Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme: top ten new-to-you authors of 2016.

Looking back on 2016, I had a really great reading year. And a big part of that was discovering so many new amazing bookish things! I especially love finding new-to-me amazing authors, because then I can make sure to read more of their books in future years. Here are ten of this year's new-to-me-authors who I'll definitely be reading more of next year.

Renée Ahdieh, author of THE WRATH & THE DAWN duology: THE WRATH & THE DAWN was getting a lot of hype when it was first released, so I added it to my TBR but didn't give it too high of a priority. I should have - it was absolutely amazing! The writing was incredible. It sucked me in and didn't let me go. I'm really excited to see what she writes in the future. (You can read my review for THE WRATH & THE DAWN here.)

Leigh Bardugo, author of THE GRISHA trilogy: I can't believe I've never read a Leigh Bardugo book until this year. People have been talking about her books for as long as I've been in the bookish community, but somehow, it's taken me until now to read Shadow and Bone. This series has such a fantastically created world, and by the time I was halfway through Shadow and Bone, I was so invested in all of the characters. I have Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom on hold at the library - hopefully they'll come in soon so that I can have more Leigh Bardugo in my life!

Martha Brockenbrough, author of THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH: This book broke my heart. I'd never heard of it before I found it on a list of recommendations, but it had such a wonderful concept and such brilliant execution that I can't believe it's not more popular. The writing in this book was so good and so captivating - everything felt so real.

Kristin Cashore, author of the GRACELING series: Here's another author I can't believe I haven't read before this year. The GRACELING series was literally on my TBR from when I created my Goodreads over 4 years ago, but I finally read it! And now I absolutely get the hype.

Ryan Graudin, author of the WOLF BY WOLF series: Considering I wasn't even sure whether I'd like WOLF BY WOLF, I think it's pretty amazing that now I can't stop raving about the series and about Ryan Graudin. I saw this book in the library after having heard some good things about it, and since I was so on the fence, I decided that if I liked the first paragraph, I'd read it. I loved it.

Stacey Lee, author of UNDER A PAINTED SKY and OUTRUN THE MOON: I'm always looking for authors who write a lot of historical fiction and authors who write a lot of diverse books, so I'm very glad I found Stacey Lee. I didn't know I was looking for more books like these until I found them!

L.M. Montgomery, author of the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES series: I'm not quite sure whether L.M. Montgomery counts as new to me, since I tried to read Anne of Green Gables a number of times in elementary school and just wasn't interested. But this year, I read the first three books in that series and loved them all! I've heard that the series goes downhill from here, which is unfortunate, but I think I'll try them out anyway. Every time I've finished one of these books, I've added so many incredible quotes on Goodreads, and even just going back and reading those puts a smile on my face.

Ruta Sepetys, author of SALT TO THE SEA and OUT OF THE EASY: Yet another author whose books I really should have read by now! Especially since, as I said before, I'm always looking for more YA historical fiction authors. Well, better late than never! SALT TO THE SEA ripped my heart to shreds in the best way possible, and while I didn't like OUT OF THE EASY quite as much, it was still a really good read.

Evelyn Skye, author of THE CROWN'S GAME series: THE CROWN'S GAME is one of my favorite books I've read this year, and the sequel, THE CROWN'S FATE, is one of my most anticipated releases for next year! It's fast-paced, intriguing, unique, and just so good. I knew I'd like this book from Chapter One, and I just kept loving it more and more as it went along.

Destiny Soria, author of IRON CAST: I've mentioned my love for diverse historical fiction already, and this is another one that falls into this category. But this one has magic, too! It blends the magic and the history together so well, and I absolutely loved the mystery aspect, too. I never knew what was going to happen next, but at the same time, everything was plotted and foreshadowed so well! You can read my review here.

Who are some of your favorite new-to-you authors this year? Do we have any in common? Are any of these authors on your TBR? Tell me in the comments!