TTT: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2019

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish that now has a new home at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Like every year since I’ve started blogging, I experienced the works of so many wonderful authors for the first time in 2019 and was upset that I hadn’t read them before. But better late than never. And I would to share some of them who have left a profound impact on me, and whose works I would love to read more and more. This list is in the order I read them last year, and not how I feel about them.

Balli Kaur Jaswal

Erotic Stories was probably one of the earliest books I read in 2019 and I was amazed by the way the author wrote interpersonal relationships and female characters, while also giving excellent commentary on the unique problems women face in the Indian immigrant community. I then also read The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, and while it was a completely different setting and story, the themes were again very relatable and close to my heart and I know that I will be reading any future books the author will write.

Agatha Christie

I finally read two Agatha Christe books – And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – and was completely blown away by her storytelling. I may not binge read all her works but I’m very much in love with Poirot and would love to read a few books a year featuring from now onwards.

Rin Chupeco

Rin Chupeco is definitely my find of the year – I finally read her Bone Witch trilogy and the latest release The Never Tilting World and I am in awe of the way she writes complicated characters. Lady Tea will always be one of my all time favorites.

Krishna Udayasankar

I actually read a short story by Krishna in Magical Women and was very impressed by her writing, which made me want to read her debut trilogy. And Govinda completely blew my mind. I still can’t believe she wrote such an ambitious and magnificent debut. While the rest of the trilogy let me down a bit, it was a unique take on the Mahabharata and I can’t wait to read more of her books.

Fonda Lee

I’ve only read Jade City by the author but I was on the edge of my seat through most of it, and I haven’t felt that in a while. It was too much tension for me and that’s probably why I’ve been putting off Jade War, but I promise I’ll get to it soon 🙂

Max Gladstone

Three Parts Dead has one of the most unique worlds and magic systems I read in 2019 and I tip my hat off to the author’s imagination. It definitely made me want to continue the series. But it was really the poetic writing of his co-authored novella This is How You Lose the Time War that captured my heart and mesmerized me from page 1. I can’t conceive of the kind of imagination that writing such a book needs. I’m definitely reading the author’s backlist.

Sylvain Neuvel

The Test was just around 100 pages but within those few words, the author manages to create a fantastic dystopian world and also give the readers an existential crisis. Reading this novella left me speechless and I definitely want to try out more of the author’s works.

R. F. Kuang

I finally jumped on The Poppy War bandwagon last year, much later than everybody because I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I won’t deny it’s a brutal read but it was the author’s very accessible writing that impressed me the most. And The Dragon Republic totally cemented Rebecca’s special place in my heart. The finale can’t release soon enough.

Mitali Perkins

I finally got around to reading You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali and I was amazed by how much it resonated with me. It felt like the author was telling my own story in the form of a book and it made me very emotional. Forward Me Back to You is on my 2020 TBR and I can’t wait to read anything else that’s gonna release this year.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

I’d mostly seen the author speak in interviews but never read a book of his. But Between the World and Me has convinced me that he is an important voice of this generation in the fight for justice and equality, and I can’t wait to read all of his works.

Ken Liu

Ken Liu is a very surprising addition to this list because I just happened to read The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories almost towards the end of 2019. But it was a masterpiece in storytelling, and it made me so emotional that I couldn’t read much else after I finished it. This definitely made me more interested in reading The Grace of Kings.

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Have you read any of these authors’ books? Did you enjoy them as much as I did? What are your favorite books of theirs? Which other authors did you discover in 2019? Share all your thoughts below in the comments section…