Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Whose Work I’ll Read Again

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is ten authors who I discovered in 2018. I was impressed with all of these authors and will happily read more books by them.

Authors Whose Work I’ll Read Again

10. Meredith Russo

Yes, her debut novel is a romance. Yes, I’m aware that I dislike romance. Yes, I’m admitting that I enjoyed a romance book. If I Was Your Girl feels fresh. I haven’t read a novel like this one before. The author is a trans woman who wrote about a trans protagonist. I appreciated seeing a traditional teenage romance plot from a new perspective.

“For as long as I could remember, I had been apologizing for existing, for trying to be who I was, to live the life I was meant to lead.” – If I Was Your Girl

9. Kim Liggett

I love horror, but I struggle with young adult horror because it’s usually too tame for me. Kim Liggett’s The Last Harvest is not tame. The plot is bizarre, and the body count is high. She has another horror series that I should probably check out soon.

8. Kekla Magoon

*Sigh,* book community, why are we sleeping on How It Went Down? The plot and themes are similar to The Hate U Give, but it’s better written and more nuanced. Can we please scream about this book? It deserves some screaming. Also, the author has written a ton of other books, so that’s bad news for my must-read mountain.

“People make mistakes. They look at the surface of things and see what they want to.” – How It Went Down

7. Danielle McLaughlin

Dinosaurs On Other Planets is the best short story collection I read in 2018. McLaughlin’s stories are slow, quiet, atmospheric, and extremely realistic. They’re iceberg stories: a lot is left unsaid, and you have to read between the lines to figure out what’s going on. I don’t think I could read a whole novel written this way, but if the author publishes another story collection, I’ll be first in line to throw my money at Amazon.

“Life, after all, was mostly the art of salvage.” – Dinosaurs on Other Planets

6. Maureen Johnson

I’ve followed Maureen Johnson on Twitter for years, but I haven’t read any of her novels because they don’t sound like my kind of thing. In 2018, I read her novella, The Jubilee Express. Guys, this story is hilarious. I had to laugh quietly because I read it in the middle of the night (as you do). I’m tempted to try her other books, even though they’re not very “me.”

“There is nothing about a bad situation that fourteen hyper cheerleaders can't worsen.” – The Jubilee Express

5. Kate DiCamillo

Can I call myself a children’s book lover if I’ve only read 1 Kate DiCamillo book? Probably not. She’s written a billion books and won pretty much every award ever. Out of all the Newbery novels I read last year, The Tale of Despereaux was my favorite. A few of her other books are on my to-read list. I’ll get to them eventually.

“Love, as we have already discussed, is a powerful, wonderful, ridiculous thing, capable of moving mountains. And spools of thread.” - The Tale Of Despereaux

4. Janet Ellis

This author is actually an actor in the UK. I’m glad I didn’t know that before I picked up the book. It might have made me hesitate because I’ve had bad luck with “celebrity” novels. I was impressed with Janet Ellis’s debut, The Butcher’s Hook. It’s a blend of my three favorite genres: literary, historical, horror. It’s quite gross and gory. You need a strong stomach to read it. If the author’s next book is similar, I’m here for it.

“Every girl hopes to find love and situation neatly bundled. It is hardly ever so.” – The Butcher’s Hook

3. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

As soon as I finished The War That Saved My Life, I added the sequel to my must-read list. It’s one of the best middlegrade books I read in 2018. Unlike a lot of kids’ books, it isn’t sweet. It’s hopeful, but the characters have huge problems that aren’t neatly solved at the end of the novel. I’m interested to see where the story goes next.

“I wanted to say a lot of things, but, as usual, I didn't have the words for the thoughts inside my head.” – The War that Saved My Life

2. Patricia Highsmith

This author has been dead since 1995, so I’m behind the times with this one. In 2018, I read over 100 books. Most of them sank into the murk at the bottom of my mind, but one that stuck with me is The Talented Mr. Ripley. I think it stuck because of the character development. Tom Ripley is a messed-up dude. He seems like an average college student, but he has murderous tendencies. I’m excited to read the Mr. Ripley sequels.

“He remembered that right after that, he had stolen a loaf of bread from a delicatessen counter and had taken it home and devoured it, feeling that the world owed a loaf of bread to him, and more.” – The Talented Mr. Ripley

1. Mackenzi Lee

I read 4 Mackenzi Lee books last year. Two of them made my “Best Books of 2018” list. Obviously, I’m in love with this author’s work. Her novels are fun, escapist adventures. If I’m awake at 2 AM, it’s probably because I’m reading a Mackenzi Lee book and want to know how the characters are going to get themselves out of the ridiculous messes they make. I’m impatiently awaiting her next novel.

“God bless the book people for their boundless knowledge absorbed from having words instead of friends.” - The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue

Which amazing author did you discover in 2018?