Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Posting early since I'll be away tomorrow -

What author or authors should be better known or better appreciated than they are?

John Steinbeck.
I've read three of his books so far: Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Grapes of Wrath. I loved them all!

I've been really into BookTube lately, and some that I watch would mention the classics that they love. I have yet to watch anyone mention Steinbeck yet.

I really like the way he writes, especially for the two sagas, Grapes and East of Eden. Of Mice and Men is short but it still packs a punch.

Ana AZ wrote: "John Steinbeck.
I've read three of his books so far: Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Grapes of Wrath. I loved them all!

I've been really ..."

The Grapes of Wrath is sadly still topical, and yes, his writing is amazing. I also really liked Cannery Row, which has a lot of dark humor.

A pretty much unknown author I like is David Rhodes. He is from my home state of Wisconsin and his books have a bit of "Midwestern magical realism". His descriptions of the land are great and he has a theme of people being interconnected. My favorite is Driftless.

I look forward to seeing the responses to this, those hidden gems are always fun to come across. I have added Driftless to my TBR.

I have only read Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath but thought both were pretty good. I am not sure why I haven't tried anything else by him but might need to pick up East of Eden at some point.

Two lesser known authors that I enjoy are Kristen Lepionka and Ellison Cooper. Both have been seriously ill the last few years so hope they are able to write more in the future.

The main authors who come to mind are children's authors. There were a number of books that I loved as a kid and I thought were really popular, but it turns out they must have only have been well known in my little circle.

For example, my siblings and I loved N.E. Bode, who wrote this incredibly clever series about a girl who can shake objects out of books. Another was the Gideon trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer, a time travel series about two children who accidentally travel to 18th century England and get stuck there. And when I was a bit older, I adored Enthusiasm, a charming YA rom com about a teenage girl obsessed with Pride and Prejudice.

I will say that one of my favorite adult books is by a very little known author, Janet Kagan. I looooove her book Hellspark, but she only wrote two novels (and a bunch of short stories). Her other (better known) novel is a Star Trek book.

Bebe Moore Campbell - her work deserves more attention

I've been wracking my brain for the past three days trying to come up with an answer to this one - but I can't think of any author that I've read that isn't widely respected. Those that I've read that aren't, I haven't enjoyed all that much at all.

So - I'm out of the loop here, but I'm watching the answers to see what names pop up!

This is hard because I don't know who is underrated!

Some international authors that may be lesser known in the US:
Magda Szabó - favorite: The Door
Yōko Ogawa - The Housekeeper and the Professor
Edwidge Danticat - I've read The Dew Breaker and Krik? Krak!

Traci wrote: "This is hard because I don't know who is underrated!

Some international authors that may be lesser known in the US:
Magda Szabó - favorite: The Door

I just had someone recommend Abigail. I had never heard of this author before.

I was thinking of mentioning Magda Szabó for mine! I've read two books by her, The Door and Katalin Street and loved both of them. Both were very unique, with incredible atmosphere. I'd recommend The Door to people who liked Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead.

It’s hard to call an author underrated if she’s won a Pulitzer Prize, but I had never heard of Shirley Ann Grau. I just finished her The Keepers of the Houseand loved it. I read it for the prompt having an interracial relationship. It was perfect for that prompt. She has 5 or 6 other books, and I will definitely check them out.
Thanks to Kathy for recommending it!

I've enjoyed seeing T. Kingfisher gain notoriety over the past few years, including a GR Award nomination last year. I enjoy the humour in her books and the way she always creates plucky characters you can really root for.
My favourite novellas are The Seventh Bride and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and I also loved her short story collection Toad Words And Other Stories.

Another fantasy novella author I love is Lois McMaster Bujold, whose Penric and Desdemona series (starting with Penric's Demon) is just brilliant. Like T. Kingfisher, the books are full of humour but in a way that adds to rather than distracts from the story, and the complex relationship between Penric and the demon inhabiting him (Desdemona) is brilliantly handled.

I really like Susan Juby

I just read my fourth of her books and I find them quite funny. I love her casts of quirky, endearing characters. They've all been light and heartwarming and a bit wacky.

Home to Woefield (Titled Woefield Poultry Collective in Canada ) is one of my favourite audiobooks. It has a cast of characters that are all so well done.

Was having trouble deciding who qualified as underrated, so I sorted by read list by number of reviews.

These are some of my favorites:

M. Louisa Locke writes historical mysteries set in 1880s San Francisco. She has also written several interesting science fiction novels set on the planet Ddeara.

C.B. Pratt wrote the Eno the Thracian fantasy series, about a hero who has to deal with Greek (and Egyptian and Phoenician and Chinese) gods.

Mary Reed wrote the John the Eunuch historical mysteries set during the time of Emperor Justinian.

I loved books by Cynthia Harnett when I was a girl - the stories were also illustrated by her and they were the books that first gave me my interest in history.

My favorite indie author, Craig Schaefer, could always use more love! I'm very picky when it comes to urban fantasy and her series (serieses?) are fantastic - Daniel Faust (The Long Way Down) and Harmony Black. Competent main characters, snarky dialogue, fast-paced, and with bonus queer rep! There's also a 4-book high fantasy series (Winter's Reach) that I pitch to friends as Game of Thrones Minus Dragons But Complete. I'm busy plowing through the suggested reading order and also looking forward to the other, mostly-not-connected series she's begun as well.

These are great, though not for my ever-expanding TBR!

Traci wrote: "This is hard because I don't know who is underrated!

Some international authors that may be lesser known in the US:
Magda Szabó - favorite: The Door
[author:Yōko O..."

The Housekeeper and the Professor is a favorite!

I love historical fiction and I was surprised that I had never heard of Amy Harmon before I recently read The Songbook of Benny Lament, which is one of my five-star reads this year. I will definitely be delving into her extensive catalog; shame I never heard of her before.

My first thought wasJames White - he was an Irish scifi author from the 50s to 90s. Yes some of his stuff is dated, but I still enjoy it. It's a bit more hopeful and fun than most old scifi.

Also, I'd recommend Drew Hayden Taylor - a Canadian playwriter, as well as author of a few other novels.

I'm not sure what makes for an under-rated author since there are so many that I have not heard of until I read their books. However, I have in recent years discovered an author of color that does not get mentioned anywhere that I have seen. She is Alexia Gordon, and she writes creative mysteries about music and ghosts! Love her new voice in my favorite genre.

Classic Russian authors Teffi and Nikolai Leskov. They are not as well known as Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Solzhenitsyn etc. but definitely worth reading!

I have recently read Julia Heaberlin and Charlie Donlea and enjoyed their work.

Definitely Shea Ernshaw. She is not the most well-known out there, but she's such a great author. :)

A new favorite is Audrey Schulman, classified as a writer of literary and speculative fiction. Schulman writes about animals and the environment and has a unique, sci-fi style that I enjoy. Her books have been well received by critics, so I don't get why they aren't more popular.

Super late to this question, but I have to go with Akemi Dawn Bowman, especially for her YA contemporaries! I really enjoyed her fantasy series too but not nearly as much as her 3 contemporaries, which were all so beautifully written and hard-hitting.

Not too late to chime in! Anyone can go back to any question from earlier in the year.