Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie. My mind is blanking on anything fresh and creative, so I'm going to continue with the author theme from last week. If you missed my post on my Top Ten 2022 New-to-Me Author Discoveries, you can find it here. Today, I'm going to dish about some authors I want to try out for the first time this year. In order to keep the list to just ten, I opted to leave out debut authors and focus on those who've already published at least 2-3 books.

Before we get to that, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give Jana, our lovely host, some love. While you're there, read up on TTT and join in the fun. You won't regret it!

Where I plan to start: Mare's War, a road trip and dual-timeline novel about two kids who learn just how fascinating their eccentric grandma really is, sounds fabulous. I love stories about family history, unsung heroes, and generations learning about each other. 

3. Kimberly Duffy—Several of Duffy's historical fiction titles have caught my eye. They all have gorgeous covers and plot summaries that sound right up my alley. 

Where I plan to start: Duffy's newest, The Weight of Air, is about two female circus performers whose lives intersect in New York in the early 1900s. It sounds excellent.

4. Susan Furlong—Furlong writes cozy mysteries as well as crime fiction and psychological thrillers.

Where I plan to start: What They Don't Know, Furlong's newest, sounds like the perfect way to start. It's about a mother who's frustrated with her son, who has run off to live a party-filled life away from home. When he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young woman, she sets out on a desperate quest to find her son, bring him home, and prove his innocence.

5. Kimberly Willis Holt—Holt writes contemporary and historical fiction for young readers. She won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1999.

Where I plan to start: Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel is a middle-grade novel about a young girl who goes to live with her estranged grandfather at his dilapidated motel after her parents are killed. As she befriends the place's colorful residents, she finds healing and connection. 

6. Lydia Kang—Kang is a doctor who writes science and historical fiction as well as non-fiction with an emphasis on medicine, forensics, chemistry, etc.  

Where I plan to start: Kang has written two non-fiction books with Nate Pederson. Both sound interesting, but I think I'm going to start with Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases.

7. Caroline Lea—A poet and novelist, Lea writes historical fiction set around the world.

Where I plan to start: The Glass Woman, Lea's 2019 debut, is "a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials." Say no more. I'm in.

8. Kate Quinn—Quinn probably needs no introduction. Her recent war novels have gotten tons of buzz over the last few years, but she actually has a fairly long backlist of historical fiction.

Where I plan to start: Set in 1937 Ukraine, The Diamond Eye is about a studious young mother who becomes a deadly sniper in order to fight the Nazis invading her country. Based on a real person, the story sounds fascinating.

9. Nikola Scott—Although Scott had a career as a crime fiction editor, she writes historical fiction about families and their secrets. 

Where I plan to start: Scott's 2017 debut novel, My Mother's Shadow, is about Addie, a woman whose mind is blown when a woman shows up claiming to be her sister. Addie thought she knew everything about her mother's life, but clearly, her mother was keeping secrets. 

10. Art Spiegelman—Spiegelman is an American cartoonist, comic advocate, and Pultizer Prize winner. He's best known for his Maus books, a graphic novel series about his parents' experience as prisoners in Auschwitz. 

Where I plan to start: I'm not sure there's anywhere else to begin but with Maus, the first installment in Spiegelman's well-known series. 

There you have it, ten authors I want to read this year. Have you read any of them? What do you think? Which authors are you planning to try in 2023? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I'm a little late to the party today, but I didn't want to miss my favorite weekly meme so here I am! Today's prompt is perfect for the new year: Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2023. Other than reading 200 books (my Goodreads goal) and completing the reading challenges I've taken on, I really don't have any reading/blogging resolutions to speak of. I'm just going to keep doing what I do and not stress about something that's supposed to be fun, you know? I enjoyed last week's topic—Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023—so much that I'm going to keep it going this week. In case you missed it, here's my Shiny New Releases, Part One. 

If you want to get on the TTT party bus (and you do!), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

- in order of publication date - 

3. Finally Seen by Kelly Yang (available February 28)—I enjoyed New From Here, Yang's 2022 middle-grade novel about a Chinese-American family's experiences in California during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I'm excited to read this one, her newest. It's about a 10-year-old Chinese girl who moves to Los Angeles after living with her grandmother in Shanghai for five years. Lina is excited to be reunited with her parents and younger sister after so long, but America is not exactly what she expected. Has she made a huge mistake? Should she have stayed in Shanghai, even if kids there made fun of her? If she doesn't fit in in either country, where does she belong?

4. The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green (available March 14)—I enjoyed Green's Windy City saga, but I wasn't aware that she had a new book coming out until I saw it on several TTT lists last week. Set in the 1920s, her latest features Egyptologist Lauren Westlake. When a detective investigating a string of art forgeries approaches her for aid, Dr. Westlake can't help but be intrigued by the puzzling mystery. 

5. Lone Women by Victor LaVelle (available March 28)—Horror isn't something I read a lot of these days, but when I saw this book mentioned on numerous TTT lists last week, I knew I needed to read it. It concerns a woman who sets out for the Montana wilderness in 1914 to take advantage of the government's offer of free land. Leaving trouble behind her in California, she drags along a mysterious trunk that must always remain locked, inside of which is a secret that ensures there will be plenty more trouble to come.

6. The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland (available April 4)—Have you heard about the 1811 fire at a theater in Richmond, Virginia, that killed 70 people, including Virginia's governor? I hadn't. This novel explores the tragedy from several different viewpoints, examining the actions and inactions that make all the difference in the literal heat of the moment.

7. A Wealth of Deception by Trish Esden (available April 18)—The second installment in Esden's Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery series, this one has Edie Brown—a Vermont antiques and art dealer—discovering an unsettling collage with a mysterious provenance. As she and her colleagues investigate the piece, they find themselves getting too close to a dangerous art underground where criminals will kill in order to protect their profitable scams.

8. Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See (available June 6)—Tan Yunxian is a physician in 15th-Century China who is devoted to providing the best care she can to her female patients. She forms a fast friendship with Meiling, a miwife-in-training, who shares her passion for helping people. When Yunxian is forced into an arranged marriage, she is forbidden by her mother-in-law to continue her medical practice and ordered not to see Meiling. Being a "proper" wife is a soul-sucking occupation that does not suit Yunxian. How can she break free and return to her real life's purpose?

9. What Remains by Wendy Walker (available June 13)—When Detective Elise Sutton unwittingly walks into a deadly situation in a department store, she's forced to make a split-second decision. To save one life, she takes another, a choice that has her neighbors lauding her as a hero. She certainly doesn't feel like one, especially when she connects with the man she saved and begins to realize he's not who he says he is. Did Elise make a terrible mistake?

10. The Only One Left by Riley Sager (available June 20)—I don't know about you, but I can't resist a new Sager book and this one sounds especially tantalizing. It's about a notorious murder that took place in Maine in the 1920s in which one sister killed another. The accused was never charged with the crime. In the six decades since it happened, she has become a recluse, never leaving her family's mansion. When she offers to tell her home health aide everything, it becomes obvious that there's a lot more to the story than anyone ever imagined.

There you go, another ten new releases I'm looking forward to reading. Do any of these look appealing to you? Which up-and-comers are you highly anticipating? What are your bookish goals for 2023? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT! 

I'm a day late to the Top Ten Tuesday party this week, but I love seasonal TBR lists so much that I didn't want to miss out on the fun!  I can't wait to see what everyone's reading this Spring.  Even though this season is all about sunshine, renewal, rebirth, and soft, pastel-colored days, my reading for the upcoming months is kind of the opposite.  I'm in need of some light, happy reads to sandwich between these dark, heavy ones, so if you've got some great Spring-ish recommendations, hit me up!

Without further ado, here are the Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR:

1.  The Lost Man by Jane Harper—I've enjoyed Harper's two previous books, so I'm looking forward to her newest.  I wish it were another installment in her Aaron Falk series, but this one's a standalone.  It revolves around two brothers trying to get to the bottom of a third brother's suspicious death in the Queensland outback.

2.  Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert—I loved Moloka'i when I read it back in 2007 and am delighted that a sequel just came out.  Right now I'm re-reading Moloka'i so I can remember who's who and what's what, then I'll move on to its sequel.

3.  The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson—My teen daughter and I both really enjoyed Truly Devious, a YA mystery set in a remote boarding school.  When my daughter spied the sequel at Half-Price Books, she begged me to buy it.  Let's just say it didn't take much convincing!  We're both excited to delve into this one.

4.  The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie (available March 26, 2019)—This YA novel about a young woman who captains the last mining ship in the Outpost sounds like a riveting adventure story.  

5.  The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs—I picked up this MG adventure tale at Half-Price Books as well (I canNOT be trusted in a bookstore).  It sounds eerie and fun.  I can't wait to dive in!

6.  The Daughter's Tale by Armando Lucas Correa (available May 7, 2019)—This dual-timeline historical novel is about a French-American woman in the present who receives a stack of letters her mother wrote during WWII.  As the woman unravels the secrets of her past, she discovers some surprising truths.  Sounds like my kind of book!

7.  The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (available May 21, 2019)—An ARC of this intriguing novel landed on my doorstep recently.  It's about a servant, a former slave, who's accused of murdering her employer and his wife.  Frannie claims she can't remember anything about the incident.  As her court case progresses, shocking secrets will out.  Sounds tantalizing, doesn't it?

8.  Woman 99 by Greer Macallister—This historical thriller concerns a woman who's distraught when her sister is committed to an infamous insane asylum.  Desperate to protect her sibling, she follows her inside to discover a wealth of atrocities being performed against the helpless and hopeless.  Sounds heartbreaking but compelling.

9.  The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix—I enjoy this author's books, even though they're a bit hit and miss for me.  Still, they often have unique and intriguing premises, which I always appreciate.  Her newest centers on three children who are shocked when they hear of a trio of kidnapped children who bear remarkable similarities to themselves.  Could these groups of children be one and the same?

10.  How High the Moon by Karyn Parsons—This MG historical novel stars a light-skinned African-American girl whose mother is away pursuing a Jazz career.  When Ella visits her over Christmas, she learns some shocking truths about her family.  Returning to the South, she's in for another unpleasant surprise.  As Ella deals with life's curveballs, she must figure out who she really is and what she truly wants.  I'm in.

So, there you have it, a few books that are really tempting me for Spring reading.  How about you?  What will you be enjoying this season?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor.

Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!