Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.
This week’s theme is Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition. My top ten are:
1) Mary Doria Russell: I love everything she’s written, but my absolute favorite is and always will be her first novel, The Sparrow. I can never refrain from gushing about this book — so don’t get me started!
2) Nicole Peeler: If you enjoy urban fantasy, love feisty female lead characters, and a great sense of humor, check out this author’s recently completed Jane True series.
3) Lev AC Rosen: His first novel, All Men of Genius, was published in 2011, and has been on my list of favorites ever since I read it. The funny, complicated plot zooms along, filled with a steampunk sensibility and shades of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. Just delightful.
4) Octavia Butler: This amazing science fiction writer is no longer with us, but her impact on the genre and on literature in general should get much more attention than I think it does. Her work is often hard to take. Nothing is sugar-coated, nothing is prettied up. In books like Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, she presents a terribly bleak vision of a not-too-distant future. Still, I’ve read very little that matches the power of her writing, and I recommend Octavia Butler’s books to just about everyone.
5) Bee Ridgway: Debut author Bee Ridgway published one of my favorite books of 2013, The River of No Return, and I’ve been raving about it to anyone who’ll listen. If you enjoy historical fiction, time travel, and unforgettable characters, check it out!
6) Nancy Werlin: This author has written two of my favorite young adult books about faerie magic and curses, Impossible and Extraordinary. I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of her new book, Unthinkable, this fall.
7) Bill Willingham: Okay, Bill Willingham’s Fables series is wildly popular in the comics/graphic novels world, but people who don’t normally gravitate to that genre are missing out! Seriously, even if you don’t normally read graphic novels, give the Fables series a try. I know I was immediately hooked. With amazing depth, character development, and suspense, these books are truly remarkable.
8) Graham Joyce: I’m not sure how well known Graham Joyce is in the US, although I believe he’s quite successful in the UK. I fell in love with his 2010 novel, The Silent Land, and have been slowly working my way through more of his books since then.
9) Siobhan Fallon: As far as I know, this author has one book to her name, an incredibly powerful short story collection called You Know When The Men Are Gone. I don’t usually care for short stories at all, but I loved this book and recommend it every chance I get.
10) Robert Galbraith: LOL. If I’d written this list a week ago, you’d be justified in asking, “Robert who?” But in light of this week’s big reveal, I doubt that Robert Galbraith will lack for attention in the slightest!
Have you read any books by the authors on my list? If so, do you agree that he or she deserves more attention?
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
I seriously LOVE this topic, because I’m finding so many new authors. And I agree about poor Robert Galbraith who kinda sort of got killed off this week.
Yeah, I don’t think Robert G is going to be lacking readers any more!
Yay for Robert Galbraith! I read the book earlier this year and was not really impressed though.
I got The River of no Return on my TBR shelf.
You’re the 1st person I’ve met who has actually read the book! How interesting that you had the opportunity to read it just as a book rather than as an “event”. I hope you enjoy River of No Return!
I really want to read The River of No Return, been hearing so many wonderful things about it 🙂
And I think I have a few of Graham Joyce’s works on my want-to-read pile, his titles sound really interesting.
My TTT
LOL, I think we crossed paths just now — I just finished commenting on your list! I hope you do get to The River of No Return. I enjoyed it so much!!
lol! 😀
Thanks, yeah, I definitely need to bump it up my want-to-read list. Time travel always gets my attention 😉
I love that you put Bee Ridgeway on this list she is totally going on my list today
She is such a great writer — and a really nice person too! I had the pleasure of meeting her at a book signing a couple of months ago, and she was so smart and so lovely to talk with!
That always makes it so much better! I love when author’s are really cool in person.
I have the Ridgway book on my TBR. It may take a while as adult books are never my priority (as my top 10 this week shows), but I will get to it.
So you’ve read the Galbraith book and liked it!?! Excellent. I love mystery novels but was wary.
No, I haven’t actually read the Galbraith book. I was attempting sarcasm when I included him on my list… I guess not very successfully! Can’t wait to check out your list — lots of YA? Off to go look.
Haha-oh how things get misunderstood in type. 🙂
I really want to check out some of Nancy Werlin’s books. I’ve heard some really fantastic things. Thanks for sharing! 😀
Oh, I hope you do get a chance to check them out! I’ve only read the two books I mentioned, but there are a few others I’d like to read as well. Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t know anyone except the last one, haha! But I never knew about the book before this week either so… 😀 I already have it though and will read it soon! 🙂
At least you have a copy! I’m #92 on my library request list, and they only have two copies at the moment. It’s gonna be a long wait… Thanks for visiting!
Yay for Fables!!
That Robert Galbraith guy is pretty amazing. 😉
Bonnie @ Sweet Tidbits
Fables, Fables, Fables! Can’t wait for the next volume to come out! Plus, he’s releasing a Fables encyclopedia this fall, which should be super helpful.