It’s the end of the year, and that means it’s time for all the fun wrap ups! I’m waiting a bit for my “very best/worst of”, but I wanted to at least start on the lists in case things get too busy and I don’t do them later. Today’s post is dedicated to the top authors I’ve discovered in 2019. I’ve got 9 to share. These are in alphabetical order.
W R Gingell
Bio
W.R. Gingell is a Tasmanian author who is definitely not getting old. She loves to rewrite fairytales with a twist or two—and a murder or three—and original fantasy where dragons, enchantresses, and other magical creatures abound. Occasionally she will also dip her toes into the waters of SciFi.
W.R. spends her time reading, drinking an inordinate amount of tea, and slouching in front of the fire to write. Like Peter Pan, she never really grew up, and is still occasionally to be found climbing trees.
Books
Gingell has a few series going, but the one I am most obsessed with is The City Between. It’s an urban fantasy set in Melbourne. I love the characters, the banter, the fresh take on the fae world, and most of all, the relationships. I am 4 books in and I still can’t tell if there’s going to be a romance! Do you know how rare that is? I am here for it! (But I do have a ship! Fingers crossed!)
Website
Andrea K. Höst
Bio
Born in Sweden and raised in Australia, Andrea K Höst currently lives in Sydney. She writes fantasy, but wanders occasionally into science fantasy.
Her novel “The Silence of Medair” was a finalist for the 2010 Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel. Her novella “Forfeit” won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella.
Books
I actually read a few books by her this year. Hunting is a stand alone fantasy book about a girl whose mentor is murdered and she goes undercover to find out who did it. The Medair duology was also great, and has a really unique romance at its core.
Website
Mark Lawrence
Bio
Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. At one point he was qualified to say ‘this isn’t rocket science … oh wait, it actually is’.
Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.
Books
I read the whole Book of the Ancestor Trilogy this year and I loved it so, so much. Those nuns are awesome and the conclusion was super good. I also read One Word Kill, which I liked, but it didn’t wow me. I have to say, though, that I am not going to be reading his Broken Empire trilogy. I really have a problem with the main character and I’m hesitant to pick up any more of his adult books.
Website
Thomas Mullen
Bio
Thomas Mullen is the author of Darktown, an NPR Best Book of the Year, which has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, the Indies Choice Book Award, has been nominated for two Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards, and is being developed for television by Sony Pictures with executive producer Jamie Foxx; The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers; and The Revisionists. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and sons.
Books
Mullen is one of several authors in here that I’m marking as new discoveries, even though I’ve only read one of their books. In this case, I read and loved Darktown, set in 1940s Atlanta. It is the first in a series, and believe me that I’m excited to read the sequel. If you enjoy crime fiction or detective stories, this is one you won’t want to miss.
Website
M L Rio
Bio
M. L. Rio is an author, but before she was an author she was an actor, and before she was an actor she was just a word nerd whose best friends were books. She holds a master’s degree in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe. She currently lives in Washington, D. C., but she is terrible at updating online bios, so this information will probably be outdated by the time you read it.
Book:
Rio has published only one book, If We Were Villains, which I raved about last month. I didn’t do a full review, but mostly because I couldn’t find the words to gush about it adequately without spoilers. If you love really twisty books featuring found family and secrets and drama with a Shakespearean twist (and why wouldn’t you?) check this book out!
Website
Angela Saini
Bio
“I present science programmes on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and my writing has appeared across the world, including in New Scientist, the Guardian, Science, Cell, Wired, Wallpaper, Vogue, GQ,and New Humanist, among others. I was the launch presenter of the BBC’s The Food Chain and I have hosted More or Less and Material World.
My latest book, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story, has just been published by Fourth Estate and Beacon Press. My first book, Geek Nation, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2011, becoming a bestseller in India and an Independent book of the year.”
Books
Saini has several non-fiction books out, but the one I read this year was Inferior: The Return of Race Science. Well written and researched, it was still deeply personal, a combination that worked for me. I’ve added her other works to my TBR and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.
Website
Jessica Townsend
Bio
Jessica Townsend lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Her pet fascinations include public transport, ancient cities, hotels, opera singers, Halloween, secret societies and gigantic cats – all of which have weaselled their way into Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, her award-winning first novel released in 2017. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, the second book in this record-breaking series, was released in 2018.
Books
Well, I just wrote a post gushing about the Nevermoor series, so it’s no surprise that Townsend would make it to my Best New Authors list. Imaginative and addicting, her books are my favorite new MG series in a long time.
Website
Stuart Turton
Bio
Stuart lives in London with his amazing wife and daughter. He drinks lots of tea.
What else?
​When he left university he went travelling for three months and stayed away for five years. Every time his parents asked when he’d be back he told them next week, and meant it.
Stuart is not to be trusted. In the nicest possible way.
He’s got a degree in English and Philosophy, which makes him excellent at arguing and terrible at choosing degrees.
Having trained for no particular career, he has dabbled in most of them. He stocked shelves in a Darwin bookshop, taught English in Shanghai, worked for a technology magazine in London, wrote travel articles in Dubai, and now he’s a freelance journalist. None of this was planned, he just kept getting lost on his way to other places.
Book
So far Turton has only released one book, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, although he says he has a new book coming out next year. I loved this book though, and it kept me reading and guessing. The format was so unusual and the story was so good! Let’s hope the next one is just as great.
Website
Django Wexler
Bio
Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not planning Shadow Campaigns, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.
Books
Wexler has a couple of series, but the one I am obsessed with is The Shadow Campaigns. So far I have only read the first two, but they are so completely different in tone — one a military fantasy and one political intrigue — and yet so very, very good. I have book 3 waiting for me and I’m going to try to get to it this month, but we’ll see.
Website
And that’s it for me today! I’d love to know what new authors you’ve discovered this year or if any of these are on your TBR list. Happy reading!
Speedy Reader 