1. Heather Fawcett

I became aware of Fawcett when my wish was approved on Netgalley to read the eARC for “Map of the Otherworlds” back in May 2023. However, my obsession did not start until I finished listening to the Audiobook for “Encyclopedia of Faeries” in December 2023. So, seriously, thank you Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for granting my wish, as I didn’t know this was a sequel when I made the wish… but I am so happy the Emily Wilde series is now in my life.

Heather Fawcett is the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling Canadian author of books for adults, kids, and teens, including Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Even the Darkest Stars, Ember and the Ice Dragons, The Grace of Wild Things, and more. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and somehow all include dragons in one form or another. She has a Master’s degree in English Literature and a Bachelor’s in Archaeology. She lives on Vancouver Island. 

You can follow Heather on Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter for announcements and updates.

2. Leigh Bardugo

I know, I know. It’s hard to believe that I didn’t know about Leigh Bardugo before 2023. However, the first ‘Shadow and Bone’ book was published right after I graduated from high school (June 2012), and ‘Ninth House’ came out just when I canceled my Book of the Month club membership (Oct. 2019). It wasn’t until this year when I saw a book cover with a decrypted rabbit on it that I became intrigued. Though I still haven’t read ‘Hell Bent,’ ‘Ninth House’ was extremely enjoyable, and I binged the ‘Shadow and Bone’ series on Netflix this year (hoping to read the books next).

Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more.  Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for Leigh’s newsletter.

3. Megan Goldin

I rejoined the Book of the Month club again in 2023 after a three-ish year hiatus (now that I have a bit of expendable income again), and Megan Goldin’s ‘Dark Corners’ was the first book that caught my eye. Seeing that it was the second in a series, I gave ‘The Night Swim’ a listen, and I was hooked. The podcast style in the middle of the novel was extremely enjoyable, and the plotline, though similar to most Mystery Thrillers, still gave me a few surprises. Goldin has earned herself a spot among my favorite Mystery Thriller writers.

MEGAN GOLDIN worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. She is the author of The Escape Room, The Night Swim, and Stay Awake.

4. Tracey Lange

Another author in the “second novel caught my eye and decided to read the first book” category. When ‘The Connellys of County Down’ was a July 2023 Book of the Month Club Pick, I didn’t choose to select it, but I did notice that ‘We Are the Brennans,’ Lange’s debut novel, was available on the Libby app. I binge-listened to the whole thing in a day.

Tracey Lange was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in psychology before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. She currently lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, two sons, and beloved German Shepherd.

5. Mary Kubica

Has Kubica been around since 2014? Yes. Did I only find out about her in 2023? Also, yes. This year, two different book clubs had Mary Kubica books on their reading list. The OCAC GPHI selected ‘Local Women Missing,’ and then my friend’s book club selected ‘The Other Mrs.’. I was pleasantly surprised by both novels and added Mary Kubica to the list of authors to look out for.

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many suspense novels, including THE GOOD GIRL, PRETTY BABY, DON’T YOU CRY, EVERY LAST LIE, WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, THE OTHER MRS., LOCAL WOMAN MISSING and JUST THE NICEST COUPLE.

A former high school history teacher, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children.

Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014.

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was an Indie Next pick in May of 2021, a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Mystery & Thriller for 2021, and a finalist for an Audie Award.

Mary’s novels have been selected as Amazon Best Books of the Month and have been LibraryReads selections. They’ve been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. She’s been described as “a helluva storyteller,” (Kirkus Reviews) and “a writer of vice-like control,” (Chicago Tribune), and her novels have been praised as “hypnotic” (People) and “thrilling and illuminating” (Los Angeles Times). She is currently working on her next novel.

6. Tarryn Fisher

At this point, you are probably thinking, “How does this person run a book blog? They don’t know any authors.” Which is a very fair statement, and I would agree with you. Like Kubica, Fisher is an author that two different book clubs selected novels from. The Gloss selected ‘An Honest Lie’ for July 2023, and my friend selected ‘The Wives’ in June. Both novels were highly enjoyable, and I respect a millennial who still uses their Hogwarts house in their bio

Tarryn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.  She lives in Seattle with her children and husband.  Her heart is dark but she loves you with it anyway. Tarryn is the founder of Guise of the Villain, a fashion blog, and has written twelve published novels. Tarryn is a Slytherin.

7. Emily Henry

Now that I have you thoroughly questioning my authority as a Netgalley reviewer, let me introduce you to my 7th “New-to-Me” author. Now, I knew of the colorful, summer-time romance books that everyone was obsessing over. However, I didn’t read my first Emily Henry book until this year when I read ‘Beach Read’ as an OCAC GPHI book club pick. It then felt right to include Henry as a “new-to-me” author because when I pulled up her complete list, the first thing I thought was, “Wait… this is the same person that wrote ‘A Million Junes’ [that I also didn’t read] in 2017?

Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.

Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.

8. Holly Smale

Cassandra in Reverse’ was an absolute gem. I am so glad I was introduced to Holly Smale through Reese’s Book Club (and Aardvark) this year. Some of you may have already known Smale from her children’s series, ‘Geek Girl’. Unfortunately for me, it was another series that launched after I went to college (and was a little out of its reading level).

Holly Smale has been writing stories since she was four years old: constructing her own books from cereal boxes and a lot of sticky-tape, then forcing family readers to give her glowing reviews by standing in front of the television.

Her path to publication included teen-modelling, factory-work, PR, teaching in Japan and a chaotic stint as the world’s worst waitress, along with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Shakespeare from Bristol University. She uses neither of these qualifications on a daily basis, but still brings them up at parties. 

Her debut children’s novel, GEEK GIRL, became the No.1 Young Adult title in the UK and won the Waterstones YA Book Prize, selling 3.4 million books in 30 languages. It is currently in development with Netflix.

At the age of 39, Holly was diagnosed as both autistic and dyspraxic. She writes and speaks passionately about neurodiversity and a lot of random topics she’s not really qualified to talk about yet does anyway.

Her debut adult novel, THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX (UK)/ CASSANDRA IN REVERSE (US) is out now, and is a Reese’s Book Club Pick, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick and the Aardvark Book Club pick. 

She lives in Hove, England.

9. Simone St. James

I didn’t think I was a horror fan, but based on the number of fellow WordPress users on Top 10 Tuesday raving about ‘The Book of Cold Cases,’ I finally gave Simone St. James a go in 2023. I am happy I did because the hype did not disappoint.

Simone St. James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE BOOK OF COLD CASES, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL, and THE BROKEN GIRLS.

After years of writing and collecting rejections, Simone’s debut novel, THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE, won two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. AN INQUIRY INTO LOVE AND DEATH was nominated for another Arthur Ellis Award.

Simone spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives just outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and a spoiled rescue cat. She is addicted to sushi, rainy days, coffee, and My Favorite Murder.

For rights and subrights inquiries, contact Simone’s agent, Pamela Hopkins at pamhopkinshla @ gmail.com

10. Gabrielle Zevin

I debated about including Zevin on this list. Technically, I was introduced to Zevin in December 2023 when ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction 2023. However, I decided to include Zevin because ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ was the first novel I read in 2023, starting the year on a high note.

GABRIELLE ZEVIN is a New York Times best-selling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages.

Her tenth novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, was a New York Times Best Seller, a Sunday Times Best Seller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club. Tomorrow was Amazon.com’s #1 Book of the Year, Time Magazine’s #1 Book of the Year, a New York Times Notable Book, and the winner of both the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction and the Book of the Month Club’s Book of the Year. Following a twenty-five-bidder auction, the feature film rights to Tomorrow were acquired by Temple Hill and Paramount Studios.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry also spent many months on the New York Times Best Seller List. A.J. Fikry was honored with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award for Fiction, the Japan Booksellers’ Prize, among other honors. A.J. Fikry is now a feature film with a screenplay by Zevin. She has also written children’s books, including the award-winning Elsewhere. 

She is the screenwriter of Conversations with Other Women (Helena Bonham Carter) for which she received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best First Screenplay. She has occasionally written criticism for the New York Times Book Review and NPR’s All Things Considered, and she began her writing career, at age fourteen, as a music critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in Los Angeles.