Top Ten Tuesday: Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.  The feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists and love to share lists with other bookish folk.  (From 16^th January 2018, the meme will be hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.)

The rules are simple:

1. Each week they post a new Top Ten list topic.
2. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
3. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
4. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2017. I’ve opted for a fairly loose interpretation of this week’s theme.  My list includes five established authors I read for the first time last year and five authors who will be new to everyone because their books were debuts.

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First the five established authors.  Click on the titles to read my review.

Rowan Coleman – The Summer of Impossible Things

Rowan has written a number of books and I’d heard great things about her writing from bloggers who’d loved, in particular, her two books We Are All Made of Stars and The Day We Met. I wasn’t disappointed with the magical and emotional The Summer of Impossible Things.

Ragnar Jonasson – Whiteout

Iceland noir was a new genre for me but I really enjoyed Whiteout despite the fact I was coming in at number five in the author’s Dark Iceland series.  A great excuse to go back and read the preceding four at some point.

Graham Swift – Mothering Sunday

Given all the praise and literary prizes he’s garnered, I really can’t believe this was the first book by Graham Swift I’ve read.  Luckily for me, Mothering Sunday came to my attention when it was shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.  It was one of my top books of 2017.

Sebastian Barry – Days Without End

Another well-regarded and lauded writer I’d manage to miss out on and another book I have the judging panel of The Walter Scott Prize to thank for putting on my radar.  I loved Days Without End and was not surprised when it picked up a number of literary prizes and featured in a lot of ‘must read’ lists.

Helen Dunmore – Birdcage Walk

This one is tinged with sadness because Helen sadly died earlier this year so Birdcage Walk will be her last published novel.  However, I think I chose a great book to be the first I read by her.  She leaves a tremendous literary legacy and I intend to read as many of her other books as I can.

Now five authors whose debut novels I read this year.  Click on the titles to read my review.

Carolyn Hughes – Fortune’s Wheel (Meonbridge Chronicles #1)

Set in a small Hampshire village in the aftermath of the Black Death, or ‘mortality’ as the villagers refer to it, I really enjoyed the believable detail of everyday life and the interesting cast of characters.  I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

Rachel Malik – Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves

Regular followers of my blog will probably be tired of seeing this book crop up because it’s appeared in so many of my top ten lists during the year.  Starting in World War II, it’s a wonderful story based on the author’s own family history.  Look out for my Q&A with Rachel during the blog tour to accompany its publication in paperback at the beginning of February.

Sarah Franklin – Shelter

Another book set in World War II, this time taking us to the Forest of Dean.  It’s packed with fascinating detail about the role of the Women’s Timber Corps, the plight of Italian POWs and the threat of predation to the Forest posed by the War.  It’s also an engaging love story.

Fran Cooper – These Dividing Walls

These Dividing Walls was another of my top reads of 2017.  My review of the book also happened to be the most viewed post on my blog last year.   The stories of the occupants of one apartment block in Paris during a long, hot summer are set against a backdrop of tensions over unemployment and immigration in the city.

Crystal King – Feast of Sorrow

This fascinating debut novel gives us an inside view of the scandal, wealth and political intrigue of Ancient Rome through the medium of gastronomy.   Its protagonist is Thrasius, chef to celebrated gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, the man who inspired the world’s oldest cookbook.