.
What did I read? ‘Ballet Shoes’ – the story of three very different sisters who take to the stage to earn some much-needed money.
What do I want to read next? ‘Ballet Shoes’ was such a cute, feel-good story that I’d like to read another book in the series like ‘Tennis Shoes’ or ‘Party Shoes’.
Douglas Stuart
Who’s he? A Scottish-American writer (and fashion designer).
What did I read? ‘Shuggie Bain’ – a novel about a young boy growing up in Scotland, and his mother’s struggle with alcoholism.
What do I want to read next? Stuart hasn’t written many novels, but ‘Young Mungo’ – the story of a Protestant boy and a Catholic boy falling in love on a Glasgow housing estate – definitely sounds worth a read.
Rachel Klein
Who’s she? An American novelist, essayist and translator.
What did I read? ‘The Moth Diaries’. Written in diary form, this novel explores the experiences of an intelligent, troubled teenage girl, and her obsession with Ernessa – the new girl at school who may or may not be a vampire.
What do I want to read next? As far as I can tell, ‘The Moth Diaries’ is the only novel Klein has written. Maybe I can find some of her short stories to read.
Ben Macintyre
Who’s he? A British historian and writer of non-fiction books, mostly about soldiers and spies.
What did I read? ‘SAS: Rogue Heroes’ – the absolutely barmy story of the formation of the SAS in World War II.
What do I want to read next? It’ll have to be ‘Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle’. One of the main players from ‘SAS: Rogue heroes’ ended up in this POW camp and I want to find out what happened to him there.
Melissa Harrison
Who’s she? A British novelist and nature writer.
What did I read? ‘All Among the Barley’ – the story of a teenage girl and her rural community in the 1930s.
What do I want to read next? ‘The Stubborn Light of Things’ – a nature diary written in Harrison’s beautiful, unshowy prose sounds blissful.
Agatha Christie
Who’s she? You know who she is. Literally the world’s best-selling author of all time.
What did I read? I’m embarrassed to admit I got to my mid-thirties before reading an Agatha Christie, but at least I started with a good one. I read ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, in which detective Hercule Poirot must solve a murder on a train while the murderer is still aboard.
What do I want to read next? There are plenty of novels to choose from (Christie wrote 66) but I’m drawn to ‘Death on the Nile’ – another Hercule Poirot whodunnit.
Have you read any of these authors? If so, which of their books would you recommend?
You can find more topics for Top Ten Tuesday here.
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