7 On Sunday: New-To-Me Authors I Read This Year

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last did a 7 on Sunday topic, but when I saw this week’s prompt, the timing couldn’t be better. I had just been thinking about how I have a goal each year about reading several new-to-me authors, but I don’t have a solid method of discussing or wrapping them up. Luckily for me, this week’s 7 on Sunday was about new authors that I’ve tried! To be fair, once I looked back at my reading this year, I realized that new-to-me authors made up only a relatively small chunk of my reading. Looking at my Goodreads list, I’d say it’s roughly around a third of all the books I read, although that number might be a bit higher if you count multiple books by the same new-to-me author. I also tend to read quite a few series so that also skews things a bit since it’s multiple books by the same author anyway. In any case, I was glad to find several new authors that I’ve really enjoyed so far this year, and I still have a few more on my list that I’m hoping to squeeze in before the end of the year! Not all of the authors below were on my priority list, but many of them were.

7 on Sunday is a new weekly project that was started by Grace of G-Swizzel Books, with a weekly topic for videos and/or blog posts! The official Goodreads group with topics can be found here.

1) Casey McQuiston – I waited such a long time to finally try their books, but luckily I ended up loving both. I read Red, White and Royal Blue back in February, after actively avoiding it for a while because it seemed so overhyped, and One Last Stop in August. Both books are easily among my favourites of the year and I’m glad I finally gave them a chance!

2) Samantha Downing – I think this is one of only two authors on my priority list where I’ve completely caught up on everything published so far. I read all three of her books , starting with My Lovely Wife in May, but spaced out through the year. All three were amazing thrillers and I loved how they were quite different from the thrillers I normally read.

3) Ciara Smyth – This was an author that I’d considered putting on my priority list, and I can’t remember why that didn’t happen. I’ve only read The Falling In Love Montage so far, although I do have a copy of her next book already. I was very pleasantly surprised by this one, and I was drawn in very quickly by the writing style. I’m looking forward to trying more by this author.

4) C.J. Tudor – I’ve only read two books by this author so far but I’ve really enjoyed them both. I thought The Chalk Man had a great premise but also thought something felt a bit off about the execution, like everything was a little underdeveloped. However, I absolutely loved The Other People, and I’d love to give this author’s other two books a try.

5) Kalynn Bayron – The only reason this author didn’t end up on my priority list was because I put Cinderella Is Dead as a priority book to try this year, and it seemed a bit silly to have her on both lists. I was a little disappointed that the writing didn’t quite grip me as much as I expected, but I loved the overall direction of the plot and thought it was set in a very interesting world. Her next book is already in my challenge plans for 2022!

6) Aiden Thomas – Cemetery Boys was another book that I was very hesitant to pick up because it seemed so overhyped, but I’m so glad that I tried it! The characters in that book are absolutely incredible, and I can easily see why everyone was raving about it when it came out last year. It did take me a tiny bit longer than I expected to really get into it, but once I was in, I was so engrossed in it!

7) Alex North – This is the other author from my list where I’ve fully caught up on published works, at least the ones published under this name. Apparently Alex North is a pseudonym for an author who has about 11 books already out! I read both The Whisper Man and The Shadows within the past couple of months, and both are easily among my favourite thrillers of the year. They both had the perfect amount of creepiness for me, and I can’t wait to try more of his books!

Advertisement