Fresh Faces of 2014

So far this morning I’ve had two realisations that are making my head spin like one of the spinning tops in Inception and I need to escape them for a minute. I realise I’ve been really, really slack with the writing I promised myself that I would do once uni got out and I figured that the newest Top Ten Tuesday list, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish would help me get out of my head and into the writing game, just a little. This week’s list is all about the the best new-to-you authors you discovered this year. I’ve found a few awesome authors this year and so, here’s a list so that you can find them for yourselves!

(Well, Wednesday)

1. John Williams
   Stoner changed my life. Almost literally. People say this all the time, but I really mean it. Williams took an ordinary life, with all of its banality and boredom and wonderful minute details, and made it magical. He took every mistake his protagonist, Stoner, made and showed that they each lead to a new path. This storyline spoke really strongly to me, considering what’s been happening this past year.
2. Candice Fox
   Fox’s new series has blown my mind. It’s changed my entire view of crime fiction. When one author can do that, that’s amazing in my book (now, that was an accident, but I think I’ll just leave it there). And Fox has only written the two novels, Hades and Eden, so far. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
3. Rainbow  Rowell
   I’ve respected Rainbow Rowell since I read Fangirl. I was so impressed with her work that I thought I read Fangirl forever ago. Turns out, I read it in January, so she counts as a new-to-me author in 2014! How ’bout that. You know when you love something so much you can’t really remember when it wasn’t it your life (for me reading, Doctor Who, Sherlock)? Rainbow Rowell is one of these authors.
4. Patrick Ness
   More Than This just plain blew my mind. Part philosophy, part sci-fi, part social commentary. It is pure genius and you all need to read this book.
5. Hannah Moskowitz
   Hannah Moskowitz was eighteen when she first got published. And so she is already impressive to me. Throw in the way she deals with gritty themes in her books, fleshes out imperfect characters, writes snappy dialogue, and avoids stereotypes and cliches, and Moskowitz is a real prodigy. Wunderkind. You so need to read Teeth.
6. Kate Belle
   John Williams may have changed my life, but Kate Belle changed the way I view relationships. Being Jade explored an incredibly passionate, tempestuous, unorthodox relationship and shows the reader that love can happen in many shapes and forms and it doesn’t have to fit into any one compartment.
7. Gregg Olsen
   Run was a surprise to me in many ways. I like to be surprised. And I like to have my mind changed. I can get into reading ruts very easily and so to have my mind changed about genres by books I would never normally pick up is very important to me. I can’t wait for the second book in this series!
8. Darren Groth
   I had the privilege of interviewing Mr Groth a little while ago about Are You Seeing Me?. Groth’s way with words was like a breath of fresh air. His sentences never end the way you expect them to. Descriptions are gorgeous and the way he handles the character of Perry is just incredible. Plus, Groth was a Brisbane man before moving to Canada. And I do so love Brisbane.
9. Joe Hill
   NOS4R2 was a pleasant surprise. Well, in that the story wasn’t as gruesome, and didn’t have as much gratuitous violence and horror, as I was expecting. And the whole horrifying fairytale thing was wonderful. Unexpected is just great.
10. Jay Asher
    Thirteen Reasons Why is a book everyone needs to read. The way Asher deals with mental illness (depression and suicidality) is something that people who are familiar, and unfamiliar, with the effects of mental illness need to experience. I have very rarely come across a book I believe is important in a social context, but Thirteen Reasons Why, is definitely one of them.

I’m not actually meaning to plug myself with all those links back to old posts. They’re just there if you guys want to see a bit more of an in-depth analysis of the books and authors I mentioned.

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