Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. This is my first ever Top Ten Tuesday post as, after reading everyone else’s, I realised that there a quite a few authors that I’ve started looking out for specifically. I pick up a lot of books from charity shops, and there are some authors that I just get really excited about when I see one of their books in print and know that they will definitely be coming home with me.
So here goes …
- V. E. Schwab
I can’t believe I only read my first Schwab book this year – and there are so many more that I’m excited to find! In a few very short months I’ve read A Darker Shade of Magic, Vicious and The Near Witch and I’ve got A Gathering of Shadows all lined up to read next. I love this woman’s slightly twisted mind!
2. Mark Lawrence
This guy just does not stop writing and I am 100% happy with that. I’ve read the Broken Empire trilogy, Book of the Ancester trilogy and am really enjoying the different pace of the new Impossible Times trilogy. I can’t wait to see what else he produces.
3. Genevieve Cogman
I just don’t see enough love for the Invisible Library series on here and I’ve no idea why – they’re great! If you enjoy the thought of someone stealing books from across multiple worlds for a mysterious library with bonus dragons then you need to get going with these as soon as possible.
4. Neil Gaiman
Time for some classics. The Sandman series? The Ocean at the End of the Lane? Good Omens? Stardust? American Gods? Neverwhere? I could go on. And those are just the best-known titles. Stop me now.
5. Robin Hobb
More classics. As I mentioned before, I pick up a lot of my books second hand (e-book for anything on sale on Amazon, paper copy if it’s something I’m eager to read and charity shops for the joy of the hunt). Whenever I find the next Robin Hobb book in whatever series I’m collecting next it goes straight in the basket.
6. A. S. Byatt
I’ve been a bit slow to this party, and I still need to read her full length novels (Posesssion and The Children’s Book in particular) but I have adored reading Byatt’s short stories – I can only summarise them modern folk tales without going into huge amounts of detail.
7. Sarah Perry
After Melmoth and The Essex Serpent, I’m eagerly looking out for anything else Perry writes (and am still keeping an eye out for After Me Comes the Flood). Turns out I love Gothic as a genre. Also look at those gorgeous covers.
8. Brandon Sanderson
Does it count as an auto-buy if you’ve only ever read one of his books? I only recently read Skyward and I have the first Mistborn on my shelf, but am definitely looking to add to my collection.
9. China Miéville
This guy can write better than I can breathe. The books are heavy, dense but more intelligent than you can imagine, and more imaginative than you can believe. I have yet to be disappointed and still have so much more to find!
10. Jasper Fforde
If I could find more of Jasper Fforde’s books in charity shops that would be great, please and thank you. If you haven’t come across him before, he’s a little bit Gaiman, a little bit Pratchett and a little bit Tom Holt, with a lot of literature knowledge. I’ve really enjoyed the few of the Thursday Next series that I’ve read.
Honourable mentiones go to: Terry Pratchett, Angela Carter, George R. R. Martin, J. R. R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, S. A. Chakraborty, Samantha Shannon, Madeline Miller and Peter V. Brett, to name just a few …
Are there any that I’ve missed from your favourites? Or any books/authors you think I might enjoy based on my list? Let me know in the comments!
Alpha-Beta-Hannah 
Fantastic list, we have a couple in common 🙂
I love hunting for books in charity shops as well. Its a great way to try new authors, satisfy the urge to shop and have fun all in one. It’s also come in handy for my 14 year old, she reads a lot and between us both we would bankrupt ourselves if we bought everything new 🙂
Haha – exactly! I love having books in print, but read a lot of ARCs on Kindle. But when I find them in charity shops it means that 1) recycling 2) charity 3) the satisfaction of finding that next book in the series and feeling like you’ve hunted it down yourself and 4) cheeeap 🙂
The Invisible Library has been on my TBR forever but I think if the author is one of your auto-buy authors I may have to move it to the top of my list! Robin Hobb is also a new favourite of mine.
Here’s my TTT list: https://authorsamanthajaynegrubey.wordpress.com/2019/07/16/top-10-tuesday-auto-buy-authors/
Hooray! I can’t promise literary genius from the Invisible Library, but books! Libraries! Evil plots that need foiling! They’re a lot of fun 🙂
Oh I don’t care about Literary genius just give me a good book 😂
I’ve heard great things about V.E. Schwab, but haven’t read any of her books! I need to fix that soon! Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
I can’t believe I only came across her this year. I have so much good writing to catch up on now! Her writing can be dark and gory but solid urban fantasy.
Nail Gaiman is an excellent choice! Wish I’d thought of him, too. 🙂
My TTT.
Schwab is awesome ❤ I love her style! Great List 🙂
Thank you! 🙂