I’m taking part in A Month of Favorites (hosted by Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO) this December

5 Fave “New to Me” Author Discoveries This Year

Zen Cho

First of all, she’s a Malaysian and I’m all about supporting Southeast Asian writers. And she writes speculative fiction with a diverse cast of characters!

Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik’s been writing for quite a while (her Temeraire series has eight books! – where have I been?) but it’s only this year, with the publication of Uprooted, that I finally caught on and read her works. Uprooted was excellent, but Temeraire, it has dragons. Talking, book-loving dragons who fight in the British ‘air force’.

Laurie Colwin

Boy am I late to this party. This was the year I finally read Colwin’s Home Cooking and it was glorious. Colwin is definitely my kind of cook. But you know what, even if cooking isn’t really your thing, she’s still a delight to read.

Lois McMaster Bujold

I finally read The Sharing Knife series this year and loved it!

Abe Yaro

I wanted to mention someone in the comics field, mostly because I read a lot of comics this year. There were so many great ones, like Lumberjanes and Ms Marvel, even the new Thor. But I chose to mention this Japanese manga writer instead. Shinya Shokudo or Midnight Diner isn’t even translated into English – but hopefully one day! It’s set in a late night diner of sorts, one without a set menu but with a cohort of regular diners, including yakuza, strippers and salarymen. It’s a series not just about food but also about a different section of Japanese society.

Honorable mentions

I’m thoroughly looking forward to reading more books by:

Claire Fuller, whose Endless Numbered Days made me forget I was waiting for hours in a Social Service office one sticky summer day.

Emily St John Mandel, because she published a few books before Station Eleven and I’m curious.

Evie Wyld, whose All the Birds, Singing was weird and fierce and disturbing

Eka Kurniawan, because Beauty is a Wound was unforgettable