Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors

 Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This weeks theme is "Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors ". 

I took this theme to mean, for me, authors I have not read books by at all. So I have included both more recent titles and some real throw backs that I'm almost scared to admit I have not read - Enjoy! 

1) Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S King 

Blurb: 

Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.
 
So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

2) Texts We Never Sent by G. Forsyth - Read

Blurb: 

Nel, Flo, Maggie and Nicole haven't been friends for years. Caught in the limbo summer between college and Uni, each of the girls are at a precipice, deciding the direction of the rest of their lives. That's when the notifications come through. None of them remember the time-capsule text messages they sent each other two years ago. Messages full of confessions, feelings and secrets that force them back together again - before they break apart. Shining a spotlight on themes of body image, sexuality, romance, unhealthy relationships and toxic shock syndrome.

3) The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Blurb:

The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence- the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.

4) How Lucky Am I by Christian Watson

Blurb: 

Join beloved Mr Skelly, a gentle skeleton wandering across lush landscapes and treacherous terrains, through times of joy, loss, grief and love, to find his family and - ultimately - a safe home. Along the way, he discovers life lessons which help us remember what to hold onto and what to let go of, to realise how lucky we all are, because this beautifully fragile present moment is truly all we have. Mr Skelly invites you to shift your lens, make peace with what you can't control, appreciate what can't be seen, and live your life to the utmost of your ability.

5) The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Blurb: 

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

6) Slay by Kim Curran

Blurb: 

Meet SLAY – SLAY do two things and they do them well: they play killer music and they slay killer demons. When Milly, the lonely daughter of a world-famous opera singer, arrives home to discover that her mum has been taken over by something very evil, she finds herself in mortal danger. But the last people she expects to rescue her are the hottest boy band on the planet… Enter SLAY: playing kickass gigs in the spotlight, and saving the world from demons in the shadows… Suddenly, Milly’s on the road with JD, Tom, Niv, Zek and Connor, racing against the clock to stop the demons who killed her mum… One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be a hell of a show!

7) Diet Soda Club by Chaz Hayden 

Blurb: Have you ever made all the wrong choices for all the right reasons? Reed Beckett's little sister, Beatrice, has never been awakened by the smell of breakfast or a school-day alarm clock. Instead, she wakes to hospital beeps and poking doctors. And now, their mother has gone. With no job prospects on the horizon, Reed begins making and selling fake IDs so he and Bea can survive. But the problems keep piling up, from an angry landlord demanding rent to looming medical bills. As Reed expands his business, taking increasingly bigger risks, the potential consequences for Reed's future, Bea's health, and Reed's budding friendship with his classmate Helena become graver. But what choice does he have? 

8) If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Blurb: 

For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived in a camper van in the heart of the forest with her mother and little sister, Jenessa. When her mother disappears, Carey's father arrives and everything changes. 

Suddenly Carey and Jenessa must adapt to the wider world of family, school and boys. But Carey feels trapped by a terrible secret. If she tells, it could destroy her future. If she doesn't, will she ever be free?

9) Effie Is Offline by Karen Harte

Blurb: 

Fifteen-year-old Effie has spent her entire life in the spotlight as the daughter of a famous Irish influencer family known for their picture-perfect posts. But after her dad's very public cheating scandal implodes their online empire, Effie's mam relocates the family to a small rural town for a fresh start. Desperate to escape her embarrassing past, Effie hides her influencer origins at her new school, where she finally starts to make friends and meets Jack - a grounded, gentle boy with a total lack of online presence or knowledge of that world. But as her mam starts reinventing herself, Effie's secrets and her chance at a new beginning are at risk of being exposed - in a very public, very messy way.

10) Sugarcoated by Catherine Forde

Blurb: 

Cloddy is stuck in her dad’s optician’s shop working for little to nothing every Saturday, bored out of her brain in the middle of Greenwood Shopping Center—or Deadsville as she prefers to call it. One Saturday she closes the shop to get some peace and quiet to eat her lunch, but as she’s picking at her food, a trio of youths skulk out of Gluehead Alley down the side of her dad’s shop. Out of nowhere a massive hand gushing blood is splayed across the window of the shop. And then a head is thumped against the window. Neither the victim nor attackers see Cloddy, but she sees everything. Afraid for her life, she decides not to tell anyone what she’s seen. Who wants to think about such things anyway when there’s gorgeous Stefan to think about? Stefan who is cool and charming and has plenty of cash. Stefan who has come out of nowhere and sweeps her off her feet. Stefan who wouldn’t normally look at a girl like Cloddy, let alone make her his girlfriend. At her most vulnerable time he’ll look after her—or will he?

So that is my Top Ten Tuesday for this week. It feels great to be back doing this weekly challenge again. A lot of the titles mentioned are on my library reservation lists so I will be waiting a little while for them. Still, some of the older published titles I do physically own (some for way too long!) so please feel free to comment below if you have read any of them and think I need to bump them up my TBR or drop my TBR and read them immediately!