Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 New-to-Me Authors I read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week there is a new topic the participants list their top ten for.


This week deals with the top ten authors I read for the first time in 2012.


I'm not big on hierarchy, so these are in no particular order!

1. Susan Dennard - Something Strange and Deadly
   I really love her book and she's such a nice person on Twitter and her blog! Her writing pulled me right in and her characters were awesome! So stoked for the sequel.
   
2. Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone
   Beautiful, lyrical writing. I was whisked away! Can't wait to start my copy of Days of Blood and Starlight! Also, she has pink hair. I love unnatural hair colors ^^
   
3. Lia Habel - Dearly, Departed
   I read this book recently, starting with some trepidation. Zombies. Hm. But I ended up enjoying it so much more than I thought! Her writing flows so easily, her characters have recognizable voices and despite all the death, her writing was really fun, too! Awesome snarky comebacks.
   
4. Kendare Blake - Anna Dressed in Blood
   I loved Cas' voice. He was amazing! Anna was an amazing girl sort-of-villain. I really loved the world building and the writing. It was very direct and honest and hard to put down.
   
5. Marie Rutkoski - The Shadow Society
   Her writing was wonderful, at times poetic. I loved the way she found new, refreshing ways to describe people and sceneries, atmospheres. No used-up clichés. And she put one of my favorite poems into the book, too!
   
6. Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
   Loved everything about this book. Everything. Characters, setting, narrative structure... it breathed magic and love and tragedy. The ending was genius. The book made me think. If you mistrusted the buzz about this one - please do pick it up! It truly deserves all the attention it got!
   
7. Jennifer L. Armentrout - The Lux Series
   Another case of deserved hype! Great writing, great characters, new ideas, swoon-worthy love interest, and absolutely awesome and hilarious banter!
   
8. Jus Accardo - Touch
   Kick-ass heroine, fascinating male lead, lots of action and suspense! Can't wait to see where this series is going with the sequel.
   
9. Gina Damico - Croak series
   So. Much. Fun!! Love the sarcastic death humor XD I loved out loud so much while reading her books, nevermind the other train passengers! Also, she keeps surprising me with her plot twists. Her book trailers and blog are also super-fun.
   
10. Wendy Higgins - Sweet Evil
    I had high expectations for this debut and they were fully met! I loved Anna. I loved Kaidan. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, too! The world building is really interesting and I can't wait to dive into it again in the sequel. The writing was amazing, I felt as if I was right there in the middle of it all.

I could also have chosen: Jessica Khoury, Elizabeth Richards, Darynda Jones, Bethany Griffin, Scott Tracey, Katie McGarry, Wendy Higgins, Samantha Young, Ally Carter...

I read a lot of great new-to-me authors this year! I also explored and caught up on old favorites but I got into many, many new ones. I hope next year will be the same! It was really hard choosing a top ten. It might also to an extent coincide with what I've read most recently and what is therefore freshest on my mind, but I tried not counter that element as best I could. It's simply a fact that I read a lot of books lately that deserved 5 stars from me on goodreads.

What do you think of my top ten? Have you read them? And who made it onto your list?