As 2023 has gone by, I have used a combination to decide what books I read next. This combination is usually ranked firstly by whether I have the audiobook available to listen to at the same time, then it’s whether the book has been requested for review and then finally I base my decisions on simply what I want to read next.
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In 2024, I most definitely want to explore some authors I read in 2023 and some new authors who I simply don’t know how I’ve not managed to pick up any of their books yet.
This list initially started off as a list of authors I’d like to read more from in 2024 but I’m quite picky and love to read new authors so that list wasn’t particularly long. However, after some recent tweets have highlighted some absolute must-read authors for me in 2024, I thought I’d combine the two lists.
If you have a list of authors you know you’re interested in reading more of in 2024 or read your first book of theirs, do let me know below in the comments or by tagging me on social media using ‘@lukesblog1’.
Kristin Hannah
This year I read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and absolutely adored it, even including it in my top books of 2023 list. When I posted my review and have since posted the odd bits and bobs about Hannah, I’ve noticed she has another called The Nightingale which has received some huge critical acclaim too which I think will be high on my to-buy list next time I’m looking.
Hannah’s writing in The Four Winds was absolutely brilliant and she brought the characters to life and managed to tell a really mature and rounded story that had me both immersed and gripped throughout. I love reading a new author for the first time and getting excited to read more of their work and Hannah is right at the top of this pile.
Fredrik Backman
If you’ve any of my Fredrik Backman reviews, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of his. Not only does he manage to perfectly capture dark humour in stories but he weaves it between some incredibly powerful and often emotional storytelling. He has featured in all of my best books of the year lists.
Every book I’ve read of his so far has had me left incredibly impressed, so I’m hoping to read The Winners in 2024 at least and then possibly look at some of his other work as I know he’s written a lot of other stories that aren’t quite as well known but which I imagine his DNA is all over.
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is probably the greatest living fantasy writer at the moment. Whenever any newer fantasy authors are talked about, there’s theinevitabilityy of his name coming up. His books are nearly always at the top of the fantasy Amazon best sellers lists and almost everybody in the fantasy community sees him as almost a deity-like figure as he seems to manage to write at such an incredible pace and yet seems to never miss with some simply brilliantly written books.
I’ve yet to finish his current written Stormlight Archive series as I still need to read Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. His fifth book and the climax to this set of books Wind and Truth is due to come out towards the latter half of the year and I’m determined to have these other two read before then. I also started and never finished the initial Mistborn trilogy and the Skyward books too, so there’s so much more of his work I want to read!
He’s a behemoth of a writer and one who I am determined to get back into in 2024
Ryan Cahill
I’ve followed Ryan Cahill on social media for quite some time and have seen his initial fantasy series The Bound and Broken grow from a well-respected fantasy series into one of the best-selling, often competing with the likes of Sanderson on the top-sellers lists. Not only is he seeing great success but he seems like a really sound dude as well.
I read The Fall and Of Blood and War in 2023 and am determined to catch up with his other books. he’s another author who seems to be able to write with great speed and proficiency having released six books already. Fair enough that three of them are novellas, but the other three have over 2,800 pages between them so I think that more than makes up for it.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the two books I have read from Cahill so far and so am incredibly excited to see what his subsequent books are like, even if they may take me the rest of my life (Of War and Ruin is over 1,400 pages long!!)
Chris Wooding
Chris Wooding is an interesting one as The Ember Blade was fantastic, and another book that featured in my top books of 2023 list, and I’m yet to read the follow-up book The Shadow Casket and I’m not even sure if a third is going to be released this year.
So by adding Chris Wooding to this list, I’m essentially saying that I want to read The Shadow Casket this year, and that if the third book in the series is released, I’d like to read that too.
The Ember Blade shocked me with how fantastic it was and I’ve heard the second is brilliant too so he’s a potentially emerging fantasy author who could become one of the best around.
Robert Galbraith
Robert Galbraith is the first on this list to be featured whom I’ve not yet read anything of. Now, as you can tell from my interest in continuing to read Ryan Cahill, I’m not afraid to read thick books. However, Galbraith’s books are crime thrillers which often sit at over 500/600 pages long as I’m just a little worried that, unlike a fantasy novel that features scoping adventures, constant new worlds, large battles and such that a thriller won’t be able to keep me interested.
What does make me desperately want to try one of his is both that his name kept popping up recently when I asked my X followers which crime authors are the best around and also, my mum is a big fan of the books, so I feel like I at least have to give them a go!
Mick Herron
Then finally, on a fairly similar theme to my last actually – Mick Herron is another author I’d love to start reading in 2024 because social media thinks he’s great, he was gushed about at an event I went to in London recently and also because my dad is a huge fan of his.
His series Slow Horses has gained great popularity because of the Apple TV+ series and many of his fans have come out of the woodwork and said that the books are just as good, if not better and that he’s always been one of the best crime writers around!
So there you have it…
Those are the authors I’m either interested to read more or to begin reading any books by in 2024. The list is compiled of some big names and I didn’t want to make it too long as I was fully aware it could become a fairly unachievable list.
I’dlikek to get the end of 2024 and look back at this brief list and see how much I achieve.? Who knows – one of these authors may end up becoming one of my favourite authors as I read more/start their work.
Do let me know which authors you’d like to read more of in 2024 or which authors you’re looking to start reading books by altogether -I’m always fascinated to find new authors.
All the books mentioned in this article:
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- The Winners by Fredrik Backman
- Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
- Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
- Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
- The Fall by Ryan Cahill
- Of Blood and War by Ryan Cahill
- Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill
- The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding
- The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding
- Slow Horses by Mick Herron
