Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Me That I MUST Read



Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the Brooke and the Bookish. This week's list is of books people have been recommending often to me. 


"Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell" by Susanna Clark
People have been recommending this to me for years. I keep meaning to read, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. 















"Malice" by John Gwayne
Everybody's going on about how amazing this is. I am not sure wether or not I want to read it yet, though. 
"The Host" by Stephanie Meyer
After my brief time as a "Twilight" fan (it was a dark time), I vowed I would never touch another of Meyer's books with a ten-feet-pole. This does not keep one of my friends to keep recommending me this. She assures me that it's better than "Twilight", but I don't intend to find out.  


"The School for Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani
Unlike "The Host", I actually really want to read this one. It looks adorable and I really like the idea of the premise.
"I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe
This, like "Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell" is a book that was first recommended to me years ago, and I have often been told that I should read it. I have never been in the mood to, though. 


"Poison Study" by Maria V. Snyder
So many people loved this book, and so naturally this is recommended often. I like the premise, and the reviews have been glowing, but something still holds me back from this book. 


"Grave Mercy" by Robin LaFevres 
This is another book a lot of people have loved, and also a book that has a premise that's right up my alley (Give me all the book with a female assassin main character in a fantasy setting. Give them to me!), so it figures that I would get this recommended a lot.    


"Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel
A friend of mine has read this and he's adamant that I should read it, too. I swear that I will... at one point. 
















"A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray
People keep recommending this to me, but I have tried to read it once and never went past the first chapters. I absolutely could not stand the main character from the very first page, so I have no plans to read this any time soon. 














"Shadow and Bone" by Leigh Bardugo 
A couple of friends of mine have read this book and they keep recommending it to me, and I like the idea of the Grisha. It also sounds as though this book will focus a lot on the love triangle, though. And it has been getting a lot of mixed reviews, so I'm conflicted about reading it. 

27 comments:

  1. The first two books of the Grisha trilogy (Shadow & Bone) were awesome and I loved them. But the third one was just meh. I would still recommend it though.

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  2. Although I haven't read any of these books, I have heard of a few such as Shadow and Bone and The Host. Hopefully you will be able to get to them soon :)

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  3. I've heard good things about 'The School of Good and Evil' aswell, the cover is so pretty! Let me know how you get on with it :)

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  4. I love Shadow and Bone - the world building in that book is AMAZING and honestly that is why I picked up the rest of the series. I also loved A Great and Terrible Beauty, but maybe I hd picked it up at the right time - I was 14 when I read it and thats when it first came out (now 25 :)) You have a great list. I also wanted to add in about The Host - I too thought I would never read another book by Meyer but I picked up the Host at the airport one time and couldn't put it down. I love aliens/invasion stories and this was a decent one…it did get a little ridiculous with the love square BUT I loved the backstory of the aliens so much I kinda didn't care. :)

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  5. OMG YOU NEED TO READ SHADOW AND BONE = ONE OF THE BEST SERIES EVERR. I picked up THE HOST but I couldn't get pass five chapters or so. It bored me to death. Thanks for commenting on my blog!

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  6. I have to read Shadow and Bone too! I've heard so many good things about it, but with school I never got a chance to read it. I've heard a lot about The School of Good and Evil too! I hope you enjoy all of the books when you get a chance to read them! Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog!
    Cheers,
    Savindi

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  7. Huh, I haven't really heard anything about Malice. I got that one unsolicited a while back. I guess I need to give it a try then!

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  8. Shadow and Bone is one of my favorite books ever. You will love it. And I have to admit...The Host surprised me and I loved it, even if the first 100 pages make you want to shoot yourself. But, I respect your decision. If you don't wanna read it, that's okay!

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  9. The Shadow and Bone series is on my list this week too, so many recommendations!
    The Host, hmm it's an iffy one. I liked it once I had finished it, but the first 1/3 of the book is so slow and such a drag to get through. Now when I read it I just start from the good bit and miss out all the beginning! :)

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  10. It's a shame you didn't like the MC of A Great and Terrible Beauty - I loved the book, but if you don't like Gemma in the beginning, my guess is you won't like the books in general since she's the most likeable of the four girls (or at least second most likeable). I will say with Shadow and Bone - I didn't love the first book, but I thought the second book was much better. They kind of try to make a love triangle, but throughout at least the first two books there's a clear winner with the affections so it's not hugely wishy washy? The mythology is pretty cool though!

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  11. Hahah definitely go read Siege and Storm! It's really good in my opinion! And then I have tried reading The Host, but I just couldn't get into it at the time. But then again I read it when I was much younger!

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  12. I read The Host years ago, after finishing Twilight, and it really sucked me in. The writing and plot are so more substantial and developed than the writing and plot in Twilight. But Meyer does seem to be incapable of writing a book under 400 pages!

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  13. I do love Poison Study (the whole series really) and fantasy is not usually my thing! I also feel the peer pressure to read Shadow & Bone and Grave Mercy. The School for Good & Evil looks very cute. Good stuff on your TBR!

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  14. I know that oh so many people loved The Host but I didn't really like it, I detest love triangles and this book was like a what? Love square? Many people don't see it that way, I'm the odd one here and I hope that you'll like it. I really loved The Great and Terrible Beauty but I probably wouldn't reread it anytime, it was so strange and I did not like the ending.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  15. The Host and Poison Study, both excellent books I strongly encourage you to read. Whatever is holding you back from the Study series, ignore it, forget it, do whatever. I adored all three books, I simply couldn't put them down. There was something so gripping about them.

    And The Host, I am the first to say I was not a fan of the Twilight series. I didn't expect to even like this book, but my best friend said it was one of her favourite books and leant it to me, so I tried it out. I am so glad she did, it is a book completely different from Twilight, I may have disliked the ending, but the actual book was amazing.

    Great list :)

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  16. Shadow and Bone is my favorite! I got into the series late, but I absolutely love it! Other than that, I haven't read any of the others. A lot of people recommend Grave Mercy to me too but I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet. Great list!

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  17. I have Shadow of Smoke and Bone and Grave Mercy on my list to read and both look good. I did enjoy The Host but liked Twilight much better.

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  18. I read and enjoyed The Great and Terrible Beauty and now I am getting pressure from my daughter to read the third book in the series since I haven't managed to read it. I understand your pain.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog.
    My TTT

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  19. I hate to disillusion you but Grave Mercy is much more historical than what I think of as pure fantasy. There is only a bit of fantasy and it is mostly court intrigue so I found it a bit slow. However, I quite enjoyed Dark Triumph :D

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  20. Grave Mercy is amazing! And so is Shadow and Bone. The Host intimidates me, and I want to read it, I do. But I loved the movie a lot and now I feel weird about reading the book after watching it first. Not to mention, it's pretty freaking long.

    Thanks for stopping by My TTT! :)

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  21. I've been thinking about reading Grave Mercy also. It's definitely not a book I would normally go for, but I've heard good things :) I would not read another Stephanie Meyer book either. Twilight was plenty for me!

    Thanks for stopping by My TTT

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  22. Likewise, a lot of people have said that The Host is so much better than Twilight. I have the book but have never really gotten around to reading it. One book that you should really read on this list is Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo! If you're unsure of the trilogy then give the first book a try. This trilogy is one of my faves and I would definitely say that it is worth a read. :)

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  23. I put The Host on mine too! I've got nothing against it (I even picked it up for a few dollars second hand, which was awesome) but the eyeball really turns me off and I just...I'm not in the mood for like 500+ pages at the moment. >_< But I probably will try it eventually! I LOVED Shadow & Bone! It's such an epic fantasy, and kind of unique. ;)
    Thanks for stopping by mine.

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  24. I've been recommended Host numerous times too, though I haven't read it. School of Good and Evil has also been doing the rounds for a while.
    Thanks for stopping by my TTT.

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  25. I Am Charlotte Simmons is a funny one - I think the best way to describe my feelings toward it is to say I appreciated it! I forgot about Jonathan Strange - I've had that recommended a few times too.

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  26. I've the Grisha Series and Grave Mercy recommended to me several times as well. Grave Mercy sounds right up my alley, but I haven't read it yet. And I'm always wary of books with love triangles. I didn't realise the Grisha books had one of those, but I might have to be careful of that if I ever do decide to read it.

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  27. GRAVE MERCY AND SHADOW AND BONE YAAAAS!! Okay, sorry, those are great. School for Good and Evil looks good, but I haven't read it yet so I have no idea. Love the list ;)

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