TOP TEN TUESDAY: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020

I'm still working on my year-end wrap of of 2020 reading, but New-to-Me Authors is a bit of a preview of some great reads from last year. When I look at the books I read, I think I relied on tried and true authors quite a bit (shocking, in a year like last year, I know) but I did find some great new authors. My guide is - am I looking for some of their old books, or an I interested in the next one in the series?

Check out That Artsy Reading Girl for more posts from this week's Top Ten Tuesday, and to see future toics.

Denise Mina - Alex Morrow series

This was a great police procedural set in Scotland. It's everything I like in my mystery/police series - dark, messed up main character, and all the intrigue within the police

Read: Still Midnight, The End of Wasp Season

next up: Gods and Beasts

Martha Wells  - The Murderbot Diaries

Very unique science fiction series narrated by a rogue 'murderbot' who just wants to watch television shows but keeps having to deal with humans

Read: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy

next up: Network Effect

Joe Ide - Isiah 'IQ" Quintabe series

Private Investigator series set in Los Angeles with a back story that the main character is trying to figure out - who killed his brother?

Read: IQ, Righteous

next up: Wrecked

Ronan Farrow 

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

Investigative reporter Farrow is pretty amazing and as I probably don't read this kind of non-fiction very often, it was very compelling. Farrow was also an excellent narrator of his book.

next up: War on Peace

Julia Phillips

The Disappearing Earth (debut book)

Nice connected short stories that becomes a novel. I think it was the setting in Kamchatka Pennisula of Eastern Russia that made it so interesting. I had also just read a book called Tiger by John Vaillant set in the same region

Balli Kaur Jaswal 

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

 The title of this book is a bit misleading as it was not as light and chick-lit as it first appears. I liked the immigrant experience in England that was portrayed and the challenge of second generation kids pulled between their home and their parents' life. I would definitely read another by Jaswal as the character development was enjoyable.

next up: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

Claire Lombardo 

The Most Fun We Ever Had (debut book)

 A good family epic that traces a couple and their children over a full generation, starting with the couple getting together, then following their children growing and having their own family. I still remember a lot about the characters and plot from this one, which is a good sign. Every person in a family has their own view of what happened in the family.

Lucy Foley 

The Guest List

 The trend of suspenseful, twisty books can be hit or miss for me as many can be rather generic and predictable. The Guest List was one of the better of this genre. I keep reading these suspense books and this is why - there are some really good ones mixed in with the trendy titles.

next up: The Hunting Party

Sally Thorne 

The Hating Game

I still like the odd rom-com type book. I read a Sophie Kinsella this year and was reminded again why she is the best of those type of chick lit books, but The Hating Game was pretty good too. British couple who are not liking each other, this one has movie written all over it. Which would be okay!

next up: 99 Percent Mine

Heather Cocks 

The Royal We

This was a long listen, but it was well done, especially if you are a Will and Kate and Harry fan and think a behind the scene fictionalized account would be fun. As a huge fan of watching The Crown, I didn't mind reading a more recent version of what might have happened. And there is a sequel, so that is fun.

next up: The Heir Affair

I can't wait to see your list of new authors, because obviously I need some more books to read, but I appreciate vetted titles by all you great readers.