Some of my favorite books are debut novels—that is, the first novel published by a novelist. Discovery is such a fun part of the reading life, and with a debut there is so much to discover!
That’s why we included “read a debut novel” in our 2020 Reading Challenge. When you read a debut, you have to try something you haven’t tried before. There’s a chance of meeting a new favorite author, getting to know their voice and hoping for many more books to come.
Of course, if now doesn’t feel like the right time you branch out, you can always go back and read the debut of one of your favorite and familiar authors to see how their work has evolved. There’s no “right way” to go about this reading challenge because it’s designed to help you get more out of your reading life, whatever that looks like for you.
There’s always a little risk involved in reading a debut from an author you’ve never read before. That’s why we’ve put together a list of fabulous debuts from the last few years to help you decide which books may be right for you right now.
I hope you find an absorbing read in this list, and perhaps even a new favorite author to follow.
Stay with Me
There There: A Novel
A Place for Us
The Flatshare
The Ensemble
Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache Mysteries, No. 1)
In the idyllic small town of Three Pines, Quebec, where people don’t even lock their doors, a beloved local woman is found in the woods with an arrow shot through her heart. The locals believe it must be a hunting accident, but the police inspector senses something is off. The story is constructed as a classic whodunit but it feels like anything but, with its deliberate pacing, dry wit, and lyrical writing. A stunningly good first novel. Still Life is the first in a series that keeps getting better. Great on audio.
More info →The Secrets We Kept
Sleeping Giants
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Homegoing
Such a Fun Age
The Mothers
Tweet Cute
The Dry
The Hate U Give
Is there a debut novel you’re looking forward to in 2020? Or a debut novel you recommend to all your friends? Please drop the titles in the comments below and add to our TBR lists.
PS: Check out what I’m probably reading for the 2020 Reading Challenge, and a list of recommendations for the first challenge prompt: a book published the decade you were born.
69 comments
I listened to the audiobook for Sleeping Giants and I LOVED it.I never thought that I would like this sci-fi book but I couldn’t stop listening. The full cast does not hold back and you feel like you’re there. I ended up listening to the other two in the series and the second one was just as good but the third wasn’t all that great, but I needed to know how it ended.
I have five of the Louise Penny books on my shelf. I found them at a used book sale for .25¢ apiece! I have not started them yet because I need to get the rest from the library once the library reopens! I look forward to reading them.😁
The Louise Penny books are on audio too—they’re really worth starting and binge reading!!
Also check if your library uses Libby or Overdrive. You can check out the books on Kindle. Or I just read through the Libby app because it will sync between my phone and iPad.
The Dearly Beloved is Cara Wall’s debut work- I’ve read it twice since it came out last year, and will certainly read it again. It is the book that I have most often recommended to my friends in the last 9 months.
This is my favorite debut! It is a wonderful story, with fantastic, complex characters. I absolutely loved it.
Also I vote for Dearly Beloved because of the fragile and very human relationship that is beautifully written
I am reading The Dearly Beloved right now and really enjoying it. I did not realize this is her debut novel.
I just read Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore and thought it was amazing!
The Flatshare was one of my favourite reads last year (I’m in the UK) and I’ve just finished her second book – The Switch – I enjoyed it but not as much as Tiffy and Leon’s story.
I’ve read six of the books you listed above and loved all but one of them.
I recently read another debut novel and it was amazing! I highly recommend The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. It is a wonderful story and you will find yourself cheering for the main character.
Listening to this right now. It is really really good! Loving it!
Agreed! I absolutely loved Girl With the Louding Voice and have already recommended it to friends!
Also really enjoyed The Dearly Beloved.
For this category I read The Snow Child by Eowyin Ivey and I absolutely loved it. I read it in January (because I don’t read the categories in order, it’s too boring) and it came at just the right time. My best friend also read it and she enjoyed it a lot, despite not being a huge fiction reader.
I read the Snow Child years ago and still think about the characters often! An absolute must read!
So I don’t recommend Such a Fun Age as it contains a number of crude stereotypes. But A Place For Us, The Dry, Still Life, The Ensemble (good book, but the ending isn’t great) are all excellent choices. There is another book with the title “Stay With Me” by a different author (also debut) Catherine Astfalk which won an award in Catholic fiction last year. It’s a combination of serious theology and hot, sweet romance. I have never read anything like it before and I highly recommend it.
Also one of the few who didn’t love Fun Age, partly for the same reason. Also didn’t live up to page turning hype.
I didn’t enjoy it either. It was interesting in the beginning, but then it really just kind of tapered…
I also liked The Sleeping Giant, felt The Hate You Give was cliched, was meh about Ten Thousand Doors and will have to add The Flatshare to the pile! Maybe Tweet Cute too! Starting to have second thoughts about romance but am not sure I want spicy scenes. Thanks for the heads up!
Still Life by Louise Penny was my pick for this category and I absolutely loved it. It’s always a joy to find a new mystery writer, especially one with a large backlist. I’m enjoying the third Gamache novel right now.
For this challenge I read “The Escape Room” by Megan Golden. It’s a page turner!
I loved Ten Thousand Doors of January, which was my book for this category. Also loved The Dry, and all of the Louis Penny series. I enjoyed The Secrets We Kept but it was not a top favorite for me. A Place for Us looks really interesting as does There, There. The worst thing about debut novels is that if you love the books, there may not be any additional books by that author to read next. Sigh…
I just finished The Ten Thousand Doors of January last night. So good!
The Dry was great, however I actually returned “There There” because I thought the writing was so bad. Likewise disappointed with “Such a Fun Age”. I thought there was no real plot and I didn’t like any of the characters except for the three year old. Writing was poor as well.
I felt the same way about Such a Fun Age. I listened to it on audio.
For the debut book category, I read Ayesha at Last, Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut novel. Very enjoyable.
I read Evvie Drake starts Over for this category.
Me too and I loved it! Evvie Drake Starts Over was a really good read and definitely one of my favourite debut novels in the last few years.
Loved Evvie and her story! I’ve been trying to find similar books ever since. Enjoyed how the author incorporated a strong friendship before romance.
For this category of the reading challenge I read “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles. 5 stars.
Thanks for the help with the category! Please send future help for the category “A Book Nominated for an Award in 2020”. Haven’t found anything for that yet. I’ve read several that were nominated for awards in previous years, but nothing yet for 2020. Help!
Look at the short list for the 2020 women’s prize. Evaristo, Mantel, O’Farrell, etc.
I’m going to read The Water Dancer. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal
Colson Whitehead just won the Pulitzer for The Nickel Boys and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett was a runner up! Both fabulous!
I loved Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera. I thought it was a debut, but Goodreads lists two other books, but neither one is in English? Anyway, this one is very atmospheric – where the place is almost a character. It takes place in rural South Carolina in the 1924.
I had read and LOVED “Little Fires Everywhere”, so for my debut novel, I went back and read “Everything I Never Told You” by the same author. But your blog today says that this category will introduce us to a NEW author…..so that didn’t work! The challenge should say “A debut novel from an author new to you”. I also read The Silent Patient and The Red Address Book for debuts, and those WERE new authors. Patient was good, the Red Address Book was a disappointment. I had read “A Place for Us” last year and it was very long and tedious. Still Life was good, but not enough to make me want to keep reading the series….
Susie, I’d encourage you to keep going with Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. While she had me at Still Life, many if not most people will say that it isn’t until about Book 4 that they become riveting. By then you are wrapped up in the lives of the people of Three Pines, and the mysteries themselves become much more compelling and better written.
I also agree with The Dearly Beloved as a perfect read in this category. It was my favorite book for last year.
My recent favorite debut is The Most Fun We Ever Had. So good and lovely and engrossing. Big family drama and secrets in the best way.
I really enjoyed Such A Fun Age, though I was a bit disappointed by the ending. I liked how it made me think about my experience in life, and how different/hard it is for others to just move throughout the world. Sad to hear it didn’t work for some other commenters!
I also liked Such a Fun Age. I listened to it on Audible and thought the narrator was fantastic.
Love this book! I grew up with 4 sisters and know about the drama that this book describes. It is a long read, but it’s needed to really flesh out all the sister’s backstories.
Great list! The Dry is SO good.
My pick for debut novel is City of Braas by S.A. Chakraborty. A fun read when it’s hard to concentrate.
That’s so good to know! I’ve been really wanting to give this a try but it’s outside of my usual genre and wasn’t sure if this was the best time to dive in. Thanks for the nudge!
My daughter introduced me to not only Louise Penny but also your blog! I am anxiously awaiting #12 in the Gamache series on audio! The reader does an amazing job brining Gamache to life!
Enjoy our blog,
Rose Thomas
Did not enjoy There, There or The Ten Thousand Doors of January. May I will have to re-listen to see if I missed something.
I’ll read anything Jane Harper publishes for the rest of my life! The Dry was phenominal!
I read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh for this category. A gorgeous story. And she has a new book coming out soon!!
I loved The Language of Flowers. If anyone is looking for a good debut thriller. Mary Kubica’s first book The Good Girl was by far my favorite of hers and I have read all of them. In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware was her debut and it was good too.
I just finished The Silent Patient – an excellent debut psychological thriller by Alex Michalides. Highly recommend checking it out.
I’m currently reading The Mothers. The first part was a little shocking but I’m curious where it is going! I have read all the Inspector Gamache and loved them!
I loved that book!!😊
I recommend Aria by Nazanine Hozar who is an Iranian-Canadian. It therefore should come as no surprise that Aria is set in Iran. Hozar tells the story of an infant girl abandoned by her mother in the streets of Tehran and found by an army truck driver on his way home late one night. He takes the child home to his wife and calls her Aria. This occurs during the time when the Shah was in power and Iran was a religiously tolerant and liberal country. As Aria grows up tensions grow and, as we all know, the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power bringing into being religious intolerance. If anyone has read The Stationary Shop this book is set in a similar time frame but deals with people who are quite a bit poorer than the people in The Stationary Shop.
Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes was an exceptional debut!
I read The Night Circus for this prompt. One of the best books I have read this year.
This is one of my favorite books.
Yes, one of my all-time favorites! I read her second, The Starless Sea, and while the writing and imagery were stunning, overall it just didn’t grab me. Disappointing.
I read The Cactus League for this and really liked it. I’ve heard great things about Flat Share. I really disliked Such a Fun Age. I found it too frothy and coincidental for my tastes
I loved The Dry. I’ve gone on to read Harper’s other two books. I have A Place for Us on my library stack so I’m hoping to get to it this month.
MIGRATIONS by Charlotte McConaghy is her first debut into adult fiction in the US. I thoroughly enjoyed her atmospheric writing. Add it to your TBR for August 2020.
My husband Will loved this one! It’s on my TBR stack now.
Soo many good ones here! Yay!
For this category I read The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner out later this month. Slow build but overall very nice!
I really enjoyed Gideon the Ninth. It is definitely not for everyone, but a rollicking surprise for me!
I just finished The Flatshare on audio and really enjoyed it! My favorite debut novels of the year so far have been Still Life, Red White and Royal Blue, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, and Ten Thousand Doors of January. I am looking forward to A Woman is No Man, American Spy, and Miracle Creek. I’ve heard good things about The Secrets We Kept on audio, so I’ll add that to my TBR!
I didn’t love The Dry. I listened to it on audio. It was okay but actually prompted me to not bother to read any more of her books. I love that people have different opinions!
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine was my choice for this prompt, and I loved it dearly! Other stand-outs for me on this list are The Dry and There There.
Hi Everyone,
As a new author, I would love to hear what readers think of my first novel,”The Sunny Spaces.” It’s a heart-mending story that restores hope even when people experience insurmountable odds, loss, and guilt. Poignant moments, witty dialogue, and subtle suspense entice readers to the last page.
My second book, “A Heart so Wide,” is a spirited love story played out against a backdrop of several turbulent lives disfigured by abuse. Some of the characters are hard to forget. You can find both books on Amazon.com.
Thank you for the opportunity to suggest my books.
Ann
This debut novel is my recommendation: Sky-Bound Misfit by Jane Powell. Absolutely devoured it, strong characters in a ripping story. Check it out!
I loved your list. I added several to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing and broadening my horizons.
A BIG recommendation for the audiobooks of the The Dry by Jane Harper and the Inspector Gamache series – absolutely superlative narration