Top Ten Tuesday – 2020 New-to-me authors (Jan 26, 2021)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a different topic is posted inviting the participants to come up with a list of ten things to do with the topic.

This week’s topic is ‘New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020.’ Even though 2020 wasn’t a great reading year for me, there were a few books by people I’d never read anything by before. I usually enjoy trying different authors/writers and almost half the books I read last year fell into this category. These are the ten in print form that I own that I enjoyed the most. There were others that I borrowed from the library or read in ebook form. I’ll probably go on to look for more by some of these and already have read another Matt Haig book, with another on my TBR. Although I realise that Alex Trebek was not an author as such, his book was one of my favourites of the year and I couldn’t really leave him out of this list.

Ellie seems to approve, but is not sure why these are on top of her castle!

1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson. I had heard so much about this one and it didn’t disappoint.
2. The Way of Tea and Justice – Becca Stevens. This one was both informative and inspirational.
3. Torn – Justin Lee. A very helpful look at the dialogue between gays and Christians, from the perspective of a high-profile gay Christian.
4. The Humans – Matt Haig. I’m not sure why I waited so long to read anything by Haig. This was a great read, both funny and sad, and everything in between.
5. The Answer Is… – Alex Trebek. This was one of my favourites of 2020. Trebek was a very inspirational person and it’s sad that he is no longer with us.
6. The Fire Never Goes Out – Noelle Stevenson. An enjoyable memoir in picture form.
7. The Gown – Jennifer Robson. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The style and structure made it a fairly engaging read.
8. Five Little Indians – Michelle Good. This is a very powerful novel – sad at times, but also had moments of triumph.
9. Imagine Wanting Only This – Kristen Radtke. This was another memoir in pictures. It was fairly enjoyable, but left me wanting a bit more.
10. A Stranger’s Tale – Natasa Xerri and Adam Oehlers. I got in on the crowdfunding of this debut book by someone from Australia that I follow on Instagram. As part of this I received an autographed first edition. It is a beautifully illustrated folklore tale that is worth checking out.

Although I’m hoping that 2021 will be a better reading year for me, I’m always on the lookout for books by people I haven’t read before. As always, I’m open to suggestions.