As I mentioned here, I’m participating in Literary Escapism’s New Author Challenge. I thought it might be interesting (or useful in terms of tracking) to keep a running list of what I’ve read by new authors this year.

  1. Joseph Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington. (January, recommended, will read more by Ellis.)
  2. Kate Atkinson, Case Histories. (January, recommended, will read more by Atkinson.)
  3. Catherine Mulvaney, Wicked is the Night. (January, recommended, will read more by Mulvaney.)
  4. Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Danger’s Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her. (January, recommended. I don’t know if I’ll hunt out his previous book, which is (I think) about his experiences as a lawyer), but I will definitely read his history again.)
  5. Phil Rickman, The Wine of Angels. (February, recommended. Definitely reading more by Rickman.)
  6. Margaret Ronald, Spiral Hunt. (February, recommended. Can’t wait to read more Ronald. Sadly for that, this is a debut novel, so, technically, I will have to wait to read more. Unless I hunt down the short stories…)
  7. Justine Picardie, Daphne. (February. I’m not sure if I recommend it or not. It’s enjoyable, but I’m reading it more for the subject matter — Daphne du Maurier and Branwell Brontë — than because I love her writing and/or storytelling.)
  8. Jean Edward Smith, Grant. (March, highly recommended unless it falls apart at the end — which I don’t expect.)
  9. Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking. (April. It was a struggle to finish. Totally not my cup of tea.)
  10. Susan Fraser King, Lady Macbeth. (May. Another struggle, another book that isn’t my cup of tea.)
  11. Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden. (June, DNF, not recommended.)
  12. Anna Godbersen, The Luxe. (September, DNF, not recommended.)
  13. Joan E. Cashin, First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis’s Civil War. (October. Interesting and well-written. Recommended.)
  14. Lev Grossman, The Magicians. (October. Neither “Recommended” nor “Not recommended.” Technically well done, but not for me. It couldn’t have ended any other way without it being a cop-out or a cheat of some kind, but I wanted something different. Which is why I’m still on the fence.)
  15. Jochen Hellbeck, Revolution On My Mind: Writing a Diary Under Stalin. (October. Fascinating, sensitively written, informative. May have set off a Stalinist Russia kick. Recommended.)
  16. Seanan Maguire, Rosemary and Rue. (October. DNF, neither recommended nor not recommended. It wasn’t what I wanted — a book that I bought because I was looking for something in particular and found that the book didn’t give it to me.)
  17. Caitlin Kittredge, Street Magic. (October. DNF, neither recommended nor not recommended, for the same general reason as Rosemary and Rue, if not for the same specifics.)
  18. Emily Arsenault, The Broken Teaglass. (November. Charming and quirky. Recommended.)
  19. Edith B. Gelles, Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage. (November. Well-written, focused. Recommended.)