Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Can't Believe I Actually Read

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is: Books I Can't Believe I Read
There were a lot of different ways I could have gone with this: I can't believe I read it because it's long/hard, I can't believe it because it was horrible, and so on and so forth. Because of this, I just kind of went with a bunch of different reasons that I explain for each book. This is all done in good fun and I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these books. :)


The Gene: An Intimate History

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I'm mainly surprised I read this one because I am just not all that great at following in-depth science-based discussions, but because of my mom's cancer and genetic things I thought this would be interesting to read. And it was! I really liked this one.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository





Infinite Jest


Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
I still am shocked that I made it through this one. Honestly, people might hate me for this, but... I didn't like it. I can appreciate it and what it is supposed to do and there were a few paragraphs here and there that were wonderful, but overall... I could not read this again. Once is enough, I'm good.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository




Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli -- Review
Much like with The Gene,  I am just not that into this. I took AP Physics, but why? I can't even fathom why I did that because I did not enjoy it. It's fascinating, but I just can't do it. This book was actually pretty interesting, so I'm glad I read it, but I'm still surprised I did. (I actually think it's because I was sent an ARC so I thought 'why not?', but still.) If you're interested in basic physics concepts, however, I highly recommend this one!
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository




Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance -- Review
Surprisingly, Elon Musk is not really my favorite person. I'm impressed by his accomplishments and his intelligence and whatnot, but let's just say everything else I've read/heard doesn't exactly endear him to me. Why I picked this one up, then, I'm not so sure. I enjoy reading about people--even if I don't really like them--and I wanted to know his full story. My boyfriend is all working in the tech world so I though I should try to immerse myself a bit (oh, the things we do for love...)
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository


The God Delusion

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The main reason I can't believe I read this was because I was a junior/senior(?) in high school and I had been raised in a Christian household. This was when I was first starting to question things and think for myself, and I had heard that this book was good (which, you know, is questionable now), so I thought I'd try it. I definitely think I tried to hide it from my mom.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository




The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
I can't believe I read this because I can't imagine ever reading it now. I hated it then and I can't even imagine re-reading it. How I ever did it before is beyond me. I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about, and to be honest... I'd still like to know. 
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository





The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I have no idea why I read this. I don't even like John Green's writing all that much. I had read one or two of his books prior to reading this one and I already knew he wasn't my favorite, plus I hate cancer-type books, so why?? (My issues with cancer books is a rant for another time.) Why did I do this?? I still don't know. I may never know. But I did, so there's that.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository





The Fuck-Up
The Fuck-Up by Arthur Nersesian
Okay, so this one is only here because I was maybe 12/13 when I read it and what kind of death wish did I have to be that age and buy a book that said 'fuck' on the cover? My mom never saw it, but... I was a risk-taking kid, apparently. 
(*Note: my mom is actually not some hardass strict lady, I just don't think she would have been keen on her child owning a book with that on the cover at that age. Now, she might just be amused.)
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository


War and Peace

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
This is one that I'm not totally surprised I read this because I enjoy classics, but I'm still shocked that I actually followed through, picked it up, and finished reading it. I think I made myself a three-four month schedule where a read X number of pages a day (or more, depending on if I wanted to), and finished by a certain date. It worked well! That's also how I read Infinite Jest, though I had much more fun with this one. War and Peace is a really enjoyable book!
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository



Have you read any of these? What books can you not believe you read, for whatever reason?




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9 comments:

  1. I can't believe I read War and Peace, either, just because of the sheer size of it. I also can't believe I read The Fault in our Stars; I didn't care for the movie, which I saw first, and John Green's whole thing/writing/etc. doesn't appeal to me at all!

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    1. I know, I look back on War and Peace and am shocked I made it through! Congrats on also making it through that tome. :) Same here about John Green! He must have some weird power that gets us to read his books...

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  2. Great post! I like how you did this one. The Gene sounds really interesting, and The F-Up- yeah I think my mom or dad might have looked askance at that one too lol!

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    1. The Gene really is, I would recommend it! And yeah, not exactly a parent-friendly one, haha!

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  3. The Fault In Our Stars was on my list this week too, I also wasn't keen on it.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/top-ten-tuesday-144/

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  4. I actually want to read War and Peace! I thought I never would, but I've seen multiple people talk about it and everyone said they were so glad they read it. And The Gene has been on my to-read list for ages. I think I'd get so much out of it.

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    1. I completely recommend both of those books! They are both a bit hefty/intimidating, but both totally pay off. :)

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  5. I feel exactly the same about The Alchemist. I can't imagine re-reading it. The only reason I did it then is because I was on a 24h coach to Italy and had nothing to read except for this...

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