Top Ten Tuesday - New-to-me Authors 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme hosted at Broke and Bookish! The top ten of this week:

Top Ten Favorite New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012

To be honest, this one wasn't that hard to answer! I just checked Goodreads and looked through all the books I read this year. It's funny how easy it is to pick the good from the bad! Here is my top ten from the best to... still super good but not as good as the best.

1. Caragh M. O'Brien
Caragh M. O'Brien is the author of the Birthmarked series. I have read Birthmarked and Prized, the first two books and I was very surprised at how much I loved it. Birthmarked introduces us to Gaia, a sixteen-year-old midwife in a dystopian world. The blurb never really pulled me in and I have had the book on my to-be-read list for ages and then I found that -> cover in my local bookstore. And since I am a sucker for pretty covers I bought it. And loved it. And send it to other people for their birthdays to force them to read it too. (And love it). This is a must-read for dystopian lovers.


2. Rhiannon Frater
On a sunny day in May I sat down in the garden and started my buddy read with Jen (Friday-girl). And I got sucked right into this amazing zombie world. You know that tv-series The Walking Dead? Same feeling, same vibe.. but in a book (which makes it even better!). The main characters are two kick-ass woman. The only thing that still bothers me is how expensive these books are. Seriously. I still haven't read anything else in this series (even though I am dying to) just because I am too poor to buy books with that price tag. Okay, and maybe I just don't wanna spend that much money on one book. 
But they're awesome. Just freaking awesome. Read it, get scared, learn how to survive a Zombie-apocalypse and erm... just awesome.

3. Michelle Sagara West
So for my birthday this year Brittany (Monday-girl) gave me the first book in the Chronicles of Elantra. The cover is kinda meh to me so it took me a while to read it. But when I did I got sucked right in! So far I have read three and the fourth one is impatiently waiting for me to pick it up. In this series you meet Kaylin and in each book so far you learn more about her world and about certain species. Some of them are weird. Think tentacles. I wasn't a big fan of Kaylin at first, she is not easy to love. But when you do she is one of those characters that doesn't let you go anymore. Try it, it's a series that deserves more fans!
 
4. Gabrielle Zevin
In 2012 I read the first book of her Birthright series. It's a book I have had on my to-be-read list even before it came out and when it did I didn't read it. No, it took one of those desperate 'I-need-to-buy-a-book-in-this-story.. any-book' moments. (How come all the books I don't really feel like buying/reading end up being awesome?) Yep, it was awesome.
It's rough and edgy and gangstery. And chocolate is forbidden. It's full of powerful people and their schemes. It's different and I am very curious to see how Gabrielle Zevin is going to continue this series.
 

5. Lauren Oliver
Look at that cover! Boooooring. And even though the blurb rocked my socks I wasn't buying it. Until one of my friends send it to me. Who cares about that cover when the story is this amazing. It is. 

6. Josephine Angelini
The blurb turned me off, big time. Starcrossed lovers? Seriously? And then the whole thing about them instantly hating each other because of some sort of curse? BOOOORING. Or maybe not. Cause I was actually very surprised by this one. I really like mythology and the way Angelini told the story of how the curse came to be. And maybe the romance is really romantic, who knew that starcrossed lovers could be so interesting. I also liked the personalities of the main characters. The guy she hates/loves has a great family, it's one of those families you wish you had. And the boy might be really hot.

7. Paolo Bacigalupi

I picked this one up in the Waterstones is Amsterdam. I really liked the cover and I am a big fan of dystopian books. Luckily I wasn't disapointed. I like male leads, the stories are more about adventures and action then love. Nailer is a teenage boy who scavenges boats for copper wiring, it makes money but it's very dangerous! And then his life turns upside down. Everything changes. But it also changes Nailer, for the good in my opinion. Nailer is a loveable young man who by accident goes on a huge adventure.
 
8. Carrie Vaughn
I hate werewolves! I really do! Don't I? So maybe this little werewolf woman changed my mind. The creepy shapeshifting didn't creep me out, the whole pack thing wasn't that gross (well it is but it changes) and Kitty actually has a life! She works, she has friends, she pees and she's not just busy being a werewolf. I actually liked her as a character and she might be the wolf that changes my mind about the ickyness of werewolves. Way to go Kitty!
 
 9. Janice Hardy
 The Healing Wars is a series that creeps up on you. You read the first book and decide to read the second and after the second you read the third. And then you discover that this series is done and you read it all in one go. Huh. This series for me, is awesome in a quiet sneaky way. Nya is one of those characters that grows on you, she can be kinda annoying but you end up forgiving her for all of it. And the magic is pretty awesome. And her friends are very loyal. And the world is confusing at first but after a while it makes you wanna live there. The love interest isn't that interesting and to me, not the main subject in this story. Yes! Cause sometimes I can't handle all the love!

And number 10? Well to be honest I couldn't really find my number 10. I read some awesome books from new authors this year,  but not all of them are worthy of being in this top ten.

So! Who do you think deserves that last spot? Who is your new favorite-new-to-you author of 2012?