Today’s topic is new-to-me authors we discovered in 2017. Which authors did you discover last year? Head on over to the Broke and the Bookish to see who other bloggers found.

Obviously, these are new-to-me authors.  I didn’t read enough books to discover 10 first-timers!

1. Fredrik Backman.  I’m so excited that I read A Man Called Ove this year and discovered that Backman has written many other books for me to enjoy!
2. Lisa Kleypas is up here because I read the first two of her Ravenels historical romance series and I’m anxious to read the next two this year.
3. Alice Walker is no debutante, but I read A Color Purple this year and want to read more of her backlist.
4. Amor Towles came on my radar when I read about his latest, but our book club ended up reading Rules of Civility first and I loved it.
5. Blake Crouch.  I’d never even heard of him until I saw Dark Matter recommended around  the blogs.  Loved it so I’m excited to see what else he’s written.
6. Paula McLain is a local Clevelander and I loved Circling the Sun and I’m looking forward to her even more popular The Paris Wife this year.
7. Celeste Ng is another (sort of) local who wrote about the Cleveland where she grew up in Little Fires Everywhere.  Now I need to read her first book.
8. DM Pulley has written three books, and I read the first two by this Clevelander.
9. Ernest Gaines is another one who has been around awhile but just got around to reading him for the first time.
10. Nancy Horan.  I read Loving Frank and want to read her other, Under the Starry Sky.

Who was your favorite 2017 author discovery?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, so head on over there to see what other bloggers have loved this year.

I’ve read 73 books this year and will probably finish 3 more before the end of December, but none of those will be making this list 🙂

Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017.

1. I fell in love with Ove and his collection of merry wo(men).  For every trouble he caused those surrounding him, at least one blessing was given out.  Ove was a man with a heart, who didn’t always play well with others.  His pregnant neighbor picked him up and kept him moving until, finally, he embraced the loving circle that surrounded him.
2. There is history, romance, and a perfect sense of place in all Kearsley books. Julia was sure she’d found her house and she packed up and moved from London to a small English village without a second thought.  She was a children’s book illustrator and was able to make a few friends right away just as she was being transported back in time.  It’s tricky when you are going back and forth between time periods and characters.  Inevitably, you are drawn more to one story than the other.  This one did a great job of tying the two together so I was invested in both.
3. Abused by her father and then her husband, Celie relied on the love of her sister to get her through. When Nellie goes away and Celie doesn’t hear from her she begins writing letters to God. When her husband brings home his mistress to live with them, Celie finally starts to see herself in a new light.  This is not an easy read.  It’s emotional, sexually explicit and might wake you up in ways that you don’t like. Celie’s perseverance gives a voice to all the women who experience abuse and still manage to stay on their feet.  It exceeded expectations and now I’m anxious to get my hands on the movie.  Set in 1930’s Georgia it’s still relevant and addictingly readable.
4. Jane was a true survivor.  This fictional book, spanning her 110 year life really comes full circle in the end and I would have been happy to spend another 110 with Jane.  Jane was a little girl of 10 or 11 when Lincoln freed the slaves and she left her plantation with a small group hoping to walk their way north from Louisiana.  When something bad happens Jane is left in charge of 3 year old Ned and she must rely on her wits to keep them safe and free.  She eventually comes to raise him like her own son and find both happiness and heartache, never leaving her beloved Louisiana.  Jane is a warrior, a realist, and a trailblazer.
5. Shaker Heights is a real place and I love it.  Ng chose to show the Shaker that she grew up in and I think it’s fair, and even though it has changed over the years it does still remain a progressive hotspot with old mansions lining picturesque streets. The Richardson family embodies this perfectly.  I understood and felt for every one of the characters and even when I didn’t like them I understood them.  The story centers around not only the fight over a baby left at a fire station by a distraught mother but also the mysterious Mia.  So many layers to this story and they were all connected by mothers.  I loved this book because it is overflowing with gray area.
6. Thomas has taken a very important problem in America today and thrown back the curtains in a way that allows us all in on the experience.  Starr witnessed not one, but two, of her best friends get shot, one by a gang drive-by and one by a police officer.  It’s the one by the police officer that has turned into a national story and a powder keg for the community. Starr and her family live in the ghetto, as she likes to say, her father owns the local food shop and her mother is a nurse at the local hospital.  You will fall in love with Big Mav and Uncle Carlos.  Starr spends an hour in the car to go to a prep school, where she has white boyfriend and is one of the few black students.  As she tries to come to terms with the shooting and aftermath she tries to keep her involvement a secret from both areas of her life for different reasons.  It’s a powerful read told from the perspective of a 16 year-old girl who lives two lives and how a horrific tragedy forced the two to collide.  Starr acts like an adult most of the time, but her decisions show that she is also still a kid trying to figure out the crazy world we live in.
7. I don’t keep up with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show much since Jon Stewart left, but I have seen Trevor and he’s good.  He’s smart and I love smart guys. Trevor’s honesty and humor about his early life during South African apartheid was shocking while still being entertaining. His mother is black and his father is white.  Reading how he could not walk with his dad to the park or grocery shop with his mother made me so sad.  The memoir ended too soon and I wish it had been longer.  We read this one for our book club and it was universally loved.
8. Cranston’s dad was an actor and left his three kids when they were young.  Cranston and his brother survived their childhood together, living with relatives, traveling overseas, and taking a motorcycle road trip across America.  Cranston has led a very bold and ambitious life and he pulls no punches.  It started a little slow, but for most of this book his stories made me laugh out loud or have a motherly concern for his wellbeing.  If you are at all interested in reading about the acting life or love Walter White then this will be a good fit for you.
9. This beauty of a book felt like a classic throwback.  The language, the atmosphere, the characters, the story.  Perfection. Katey was smart, independent, driven, and, ultimately, likeable.  This is a perfect New York City story, circa 1938.
10. Beryl’s English mother couldn’t handle her life in 1920’s Kenya so she moved back to England with her son, leaving Beryl with her father.  Beryl was able to run wild as a child and was accepted by the local native tribe, at least until she was old enough to be sent away to school.  She was attacked by a tiger and lived to tell the tale.  She was fearless with horses and broke every mold a woman trainer could in the 1920’s.  Her unbridled nature led her to questionable relationships and choices, but she always maintained her independence and paid dearly for mistakes.  She was an immensely flawed character, but that made me love her that much more.

If you’ve done your own list please leave a link in the comments so I can check it out.