Five Out-of-My-Norm Books I Recently Enjoyed
+ Five I Plan to Read Soon
Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review.
This week’s topic involves the ten books I enjoyed recently (within the last year or so) that are generally out of my comfort zone, not my typical kinds of books, or not one of my favorite genres. I find that a lot of hyped books I end up reading don’t meet my expectations when they’re out of my comfort zone. I get “peer pressured” into reading certain books that wouldn’t usually be on my TBR, and I don’t like them. Sometimes it’s better to trust your gut, but some not-my-usual books end up being great pleasant surprises! I split this one up to include five I’ve read and five I plan to read.
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis • We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson • I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios • Magnolia by Kristi Cook • Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer /// I never thought I would enjoy Southern books for some strange reason (too Northern?!), but I’m happy to report that this is no longer the case! The other books (generally creepy, involving aliens, or having military/PTSD themes) are just not my cup of tea – but these were fantastic!
Gone by Michael Grant • The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater • Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu • Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin • My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton /// I am not a big historical reader, but usually only do when there is some fantasy involved. I’m not religious, reaaaally dislike horses, and usually don’t read dystopian books!
I actually bought Nowhere But Home recently when it was on sale because of your recommendation 🙂 I kind of love the Southern settings in books. Maybe it is because it is so different from what I am used to. Great picks!!
OMG I HOPE YOU LOVE IT!
The Scorpio Races is one of my favorite books of all time! It is really really good on audio. I listen to it once a year.
I’ve heard that! It’s definitely high on my list.
So happy to see Devoted on your list. I loved that book!
I’m excited to try it!
I don’t really read military books for many reasons, but I loved I’ll Meet You There! I don’t think I could do Devoted, though.
Yeah I’m not sure either.. I’ve heard great things about it from very non-religious people, so who knows!
I’ve read great things about I’ll Meet You There, I should probably give it a try 🙂 Nice list!
Thank you!
I read an excerpt for My Lady Jane and enjoyed it but I’d avoid the majority of these books for the same reasons you listed that they aren’t your usual reads. Religious, southern, horses, etc aren’t really things I’m interested in.
I’ve heard great things from early readers of My Lady Jane!
Lauren, I’m thrilled to see that you enjoyed Magnolia and Nowhere But Home! I actually really like reading books that are set in the South, so both of these were just my cup of tea. But I’m happy you’ve discovered that they worked for you too. (Also, wasn’t Magnolia just adorable)? And I’m also glad to see that I’ll Meet You There is one you enjoyed, as I think that one is Heather’s best book yet. As for the ones you’ve yet to read, I sincerely hope you enjoy The Scorpio Races (which is lovely), My Lady Jane (which is funny) and Wolf by Wolf (which is intense)! I liked all of them a lot.
Magnolia was SO adorable! I don’t know what steered me away from books like that, but I’m so glad I realized how great they are. Glad to hear you liked some of the others!
Great list. I absolutely LOVED the Gone series so, so much!! I have A Madness So Discreet and hopefully I will be getting to it SOON! Glad you loved it.
Thanks! I’m glad to hear it. It sounds really interesting, despite being out of my norm. I hope you love A Madness So Discreet! It was awesome.
oh I love how you organized your post!! 😀 My TTT
Thank you!! <3
I really liked Magnolia! That’s the type of Southern book I’m usually drawn towards (or a Beautiful Creatures type haha). I’ll be interested to hear what you think about The Scorpio Races! It’s very different and very lovely despite the hardships of some characters and the violent nature of the horses. The setting is really wonderful, as is Puck. I’m looking forward to reading it again someday. My Lady Jane is a LOT of fun, I think it will be a perfect historical book for you! Magic stands in for the religious aspects, it’s very funny, and it’s swoony. I loved it.
Thank you!! Glad to hear about My Lady Jane – it sounds like something I’ll really enjoy. The Scorpio Races reaaally needs to get higher on my TBR because I’ve been enjoying The Raven Boys and want to read more of her books!