Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Books that I Think Lived Up to the Hype

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

This week's topic is: Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype

Well this was a fairly easy topic for once! Most of the books I chose are probably more semi-recent books because I'm mainly going off of ones that I've seen a lot of hype for, whether it was before or after I read them. I'm also sure that there are a lot more, but I'm already going over on this list because I cannot follow directions (sixteen is close to ten, right?).

   Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1)  

The Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman
There's a reason that these are so popular and so highly revered.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski (Starting with The Last Wish)
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I had no idea that this book was so popular when I picked it up! It was years ago before I was into blogging or anything and I saw the hardcover (no jacket) at my library bookstore and was so intrigued by the cover that I bought ot even though there was no summary on it and therefore I had no idea what it was about. It turned out to be one of the best cover buys I've ever bought. And I ended up as a Classics major, so... it worked.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Okay, I know that this is about as obvious as Harry Potter, but I know a lot of people who don't want to read the books because they seem intimidating, but I promise it's totally worth it.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

   

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
People are starting to seem to dislike this book simply because they are mad at Rothfuss, but I'm here to tell you to ignore them! This book is still wonderful and you should read it if you haven't.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Poppy War by R.F Kuang
Talk about one of the most hyped fantasy books of the year! Fortunately,  this one really lived up to it in my opinion.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Six of Crows by Leigh  Bardugo
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Have you read any of these books? What popular books do you think were worth the hype?



27 comments:

  1. I LOVED Strange the Dreamer and Heartless!! They're two of my favorite books!

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  2. I agree it's so hard to pick just ten books! The Name of the Wind and Coraline are books that lived up to the hype for me too. I'm currently reading Six of Crows (wondering what took me so long!) and have Nevernight lined up to read soon.

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    1. It seriously is. Ooh, I really hope you enjoy both of them!

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  3. I really must make time for Emperor of Maladies! Great list!

    Lisa @ https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2018/07/31/top-10-tuesday-popular-books-that-lived-up-to-the-hype-my-opinion/

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    1. Definitely do! I've had a lot of cancer among my family which sparked my initial interest, but I was worried it would hard to get into--fortunately, Mukherjee is an awesome writer and it's almost hard to put down!

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  4. Nevernight!! I'm reading The Poppy War now! Great list.

    Top Ten Tuesday

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  5. REALLY want to read Six of Crows duo. Here's hoping I give it a chance soon-ish. ;)

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  6. I'm glad I read The Secret History before I heard any hype...I was a senior in high school and it was assigned reading for AP English, and it totally blew my mind! It's a different experience reading something when you've got sky-high expectations, I feel like I'm way more likely to see flaws when I've been told it's perfect!

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    1. Totally agree! It was such an awesome experience to just discover this book with no preconceived notions. Glad you got to read it like that as well! :)

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  7. I couldn't agree with you more on Lord of the Rings. They were fabulous.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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  8. I'm really hoping Six of Crows lives up to the hype for me when I read it this year!

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    1. I hope so, too! The plot is great, but the characters are what really stand out (in my opinion). :)

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  9. Ooh The Lord of the Rings! Strange the dreamer sounds pretty awesome from what I've seen- people seem to love it- and I've seen some very enthusiastic reviews for Furyborn too!

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    1. They definitely were! And The Lord of the Rings will always be one of the best.

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  10. I loved The Secret History. It was one of my favorites last year. A bunch of the other books on your list are on my TBR list. I hope I like them as much as you did.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. I hope so, too! And I'm so glad you loved The Secret History.

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  11. Nevernight, Six of Crows, and Strange the Dreamer made my list this week too and I also agree with you about The Lord of the Rings.

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    1. We had quite a few similar ones! Always good to hear others loved them as well. :)

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  12. I loved Strange the Dreamer. I was going to start reading The Poppy War today (I picked it up sometime in July for $2 or $3) but then I got a notice from my library that Crown of Midnight was available from my library... library books that have been on hold have to take priority, because I have a limited time to read them, and if several of them become available at once (which is possible) then I'm going to have a difficult time reading them all, unless I read them as soon as they come in.

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    1. I feel you on the library thing! Sometimes I'll be waiting months for a book and the of course it comes in right when I'm about to read something else.. but you have to read the library book first, instead! Haha. Hope you enjoy The Poppy War and Crown of Midnight (I love that series!). :)

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  13. The Secret History is one of my all time favorite books, and I love that everyone has rediscovered it years later. I bought and read it when it first came out, and I think its time for a reread!

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    1. I'm so glad to hear that! And same here, it's really come back lately. :) I've been meaning to reread it for quite a while myself, hopefully soon!

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  14. GREAT list!! I still need to get around to a few of these!

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