Although I have a ton of favorite authors whose books are auto-reads for me, I also try a fair number of new writers every year. In fact, of the 200 books I read in 2022, 117 (59%) were by authors I hadn't tried before. So far in 2023, I've read 17 books, 10 of which were written by new-to-me writers. Some of these have been duds, naturally, but others introduced me to some great new authors whom I very much want to read more from. I found more than 10 last year, so I had to narrow it down to the ones who stood out most for me.

Before we get to that, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our lovely TTT host, Jana, some love. If you want to join in with your own list, all the details about this fun weekly event are on her blog.

1. Jason Reynolds—This iconic children's author was my best find of 2022. He writes contemporary middle-grade and YA books starring Black characters living in urban situations and dealing with everything from ADHD to bullying to gang violence to wrongful arrests. His books are compelling, funny, poignant, and approachable (even to a 47-year-old white woman). I listened to his whole Track series last year. The audiobooks are especially entertaining because of Guy Lockard, Reynolds' long-time friend and a talented actor and narrator. 

2. Tamara Berry—Buried in a Good Book, the first installment in Berry's By the Book cozy mystery series, had me smiling and laughing so much that I knew I needed to read more from her. So far, I've read the second book in the series and the first in her Eleanor Wilde cozy series. Her books are just fun! She also writes romances under the names Lucy Gilmore and Tamara Morgan.

3. Fredrik Backman—Backman's been a popular author ever since A Man Called Ove came out in 2014. His books didn't really seem like my kind of thing, so I avoided them until someone in my book club suggested we read Anxious People. I wasn't looking forward to it, honestly, but once I got started, I couldn't stop. What a delightful read! I loved it and now I want to read more by this beloved Swedish writer.

4. Stacy Willingham—I just finished Willingham's second novel, which I liked even more than her debut, A Flicker in the Dark, which I read last year. Her books are engrossing, twisty, and compelling.

5. Sulari Gentill—Although this Australian author has published a number of books, I didn't hear about her until 2022 when The Woman in the Library came out. It's a fun, clever novel that made me want to read more of Gentill's mysteries.

6. Eleanor Brown—Any Other Family was one of my favorite reads of last year. Brown has penned a couple other novels, plus some non-fiction. I'm not really interested in the latter, but the former? Definintely!

7. Lisa Yee—I read a lot of middle-grade novels last year for a few different book awards. Lee's Maizy Chen's Last Chance was considered for the Cybils Awards and while it didn't ultimately make the cut to be a finalist (although it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature), I very much enjoyed it. I'll for sure be checking out Yee's backlist for more gems.

9. Serena Burdick—The Girls With No Names broke my heart and made me a Burdick fan. I'm planning to read more of her hist-fic this year.

10. Kimi Cunningham Grant—I've read two of Grant's books, one a non-fiction account of her grandparents' experience in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, the other a contemporary novel about an isolated father and daughter whose secretive lives are interrupted by an unexpected visitor to their remote cabin. She's only published one other book, which I will hopefully be able to read in 2023. 

There you are, ten new-to-me authors I found in 2022. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which writers did you discover 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.