Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Top Ten Books that Surprised Me

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Surprised Me

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I read this back in 2011 and I was not expecting to love it. I was expecting it to be difficult to wade through, but instead, I was caught up in the murder mystery and deeply moved by the theological and philosophical discussions.

2. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry - I read this one in 2013 and I was surprised by how much I loved it. It's outside of my favorite genres. From what I can remember it was rather slow-paced, but I know that I loved it. I suppose I need to re-read it and see if I still do.

3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - I'm pretty sure this was the first book I read by Neil Gaiman, and I didn't know what to expect, and I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

4. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series (5 books) - I discovered these books in 2011 when a friend sent them to me in a care package while I was living in Mexico. And again, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them, especially considering their intended target audience was a middle school age boy.

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - read in 2013. I was hesitant to read this because I usually don't like to read books where I basically know that one of the characters is going to die. I mean come on, it's the cliche kid with cancer story, right? Except it's more than that. Here is what I wrote on Goodreads right after I read it: "Just read it. Seriously. You will laugh and you will probably get teary eyed at the very least. It is worth it."

6. Rysa Walker’s Timebound trilogy (The Chronos Files) - I found this through Kindle Unlimited and so I didn't have super high expectations, but it was a delight!

7. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - This one came highly recommended but I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It is a sci-fi thriller that plays with the idea of the multi-verse and a big twist.

8. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, (Audiobook Narrated by Wil Wheaton) - I don't really remember how this first landed on my radar, but I loved it so much that it surely exceeded my expectations.

9. Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1) by Scott Meyer - this was another series I found on Kindle Unlimited that I really enjoyed.

10.  Heirs of Grace by Tim Pratt - A fun fantasy story featuring a magical house full of magical things, and a strong female leading character. (also discovered through Kindle Unlimited)



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