What author have you come to love this year?

This year I found and fell in love with Margaret Atwood. To date I have read: The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, The Penelopiad and am currently finishing The Year of the Flood.

I love it when I find an author that compels me to find everything they have ever written and Atwood is definitely my 2009 favorite author.

So, since it's December and 2010 is almost here, I was wondering what other people's new favorite author of 2009 was and what they read by them.

I discovered Atwood after reading The Handmaid's Tale in college on my own to see what the hubbub is about. I bought The Year of the Flood, but don't want to start it until I finish Oryx and Crake.

As for me, I fell in love with Jeannette Walls' writing this year after reading The Glass Castle and hope Santa brings me her latest novel for Christmas. Also, after reading The Thirteenth Tale this year, I'm hoping Diane Setterfield will have something new for readers soon.

This year I found a few new favorites and am searching out the rest of the books by them. They are:
* Assia Djebar (after So Vast the Prison)
* Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (after The Thing Around your Neck)
* Betsy Tobin (after Ice Land, but I fell out of love with after reading her other books)
* Dubravka Ugresic (after Thank you for Not Reading)

Interesting to see it listed out here - no one local in my favorites!

Though I read a lot of her stuff before, I rediscovered Tamora Pierce. I read her Protector of the Small and Daughter of the Lioness books for the first time, and reread the Lioness and Wild Magic books.

Newly discovered was Alison Bechdel, who writes/draws the Dykes to watch out for comic. I also read her graphic novel Fun home.

And Rita Mae Brown, though that discovery started in Dec. 08. Where I come from, everyone's read Rubyfruit jungle, but it turns out she wrote lots of other stuff too, and I had no idea. Her novel Six of one is now one of my favorite books.

Georgette Heyer! I've listened to Cotillion and Friday's Child on audiobook and absolutely loved them. I've read a few others and am very glad she was a prolific author... plenty more to discover.

Delilah Marvelle - I'm hoping that her series finds a new publisher, and I'm looking forward to the first in the other series that she recentally sold.

I think I discovered Sharon Shinn this year... I'm having trouble remembering if Jenna Starborn was a Spring 2009 or Fall 2008 library booksale purchase.

This year I loved Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, Chimamanda Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck, Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, Orhan Pamuk's Other Colors, Li-Young Lee's Behind My Eyes, Chris Hedges's Empire of Illusion, Aaron McGrudder's All the Rage and Because I Know You Don't Read the Newspaper, Paul Beaty's Slumberland, and Toni Morrison's What Moves at the Margin.

A few that I read the first of this year and plan on looking for more: Robin McKinley, Robert Penn Warren, Jasper Fforde, Tad Williams, Dave Eggers, R. Scott Bakker.

6 - Sharon Shinn is one of my favorite fantasy authors. I'm always recommending her to people.

Last years (It's curious to say that) I came to love Joan Barfoot while reading her first novel Gaining Ground (aka Abra) for university. I would like to read more of her, but am trying not to bring new books into the apartement until mid-February when the semester has ended.

I've recently discovered Alice Munro - if you love Atwood, I'd definitely recommend her writing.

I just discovered Atwood myself, read The Handmaid's Tale just before Christmas. For StoutHearted, may I ask why you are waiting with Year of the Flood to read Oryx and Crake first? Are they related somehow and should I read one before the other, or is it just personal preference?

My discoveries of the year (besides the joy of LT and reading time) were Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman as writers.

For books I loved The Book Thief, The Timetraveler's Wife, Firmin, Anathem and A canticle for Leibowitz.

Year of the Flood is a sequel to Oryx and Crake, and apparently the 2nd part of a trilogy she's working on.

Last year I discovered Jonathan Lethem and really got into Graham Greene.

12, Thanks for telling me that! Year of the flood is off the wishlist, Oryx and Crake is on :D

Since I read Infinite Jest only last month I've become sort of totally obsessed with David Foster Wallace. If I picked my obsessions I wouldn't have picked him because he wrote only two novels and died way too young, so 1. I'm going to run out of stuff to read way too fast, and 2. he depresses the hell out of me (as a person rather than as an author, although frequently that too).

Oh well. I don't pick my obsessions so DFW it is.

I loved Infinite Jest (just posted about it) but I found his nonfiction a little... too full of ideas? He's still amazing, though, and I'm planning on reading Broom of the System soon. Maybe even "The Pale King" when and if it's published...

Oh I can't agree with that. I think I may love his non-fiction even more than his fiction. (No, that's not true.)

I'm not planning on reading Broom of the System very soon as I haven't heard good things about it and don't expect much of anything written when its author was, like, twenty, but I'm very impatient for the other one to come out.

On one hand I think his nonfiction is damn impressive, but on the other I feel like he just has... too much to say, and ends up having digressions of digressions, and once you get back to the main point of his essay you've forgotten what he was talking about in the first place.

This was re: Consider the Lobster - haven't read anything else of his besides Jest.

17:

I think his propensity for tangents has to do with his background in symbolic logic and philosophy. He always wanted to flesh out a point as fully as possible and take on as many of the implications his opinions and ideas had as he could. For me, it works. I often wish, when I'm reading a newspaper article or something, that writers would use footnotes to provide a ton of background info.

My most recent love affair is with Sarah Waters. I started with Fingersmith and Tipping The Velvet annnnnnd now I'm reading The Night Watch.

She has the most beautiful style, and tends to experiment with perspective and timeline in a nifty way.

I'm going to rub Kazuo Ishiguro's books all over my brain now that I've read Never Let Me Go. I find it difficult to believe that he could disappoint me, and I'm a big fan for that book alone.

Ishiguro is great - Remains of the Day remains my favorite book of his, but Never Let Me Go was my introduction to him.

Depending on how the rest of Midnight's Children goes, I might have to say Salman Rushdie for this year. It's quite the impressive book and I've heard good things about The Satanic Verses, too.

I think my newfound writer of 2009 was Doris Lessing.

Midnight's Children is on my TBR, I may have to tackle that one soon!

I'll warn you, it starts slow - it took me about 2 weeks to get through the first 100 pages or so, but now that I've warmed up to it I get through 50 pages a day.

I just finished reading Year of the Flood and yes I liked it a lot. The author I'm coming to love this year though is Haruki Murakami. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and End of the World was amazing.

Mary Roach. I read Stiff December of last year and loved it. I just got around to reading Bonk and also loved it and have come to the conclusion that this lady is absolutely amazing! Reading Spook now and, of course, it's great. =)

lol. Those titles sound promising. I'll have to look her up.

>4 rowmyboat:, I reread tamora pierce this year too! I remember reading her when I was a kid and thought i'd pick her up again for fun. Ended up reading all her series all over again!

>25 Ape:, I am reading Stiff now and loving it so far! I didn't realize I had other books of hers awaiting me. I will put them on my list.

New favorite authors for me were Nicole Krauss for 'History of Love' and Anne Fadiman for her funny and lovely essays in 'Ex-Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader' which was my favorite. Although, I immediately read her other books and they are a great too.

Nicholas Basbanes and Fawn Broadie are two authors whose books I have adored lately. Basbanes' A Gentle Madness and Patience and Fortitude. And, Broadie's Thomas Jefferson biography.

#4 I LOVED Tamora Pierce... I read all her series when I was younger.

I would say this year I discovered Anais Nin. I read Under a Glass Bell and next I will read Collages.

Mary Doria Russell. I picked up The Sparrow on a whim and I fell in love. Even if you're not Sci-fi fan I would still pick it up. The technology really is secondary to the amazing and tragic story. I feel a binge coming on.

And I can always second the love for Kazuo Ishiguro and Jasper Fforde.

I started reading books by Alison Weir when I became interested in Medieval and Tudor England. I'm almost finished with all her non-fiction books. I usually don't read historical fiction but I might read some of her's.

Just recently fell in love with Helene Hanff for her 84, Charing Cross Road I wish I could have met her, her writing is so wonderful.

Also The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Huxley because of his Brave New World. If you liked 1984, you will like BNW more. Orwell based his book on the book from Huxley!

Jonathan. Effing. Franzen.

I am having a passionate affair with Freedom, and The Corrections is getting jealous.

Definitely Eugène Ionesco. I got to know his plays during a seminar, and now I just love them. So far, I've read La Cantatrice chauve, La Leçon, Rhinoceros, Les Chaises, Le Nouveau Locataire et Macbett.
He's an important writer of the theater of the absurd, and one of his main topics is e.g. language and its devoid of meaning, and the resultant impossibility of communciation,

As far as your books are concerned: I've just recently bought Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale and I'm really looking forward to read it. Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections) is on my TBR-list as well as Kazuo Ishiguro.

>34 littlebones:: Yeah, I was big on Franzen this year too. Both books were fantastic.

However, author of the year has to be Salman Rushdie for me. I read Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses, The Moor's Last Sigh, and am planning to read The Ground Under Her Feet and The Enchantress of Florence. He just blows me away.

Alexis de Tocqueville, for his The Old Regime and the French Revolution

I enjoyed his organized approach and commentary style. He's so free in his opinions and does not hesitate to point out the flaws in his own society and correct topic-related misconceptions. :)

Wow, I'm reading all these post and I'm surprised and LOVING all the Margaret Atwood fans!

I would have to say the author I discovered and loved this year is Guy Gavriel Kay. I just finished Tigana and was blown away by it, and now I'm into his Fionavar Tapestry novels.

I also discovered Neil Gaiman, and what can I say? He's just great.

Any new novelists for 2011? I've started getting into Mario Vargas Llosa...

#38, Lippylibrarian, Neil Gaiman is awesome! I'm always surprised when I talk to people who haven't read him before.

This year was great, definitely Nicole Krauss & Helene Hanff for me.

I have discovered the Outlander saga by Diana Galbaldon... the book cover had always intrigued me in the book store, and so I finally put it on hold at the library. I'm only a few chapters in, but I can tell that I'm going to love her work and will devour the rest of the series!

I just discovered Alice Walker. I can't believe that it took me this long! I read her collection of essays In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose and it was absolutely amazing. She is such an incredible essayist. I don't usually read non-fiction, but this one kept me up late reading. I just could not put it down! Then I checked out her novel The Color Purple, and it was also incredible. It deals with some pretty serious subjects, but it never loses its tenderness and hope. I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to read more of her work.

Sybil Nelson. Thank you, Members Giveaway program!

Sometime ago, I started reading Christopher Fowler. He writes mystery novels, and he has a series. The mysteries are usually those weird locked room ones that seem impossible, but in addition to the mystery itself, there's also some really nice descriptions of London. The characters are fun too. I usually don't like older main characters, but you can't really help liking them!

Also, Paul Auster is amazing. Really makes you think.

Emma Donoghue. She really is a gem!

Room was a fabulous book! Creative and Innovative

Yes, Room is amazing. And I really love The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits as well.

This year I've completely fallen in love with the work of H. P. Lovecraft. I'm a bit late to the party there, but his work is absolutely fantastic!

Veronica Roth.

Okay, so I've only read one book by her (Divergent), but I loved, loved, loved her writing style, characters, and dystopian world. =)

I found a ton of new favorites this year! During the summer I found Muriel Spark and went on a binge of her work, and last month was a Richard Brautigan binge.

I also discovered my love for Dezso Kosztolanyi, Bohumil Hrabal, Tove Jansson, and Kenji Miyazawa, all four now being some of favorite authors.

Jonathan L. Howard, his Johannes Cabal books are amazing. I'm in the midst of Johannes Cabal, the Detective at the moment, and looking forward to the next one in the series. Cabal is a rather despicable individual, but I can't get enough of him!