Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2020

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

The rules are simple:

• Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
• Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
• Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other blogger’s lists.
• Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

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In no particular order, here are the top ten new authors I read last year and the books I was introduced to them. And in actuality, almost all the new authors I read last year since it oddly seems I read a lot of books by old and loved authors.

1. Ben Philippe

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Although this isn’t Ben’s debut, I yearned to diversify my reading selections and read more books by POC authors as a new ongoing goal. I loved the protagonists and the experience Ben brings to this particular story I read in 2020 (including a little trip across the border to good ol’ Canada!). I plan on checking out his debut at some point this year.

2. Jordyn Taylor

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Jordyn’s debut novel was one of my absolute favourites of 2020, a book I raved about to many friends online and off. A mixture of history and contemporary storytelling, she’s become an author I look out for in future works.

As a matter of fact, keep an eye out for her second book, Don’t Breathe a Word, when it comes out in May! I will be posting an ARC review for it nearer to that date.

3. Cameron Lund

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2020 was a year of good romantic contemporaries for me, and that brought Cameron’s book into my sphere. I love a good best-friends-to-lovers trope and this one didn’t disappoint, especially the second half! It was cute and didn’t judge whether one was a virgin or not because that’s not all there is to a person.

4. Emma Lord

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Emma Lord is a sheer delight and her cute Twittersphere story was as fun and romantic as the title suggests. It also made its way to one of my favourite reads of 2020. Definitely churned out a lot of great debuts that hit all the right spots.

Her next book, You Have a Match, came out this month! Be sure to check back for a review on this novel soon! 🙂

5. Amelie Wen Zhao

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I can’t be a champion of POC authors without supporting my fellow Asian writers. While there was a lot of controversy surrounding the debut release by Amelie, I personally enjoyed the book and didn’t understand some of the issues prompted by initial reviewers. Anyhoo, I’m glad she’s getting the happier recognition she deserves, and this fantasy reads like any other old-timer authors out there you may love and enjoy.

6. Suzanne Park

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Another Asian writer! Both books featuring kinda nerdy and quirky characters, I absolutely adored the first premise while the second one fell flat for me. The Perfect Escape was her YA debut while Loathe at First Sight was technically classified in adult romance but it’s no simple rom-com as the description may mislead you to believe. I think I will stick to Suzanne’s zombie butt kicking, escape-room/escapist YA novels as it’s more up my alley. Also, representation!

7. Roseanne A. Brown

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I loved the different fantasy take this debut brought! You can really see the African cultural influences throughout this crafted world, but it was explained in a way that helped us learn if we were not familiar with such mythologies. Either way, I look forward to book #2 when it releases later this year.

8. Jasmine Guillory

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While Jasmine’s been around for a bit before 2020, I was really into rom-coms last year (see the majority of above list) and I just couldn’t stop reading all of hers. She’s one major romance author who stands for POC and I’m all for that. Definitely put a lot of her own experiences as a Black woman into each of her protagonists and I learned so much from just seeing the world through their eyes.

9. Jessica Goodman

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The only debut that wasn’t a rom-com or fantasy, this book mostly lived up to its mysterious allure from its synopsis and gave me a harrowing experience as the protagonist solved the real mystery behind her former best friend’s death. Soon to be a TV series in the future named The Player’s Table, I’m looking forward to seeing this story brought to the (slightly bigger) screen!

10. Zoraida Cordova

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Last but surely not least, Zoraida’s debut was, well, mostly on fire! (See what I did there?) While I struggled with its pacing a lot, the story set some good foundation in an Inquisition Spain-esque world and a protagonist that can steal people’s memories. I am excited to see what the sequel brings.

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And that’s a wrap! Did you read any of these debuts? This Top Ten Tuesday should’ve been relabelled as top 10 debuts but I guess it makes sense most of my new authors would be those putting out new books last year.

See you next week on Top Ten Tuesday!