I'm a little late to the TTT party today, but I hate missing out on this fun weekly event, so here I am! Today's prompt—Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023—is an easy one, at least for me. I counted it up and of the 223 books I read last year, 146 of them were by authors I had never read before. Many of them were debut authors, although a few were by authors who have been around for awhile that I've just never tried out before. I love discovering great new writers to love, especially when they have a long backlist for me to explore. 

Before we get to my list, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our fabulous host, Jana, some love.

1. Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows—I realize this is three authors, but since I've only ever read the books they've written together, I'm going to count them as one. This creative trio pens a wholly entertaining YA series that I discovered last year with My Calamity Jane, an alternate history (with werewolves!) novel set in the Wild West. I enjoyed it so much, especially on audio, that I've since listened to My Plain Jane and am currently in the middle of My Imaginary Mary. The books mix history, sci-fi/fantasy, horror, humor, (a little bit of) romance, and lots of imagination to create funny, action-packed romps that are just all-over delightful. Bonus: they're PG rated, which is not always easy to find in YA.

2. Alice Feeney—Daisy Darker is, well, dark, but it's also engrossing and compelling. Even though I saw the Big Plot Twist coming, I still quite enjoyed the read (listen, actually). I'll definitely pick up more of Feeney's books.

3. Meg Shaffer—Shaffer's debut, The Wishing Game, got a lot of buzz when it came out and deservedly so. While it may not be the most unique or pulse-pounding read, it's wholesome and uplifting, a happy book that made me smile. I need more of those in my reading life, so hopefully Shaffer's next novel will have a similar vibe. (I just looked it up and The Lost Story, a "wondrous" novel about two boys' mysterious disappearance in a mysterious land, is coming out on July 4. Yay!)

4. Erin Bow—I loved Bow's latest, a contemporary middle-grade novel called Simon Sort of Says. Bow mostly writes fantasy, which isn't really my thing, but I'm definitely up for more realistic fiction by her.

5. Katherine Marsh—Speaking of realistic middle-grade fiction, I also really liked Marsh's moving historical novel, The Lost Year. As with Bow, I'm looking forward to reading more of her realistic fiction.

6. Nicole Deese—Christian fiction can be hit or miss for me. Before I Called You Mine was the former. You better believe I'll be checking out Deese's backlist and watching what she does going forward.

7. Peng Shepherd—The Cartographers is an imaginative adult portal fantasy that doesn't really feel like fantasy (if that makes sense). I enjoyed it, though, and plan to look for more books by Shepherd. Ooh, I just checked out her website and her forthcoming book, All This & More (available July 9, 2024), sounds super intriguing!

8. Carlene O'Connor—I enjoyed the first book in O'Connor's new County Kerry mystery series and am looking forward to the next one. The author also pens a couple of cozy mystery series set in Ireland that I want to check out.

9. Emily Inouye Henry—Henry's debut, a YA historical novel about discrimination against Japanese Americans during World War II, was inspired by her own family history. It's a beautiful, touching book that I loved. Henry's sophomore effort is a picture book biography about a Japanese American NBA star. I'm not really interested in that, but I'll be keeping an eye out for whatever Henry does next.

10. John David Anderson—Anderson's latest middle-grade novel, The Greatest Kid in the World, made me laugh out loud, but it also has a tender poignancy that touched me. I had never heard of the author before; obviously, I've been missing out!

There you go, ten new-to-me authors that I found last year. Have you read any of them? Which of their books are your favorites? Which awesome writers did you discover in 2023? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here (although I'm a little behind currently).

Edited to add: I'm having trouble commenting on some of your WordPress-hosted blogs. When I try to leave a comment, I get a "Not Acceptable!An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security" error. I'm not sure what this means or how to fix it. So, just know if you have a WP blog and you don't see a comment from me, I got this error when I tried. I'm commenting on everyone's blogs this week; bummer that some of you will never see them. Boo hoo.

It's been a rough week already and it's barely Wednesday, but I didn't want to miss Top Ten Tuesday even if I'm late to the party. TTT makes me happy—I need happy this week! I'm stumped on the prompt, though. My brain and memory aren't up for much right now, so I'm going to forgo the official topic—Top Ten Unlikable Characters You Can't Help But Love—and do a simpler one. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over there and give her some love! And if you want to join in the TTT fun, please do, even though it's not Tuesday.

Now that it's November, I'm really starting to think about the books I still want to read before 2022 is gone forever. My goal is to read 200 books this year; I'm at 153 now, so I've got some work to do. At the moment, I'm concentrating on reading for two book awards programs I'm helping to judge, but—of course—there are other titles I want to get to as well. So here are ten that I want to read before 2022 ends.

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir—Okay, this is one I need to read, not necessarily want to read, but still...Sci-fi has never been my favorite genre, but Weir's books are so popular that I couldn't not give them a chance. I started The Martian and gave up after a chapter or two. All that detail about every little thing put me right to sleep! My husband adored both The Martian and Project Hail Mary. My book club is reading the latter this month, so I'm finally going to brave it. Wish me luck!

2. A Song Called Home by Sara Zarr—I've enjoyed several of Zarr's YA books. This is her first novel for middle-graders. It concerns a girl named Lou who's satisfied with her life in the city, even if her dad drinks too much and her family has little in the way of material comforts. When her mom decides to move in with her boyfriend, leaving the city and her dad behind, Lou feels adrift. On her last night in her old home, she finds a guitar on her front porch. Although the giver has remained anonymous, she assumes it's from her dad and that learning how to play it will, somehow, keep him close to her despite the distance between them. Sounds like a sweet read.

3. Madwoman by Louisa Treger—I've talked about this historical novel before. It's based on the true story of Nellie Bly's terrifying but illuminating undercover infiltration of the famous mental asylum on New York's Blackwell's Island in 1887.

4. Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer—This Gothic mystery is about a woman who is happy to escape her unraveling life in New York City to stay with an ill relative at a manor house in England. When her young, neurodivergent son discovers human remains in a forgotten wing, she becomes consumed with learning about the woman whose skeleton was hidden in mysterious Ashton Hall.

5. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese—I'm #3 on the library waiting list for this buzzy novel. You probably already know that the story is a reimagining of the life of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It sounds intriguing.

6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—This classic novella actually fits this week's real TTT prompt about unlikable characters. It's one of my favorite books of all time. I re-read it every December to get me in the Christmas spirit.

7. Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki—I'm an adoptive mom, so I'm always interested in books like this one. It recounts the true story of a pair of identical twins who were born in Vietnam in 1998. The girls' biological mother could not take care of them. One was adopted and raised in a poor, rural village in Vietnam by her biological aunt. The other was adopted by a wealthy white family and raised in a prosperous Chicago household. When the American adoptive mother learned her daughter had a twin back in Vietnam, she reunited the sisters, who were teens at the time. Sounds like an incredible story.

8. No Strangers Here by Carlene O'Connor—I just heard about this series opener (probably from one of your blogs) and it sounds excellent. When the dead body of a bloke known as "The Dancing Man" is found murdered on a beach in southwest Ireland, Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien gets the case. His investigation in the small town of Dingle leads him to the dead man's rumored lover. When Dimpna Wilde's mother comes under suspicion of murdering "The Dancing Man," Dimpna returns to the hometown she gladly left behind to clear her mother's name. 

9. Embers On the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg—This dual-timeline novel revolves around Whittaker House, an old Massachusetts home that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Inhabited by the ghosts of two women who died there while trying to escape slavery, it's now a posh vacation rental. The ghosts observe the modern-day holiday-makers, many of whom are Black women who are not as free as they appear. 

10. A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge—I'm not a person who cares for real-life drama, royal or otherwise, but this holiday murder mystery sounds like a fun caper. The royal family is gathered in Scotland for Christmas when the king dies from poisoning. Everyone in the dysfunctional clan is a suspect, but who actually did the dirty deed?

There you are, ten books I want to read before 2022 disappears. Which titles are you itching to read before the new year? Do you have any villains you love to hate? I'd truly love to know.

If everything goes according to plan, my family and I will soon be downsizing, moving from a 5,000 square foot house into one that is half that size. This will require sorting through the thousands of books I own and getting rid of about 75% (that's the goal, anyway). Considering this should be happening in a matter of months, I really should not be acquiring more books, but between a bookstore shopping spree for my December birthday, Christmas gifts, and the gift cards I got for my birthday and Christmas, let's just say that a *few* new books have snuck their way into my home! This week's TTT topic is perfect for showcasing these gems: Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection. 

I'd love to see your list, so please consider joining in the TTT fun. Hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection    

Just before Christmas, I traded in some books, then used my store credit, plus my birthday discount to buy these titles from Changing Hands, my local indie:

1.  The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan—I've checked this one out from the library several times, but have never managed to read it before it's come due, so I finally just bought it. The WWII novel is about four very different British women who enter a cooking contest to win the prize of becoming the competition's first-ever female host. 

2.  Redshirts by John Scalzi—My 17-year-old son who doesn't like to read (the horror!) has had a hankering for a good sci-fi novel. Since that's not my genre, I asked for recommendations on my personal Facebook page. This novel was suggested more than once. It's about a young man who has just been given a coveted spot on a prestigious airship. He's excited about being part of exciting away missions, until he realizes that it's the lowest-ranking members of the crew (like himself) who are the least likely to survive them. When he stumbles on a secret about the airship, he will have to risk everything in order to save the lives of himself and his crewmates. 

3.  Skyward by Brandon Sanderson—This series opener also came highly recommended. It's about a group of teens who are training to be part of an elite squad of fighter pilots. Spensa has always dreamed of being a pilot like her father, but it's because of his disgraceful actions that her chances of being one are next to nil. While she fights her way through flight school, she launches her own clandestine investigation into the truth behind her father's infamous betrayal.

4.  A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw—I read this novel right after I bought it. Even though I didn't end up loving it, I did find it intriguing. It's about a commune hidden in the mountains and the secrets it holds inside its boundaries.

My favorite part of my recent trip to Europe was visiting beautiful Culzean Castle, once the seat of Clan Kennedy in Scotland. Exploring "our" castle with my stepsister (I'm a born Kennedy—she's basically been adopted in) was a fun, moving treat for both of us. She bought me this book about the castle and its history for Christmas:

5.  The 'Magnificent Castle' of Culzean and the Kennedy Family by Michael Moss

My son and his wife got me a gift card to Barnes & Noble for my birthday, which is where I bought these four:

6.  Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor—This series opener features the O'Sullivan Family, who run a bistro. When a man is murdered in their restaurant, they find themselves the prime suspects. Siobhán O'Sullivan sets out to clear her family's names by finding the real killer.

7.  Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz—Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time, so I'm all in for this "romantic retelling." Will Jo and Laurie finally get their happily ever after?

8.  Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney—Like the O'Sullivans, the Kimballs have a shop to save. This time, it's a bookstore in England. Molly has to find the killer of one of their customers in order to clear her great-aunt's name.

9.  Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae—Another first in a cozy mystery series, this is one I've been wanting to read for a while now but haven't been able to find in my local libraries. It also involves murder in a U.K. bookshop, this time in Scotland. 

This one was cheap on Kindle, so I snapped it up:

10.  The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath—Set during the brutal winter of 1947, this one takes place in a very bleak London. When a famed actor dies, it leaves his widow—the wardrobe mistress—paralyzed with grief. A secret about him comes to light, forcing her down a dark, unexpected path.

There you have it, the last ten books I purchased and received. How about you? Did you get any fun books for Christmas? Have you used your bookish gift cards yet? Which titles have made it into your home, one way or another? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.