TOP 10 TUESDAY: Books You’ve Read Because of Recommendation

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is: Books You’ve Read Because of Recommendation.

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Aaahh, there are a lot of books I only came across because I saw people raving about them. When so many trusted friends and bloggers sung praises about how good these books were, I had to give them a try. I’m very glad to say I wasn’t disappointed! All books listed below were a pleasure to read, and some have even snatched a spot on my favorites shelf!

 

 

THE SONG OF ACHILLES by Madeline Miller. It took me a really long time to pick this one up, since everyone seemed to love it but also be destroyed by it a little bit. In the end, all of the tears I she were worth it, because this was a beautiful piece of writing.

 

 

 

DEATHLESS by Catherynne M. Valente. I love retellings, and this was a very well executed one. It also had one of the best writing I’ve had the pleasure of reading, with striking sentences that stayed with me for a very long time.

 

 

 

THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir. What a book. This was one of the biggest surprises for me. I went in only knowing a lot of people loved this book, and came out on the other side a huge fan of Mark Watney.

 

 

 

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. A good friend recommended this to me when we were talking about diversity in YA. This book was very heavy at times, but also a wonderful read.

 

 

 

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. This was described to me as “the most aesthetic book ever.” Haha, that was not a lie! This was a weird rollercoaster ride I didn’t want to get out of. The mythology bits were also a plus.

 

 

 

WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart. I picked this one up because everyone was talking about how messed up the ending was, but refused to explain why. Being as curious as I am, I just had to read it. And I did not regret that decision.

 

 

SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli. Another good surprise! I saw a lot of people praising this book, but I wasn’t expecting it to love it so much. it was just so real and funny and amazing. Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2016.

 

 

 

HALF BAD by Sally Green. One of my friends was obsessed with this book and yelled at me until I read it. I quickly fell in love with Nathan’s story. At least until Half Wild. We do not speak of what happened after that.

 

 

A LITTLE LIFE by Hanya Yanagihara. This one was actually my fault. After seeing people say this was the best and worst book they’d read in their lives, I just had to find out way. Needless to say, I made a huge mistake. This was art. It was also the saddest book I’ve ever read. Ever.

 

 

 

ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff.  I was a little hesitant about this one. The format seemed weird as hell, and I am not a huge fan of Science Fiction, but I’m glad I took a chance. This book turned out to be very engaging and unique, and it was the best kind of adventure reading it.