Monday, January 30, 2023

Top Ten New-to-me Authors in 2022

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is a Freebie (any topic). I missed last week's topic, which was New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022. So that is what I am doing this week for my Freebie.

I was surprised to find that I read books by 43 new-to-me authors in 2022. I only read 88 books in 2022, and some were by the same authors, thus over half the authors I read were new-to-me. 

Since I had so many to pick from, I decided to focus on authors who I want to read more books by OR I thought their writing was very special.

My list is in order by the date I read them.


Elizabeth Strout

I have only read one book by Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge, a book of linked short stories. Most of the short stories were depressing but I thought that the writing and the characters were excellent, and I want to read more books by her.


Richard Osman

Richard Osman is an English television presenter and novelist. His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, was published in 2020. I read all three books in that series in 2022, and loved them all. My favorite was The Man Who Died Twice.


Matt Haig

The Midnight Library was my first book by Matt Haig.  I liked his writing, and I will read Haig's other books on my shelves (and my husband's).

Molly Clavering

Because of Sam by Molly Clavering is a lovely postwar story set in a village in Scotland, written in 1954. See Cath's review at Read-Warbler.  


John Burdett

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett is the first book in a crime fiction series set in Thailand. The main character is a Thai policeman, Sonchai Jitpleecheep. I had had this book on my shelves for 15 years and now I hope to read more of them.

T. E. Kinsey

The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries are historical fiction, set in the early 1900's. Lady Hardcastle (Emily) and her maid Florence Armstrong solve mysteries while living in the English countryside. I was attracted by the idea of a lady and her maid solving mysteries, and I liked the first one so well I read two more. This is another series recommended by Cath at Read-Warbler

Ted Wood

Dead in the Water by Ted Wood, published in 1983, is the first book in a ten book crime fiction series starring Reid Bennett. The book has a great Canadian setting, in a small town on the water, and one of the best characters is Bennett's dog Sam.

Stef Penney

I read The Tenderness of Wolves for my Canadian Reading Challenge. The story is set in 1867, primarily in a small settlement in the Northern Territory. This is a historical mystery, but the crime and the investigation are not the primary aspect of the story.

Elspeth Barker

This is the only author on this list that I will not be able to read further books by. Elspeth Barker's only novel was O Caledonia, published in 1991. This book is short, about 190 pages long, set in Scotland in the 1950s.  It is a sad but beautiful story  of a young girl, part of a large family, who doesn't fit in anywhere.

 

Mariah Fredericks

A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks is a historical mystery set in 1910 New York. It is the story of a young woman who works as a lady's maid for the two daughters of a rich family and the first in a series of four books. I want to read more of that series and see where it takes the character.


Let me know if you have read any of these authors and have recommendations for further reading.



34 comments:

Rissi said...

I don't know anything about the book apart from recognizing the cover, but know The Midnight Library has been a popular read in 2022. :)

Pam said...

I have Olive Kitteridge on my TBR; maybe I'll get to it this year.

Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-of-roses-favorite-books-of-all-time/

Lydia said...

Because of Sam sounds interesting!

My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-confessions/

Cath said...

Thanks for the shout-out, Tracy. Very pleased that you liked the books by T.E Kinsey and Molly Clavering. And it works the other way round too, I bought A Death of No Importance for my Kindle a few days ago. Plus, I 'know' I've bought and read books on your recommendation and enjoyed them. I think we have similar tastes.

CLM said...

Molly Clavering was also new to me in 2022 and I look forward to reading more.

I also loved The Man Who Died Twice and thought it was better than the first one which had a confusing conclusion. I may wait a bit for book 3 so there is a shorter time to wait for the next one.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I can't remember an Elizabeth Strout book that I haven't read and that I haven't loved!

My post, if you’d like to take a look: https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2023/01/its-new-year-so-shall-we-try-for-happy.html

iloveheartlandX said...

I've read The Midnight Library and I liked it, but not enough to want to read anything else by Matt Haig, sadly.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/top-ten-tuesday-405/

Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse said...

I haven't read any of these myself, but I remember hearing all about that Stout book when my sister read it. I'm glad you found so many great authors.

Margot Kinberg said...

I'm so glad, Tracy, that you got to read some John Burdett. I think he gives such a thorough and fascinating look at Thailand and at Buddhist traditions. Your list has several authors whose work I don't (yet) know; time to do some exploring...

TracyK said...

Thanks for checking out my list, Rissi. I did not like The Midnight Library as much as I expected to and it is a hard book to describe, which is probably why I did not review it. But it did encourage me to read more of his books. They are all a bit different, I think.

TracyK said...

Pam, as I noted in my list, Olive Kitteridge can be depressing. But the writing is very good.

Kay said...

I read The Midnight Library and also the first Osman book. I have the next two of that series, but haven't picked them up yet. Soon, I hope. Today I got the new Jane Harper book, apparently the last one where Aaron Falk appears. I hope to enjoy it a lot!

TracyK said...

Lydia, Because of Sam is a very good book and I look forward to reading more by that author. I have always enjoyed mysteries set around the time of World War II, but only recently have I read general fiction set around that time.

TracyK said...

Cath, I am especially grateful that you recommended the T.E. Kinsey books because I don't think I ever would have read them otherwise. And they are such fun. I have three more of them to read on hand. And Because of Sam was such a surprise because it took me half of the book to really feel like it was going anywhere and then I was just hooked. Such a good story. Yes, we do seem to have similar tastes.

Kathy's Corner said...

Hi Tracy, Reading 88 books in 2022 is great! I have to pick up my reading pace and you have some really fine new authors here and they are all writers I haven't read yet but want to. I particularly want to check out Elizabeth Strout and Richard Osman,

Laurie said...

Unfortunately, I've only read Richard Osman and Matt Haig and they both turnt out not to be for me.

My TTT: https://laurieisreading.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/top-ten-tuesday-books-taking-place-on-a-boarding-school/

TracyK said...

Constance, you have read several other female authors that wrote in the same time period as Clavering, and I want to do that too. There are just so many books to read, I can't keep up.

I think you will like The Thursday Murder Club #3 when you get to it, although the second book was best in my opinion. I am eager for the fourth book to come out, and it will probably be one of those I get when it first comes out. I don't usually do that.

Lark said...

Most of these authors are new to me; the only one I've read is Matt Haig and I love his books!

TracyK said...

Deb, I have Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton and The Burgess Boys to read next. Also Olive, Again. I think I will like them.

TracyK said...

Margot, I too am glad that I finally got around to reading Bangkok 8. I have purchased the next book in the series.

TracyK said...

Kay, I have had the first two books in the Aaron Falk series for a while now and still not read them. I need to get to them. I have only read good things about them.

TracyK said...

Kathy, I am only aiming at 60 books in 2023, but of course I will just read what I can and it may be more because I want to read more graphic novels and novellas. I seem to read more showly nowadays which isn't a bad thing necessarily.

Elizabeth Strout and Richard Osman are both worth checking out.

TracyK said...

Lark, I am glad to hear that you have liked books by Matt Haig. It seems to me from the summaries of his books that each is different, and that is why I want to read more of them.

TracyK said...

Laurie, Sorry that the books by Osman and Haig did not appeal to you. Amazingly, between myself and my husband we have four unread books by Haig and they are all so different (at least if you go by the descriptions).

I enjoyed your list of books set in boarding schools.

TracyK said...

IloveHeartLandX, One of the reasons I am highly motivated to read more by Haig is that I own several of them and they all sound so good. I did have mixed reactions to The Midnight Library, so I waivered over whether he should be on the list.

TracyK said...

Deanna, did your sister like Strout's book? When I was read Olive Kitteridge I would only read a story a night (or maybe two) because they were too depressing. Not all the stories are depressing but a lot of them are. But I could not quit on the book, I had to know what happened with Olive and her family.

Susan said...

I enjoy Kinsey and Osman as well. I've only read a couple books by the former and one by the latter, but I definitely want to read more.

Happy TTT!

TracyK said...

Susan, I was very glad I tried both of those authors this year. I have the 4th book in the Lady Hardcastle series in paperback and the next two in ebook so I will enough of those for a while.

Aj @ Read All The Things! said...

I read Olive Kitteridge in college and really liked it, but I haven't read any more of the author's work. I'll get to it someday!

TracyK said...

AJ,That sounds like me. There is so much to read out there.

CLM said...

I got Elizabeth Strout and Erin Hilderbrand confused but a week ago there was a big article in the NYT about Hilderbrand's fans going to Nantucket so now I will remember one sets her books in Maine and one in Nantucket. I was curious and got Hilderbrand's first book to listen to as I drove to New York on Sunday and it was beyond sappy and full of annoying characters. I put it aside for The Whalebone Theatre, which I much prefer.

TracyK said...

I think I read that same article, Constance, and I looked into Hilderbrand's books when I saw it. I decided that her books probably are not for me but I would consider one if I saw a recommendation sometime.

Bill Selnes said...

Only one of the ten, Ted Woods, have I read and that was several years ago. They all look interesting.

TracyK said...

I was very glad I finally read something by Ted Wood, Bill, and I hope to read more of his series.