Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015 (& yes I do know I'm 2 days late LOL)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme & you can find all the details about how to join in HERE.

Today's topic is Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015 and I've discovered some wonderful new authors this year so I have lots to talk about. This will include a mixture of debut authors and authors who have been around for a while but who I only discovered this year. I'm also including a selection of adult and YA author's so there hopefully should be something here that appeals to everyone.

I've been looking forward to this topic for ages but life got in the way & I'm only just getting around to actually writing it so I apologise for being 2 days late. Better late than never though so here we go :o)

I love discovering new authors (I've actually read books by over 50 new to me authors this year!) and you can see a list of all the author's I've discovered in 2015 HERE if you're interested. It's been very hard to narrow it down to just my top 10 but I've finally done it so here are my favourites:

Pippa Dacosta

Pippa Dacosta has quickly become one of my favourite authors, I fell in love with her writing when I picked up the first in her science fiction series Girl From Above: Betrayal but have since also devoured her urban fantasy series that starts with Beyond the Veil. In fact I've worked my way through her entire back list (11 books and novellas) since August so that should give you a hint about how much I LOVE her stories. You can read all of my reviews of her work HERE.

K.F. Breene

K.F. Breene is another author whose books I've been absolutely devouring, I've not managed to make my way through her entire back list but I did devour all of the books currently available in her Warrior Chronicles series and I'm now desperately waiting for the next book to be written! Read my reviews HERE.

Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

I can't believe it took me so long to discover these author's wonderful series, I absolutely devoured These Broken Stars and This Shattered World earlier this year and the final book in the trilogy, This Fractured Light, is right at the top of my Christmas wish list this year. Both Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have been added to my list of auto-buy authors and I can also highly recommend Illuminae that Amie wrote with another fabulous (but not new to me) author Jay Kristoff. Read my reviews HERE.

V.E. Schwab

Another new autobuy author has to be V.E. Schwab, I absolutely adored both A Darker Shade of Magic and Vicious. Both books are very different but utterly brilliant and I'm glad we're going to get more stories set in each world. You can find my reviews HERE.

E.K. Johnston

A Thousand Nights was one of my favourite books of the year so of course I had to include debut author E.K. Johnston in my list. This story is incredibly atmospheric and was so, so beautiful to read, I completely devoured it and I can't wait to see more from this author in the future. Read my review HERE.

Becky Chambers

I've been really enjoying my science fiction this year and Becky Chamber's debut, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was brilliant. It has such a varied cast of characters and I really hope that this is going to be the start of a new series. I'll definitely be watching out for whatever this author writes next though. Read my review HERE.

Pamela Clare

I don't tend to read a lot of romantic suspense but I've been hearing amazing things about Pamela Clare's writing from American bloggers for such a long time now so when I found out her books had been picked up by a UK publisher I couldn't resist giving them a try. I can definitely understand why everyone raves about her now because these books are amazing! You can find my reviews HERE.

Naomi Novik

I loved Uprooted so much that I've already read it twice this year, it's an absolutely wonderful fairytale type fantasy story that I don't really have the words to describe, hence the reason I STILL haven't written up my review for it! I will be getting caught up with my final reviews by the end of the year though so watch out for this one - it's put Naomi Novik on my list of must read authors and I'm really looking forward to working my way through her back list.

Juliet Marillier

Another fantastic fantasy story that I'm yet to write a review for. Dreamer's Pool was brilliant and I already have the next book in the series that I'm hoping to read very soon so Juliet Marillier is another recommended author.

Louise O'Neill

Louise O'Neill's Asking For It isn't an easy read, in fact there were times when it was incredibly painful and it made me so mad that I could have probably committed murder if I'd been able to climb into the story and confront some of the main characters! This is such an important book though and I really do feel like EVERYONE should read it, Louise shines a light on rape culture in today's society and I think it paves the way for some very important questions that we all need to ask ourselves. I really think this should be required reading in schools to get people openly talking about what constitutes rape and whether anyone is ever Asking For It (of course they're absolutely NOT but you'd be surprised at how many people don't agree with that!). I've heard great things about Louise O'Neill's debut novel Only Ever Yours too so I'm planning on reading that one as soon as I get a chance.

So those are my favourite newly discovered authors for 2015. Have you read any of the books or series I mentioned? Which ones are your favourites? Who are your top new authors? I'm always looking for recommendations :o)

Review: A Thousand Nights - E.K. Johnston

UK Cover

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village, looking for a wife.

When Lo-Melkhiin - a formidable king - arrives at her desert home, she knows that he will take her beautiful sister for a wife. Desperate to save her sister from certain death, she makes the ultimate sacrifice - leaving home and family behind to live with a fearful man.

But it seems that a strange magic flows between her and Lo-Melkhiin, and night after night, she survives. Finding power in storytelling, the words she speaks are given strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. But she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king . . . if only she can stop her heart from falling for a monster.

Set against a harsh desert backdrop, A Thousand Nights by E K Johnston is an evocative tale of love, mystery and magic that would not feel out of place if Scheherazade herself were telling it.

And perhaps she is...

Visit E.K. Johnston's website for more information

Review:
A Thousand Nights is a story based on the classic tale One Thousand and One Nights but E.K. Johnston takes that starting point and turns it into something entirely her own, something unique and absolutely beautiful. I already know that I don't have the words to do this book justice so I'm going to tell you that this is one of the most memorable books I've read this year (and I've read well over 200 of them!) and it's probably the one I most want to recommend to people. This isn't a fast paced and action packed story, it's more of a leisurely stroll, but the scenery is so, so beautiful that you'll want to stop and admire the view. I honestly can't think of a more beautiful and magical tale I've read and I loved every minute of it.

Lo-Melkhiim is a powerful king but he is responsible for the deaths of over 300 girls. Nobody he marries survives long, in fact most don't even last a night, and they never make it beyond their first week. But the king is not satisfied and he travels around the country taking bride after bride and nobody dares to stop him. When he visits our main character's village everyone knows that he will choose her sister, the most beautiful girl of them all, but our protagonist loves her sister so much that she willingly sacrifices herself to save her. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't want to die and she is determined to do whatever it takes to survive as long as possible, but she can't bear the thought of her sister being taken away.

What follows is a beautiful story of survival, our main character tells us about her people, their history and their beliefs and she weaves such a wonderful tale that it's as if you've stepped into the book and are walking alongside her. I loved everything about A Thousand Nights, from the lyrical tone of the story to the fascinating and rich world building, I don't even care that we never find out anyone but Lo-Melkhiim's name.

A Thousand Nights is not a romance but it's a story full of love, the love between siblings, the bond between family members and the love of a people for the woman they see as their saviour. The love that turns one brave young girl into a smallgod who may just be powerful enough to defeat a monster.

I also have to mention how stunning the UK hardback is, I'd been sent a proof copy for review but I had to buy myself the finished version (and I don't even like hardbacks!) because it's so pretty. From the soft purple slip cover, to the gorgeous gold foil design on the bright pink hardback underneath, the pretty end pages and the beautifully detailed gold design on the edge of the pages this book is a work of art that perfectly reflects the contents of the story. This is a book that begs to be picked up and read again and again and I know it's one I'll be rereading many times in the future.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
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US Cover

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