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Top Ten Books I Liked Less/More Than I Thought I Would

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This is my nineteenth Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’ve been looking forward to this week’s topic, as I get to talk about both books I that I think are wonderful and some guilty pleasures, as well as some of the books that I just didn’t get on with as well as I thought I would. Here we go!


Top Ten Books I Liked Less/More Than I Thought I Would
Part One: More

1. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins – I was sure before reading this that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. After all, so many people raved about Twilight and I thought that was enormously dull (see below). It was awesome.

2. Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry – The tagline on the cover of my copy reads ‘A bad boy. A lost girl. An unforgettable love’, which made me roll my eyes. I am not into bad boy/good girl romances, mainly because I don’t find violence attractive. But Pushing the Limits is not corny at all, in fact, I thought it was utterly amazing. I was hooked from the start and it just kept getting better and better! I am more than a little bit in awe of Katie McGarry now.

3. Spellbound, by Cara Lynn Shultz – I was expecting this to be a shallow, frivolous story based on the ‘Gossip Girl with witches’ description from the publishers and the Cinderella-like setup, but I quite liked it in the end. The action scenes had my heart racing!

4. Valiant, by Holly Black – I had a few issues with Tithe, the first in the Modern Faerie Tale series, and I was expecting similar from Valiant, but I thought it was great.

5. The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart – I expected this to just be fun, lighthearted teen fiction. I had no idea that it would change my life and the way I see things.

6. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen – I thought this was just a romance. I was not expecting the snark, which I loved.

7. The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett – I put off reading any of the Discworld books for years and only picked this up because a tutor recommended it. It was totally hilarious and I loved it.

Part Two: Less

8. Diving In, by Kate Cann – I really loved reading some of Kate Cann’s books, including the Hard Cash/Moving trilogy and several of her standalone novels, but although I enjoyed the Coll and Art books, I wasn’t as captivated, and I got a bit bored because they’re so intensely focused on the relationship. It’s a popular trilogy that’s been reprinted several times, so don’t let me put you off.

9. The Queen of Everything, by Deb Caletti – I’d heard good things about Deb Caletti’s more recent novels, so when I saw a copy of  The Queen of Everything, her debut, I decided to give it a try. Unfortuntely, although the central idea was interesting, I really didn’t like the protagonist or the love interest. It’s rare that I have such a negative reaction to the main characters, and I decided that I couldn’t review it fairly, though I still intend to read more books by this author.

10. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer – I didn’t think I’d enjoy it very much but was prepared for it to be a guilty pleasure. It wasn’t even that. Zzzzz.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

Top Ten Favourite Places to Read

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This is my nineteenth Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week is a Top Ten Tuesday Rewind, which means we can pick any of the topics from the past that we missed. I’ve chosen:

 Photo by Sharon Mollerus

 

Top Ten Favourite Places To Read
1. On/in my bed – I love reading whilst stretching out on my own comfy bed, wrapped in my duvet or lying on my pillows, or even sitting up against the headboard cushion my mum made me from a broken memory foam mattress topper. It’s probably my favourite place to read – especially if no-one’s in so I’m surrounded by peace and quiet!
2. On a train – I pass the time on public transport by getting a book out and slipping into another world. Whole tube lines pass by in what feels like the blink of an eye and sometimes I’m a little disappointed to reach my stop and have to put the book away.
3. At the library – I always think it feels kind of magical to be reading a book whilst surrounded by hundreds more books, and some of my local libraries have really comfy seats.
4. Outside the Tate Modern in the summer – I’m terrified of buzzing stinging things so there’s pretty much only one place in the entire world where I can read outside – the Tate Modern. There are no flowers, just grass and trees, so the wasps and bees stay away. I do need to stay in the shade though to avoid sunburn!
5. In a windowseat – I’ve only done this a couple of times in my life, but sitting in a windowseat whilst reading makes me feel like a character in a historical novel!
6. On the floor in a big pile of cushions – when I was a kid I used to like throwing all the cushions in my living room onto the floor, and then lying on top of them to read. I can’t imagine that my mum was best pleased.
7. In the bath – when I have a bath, I like to take at least two books into the bathroom with me, plus notebook and pens, and I keep towels handy so that I don’t risk touching a book with wet fingers.
8. In a queue – whilst everyone else looks bored and frustrated, I take the time to get some reading done, and become the most chilled out person in the queue.
9. At work on a lunch break – reading on a lunch break is so refreshing, helping me relax and also reinvigorating my mind for the afternooon ahead.
10. In a café – I love the whole experience – reading in a comfy chair at a little table, with tea or hot chocolate, soup, sandwich or cake, occasionally glancing up to people-watch or listen to the conversations around me.
What are your favourite places to read?