Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read Because They Were Recommended

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

This week's topic is:  Books I Read Because They Were Recommended

I love reading books based off of other peoples' recommendations! A few of these were recommended directly to me, but for the most part a majority of these are simply books that I specifically remember being swayed by a specific blogger or situation that made me want to pick it up. 



The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown: This is probably one of the only personal recommendations on this list where someone specifically said, "Hey, you should read this!" A few months back my cousin (who works with my mother) told my mom to tell me that he recommended The Wendy to me because he knows I love retellings and Peter Pan and the like. Because I so rarely have people telling me to read a particular book, I pretty much bought a copy right away to read, and it was so fun! I definitely plan to continue the series as soon as I can. 

Never Come Morning by Nelson Algren: This was not a personal recommendation, but a song that I find absolutely beautiful by a band I like ("Please Say No" by The Devil Wears Prada) is inspired by this book, and so I had to read it. I was looking up the meaning to the lyrics of this song, as it's a bit unclear without context, and an interview with the lead singer/writer said that he just recommended reading the book itself as the best way to fully get the meaning and tone. Of course I chose to do just that because how often do bands you like recommend books to read? 

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear is a twofold recommendation. The first is simply that I've seen it as one of the top recommendations for people who enjoy cold climates and classic stories. The second is that it's my mother-in-law's favorite book. So with both of those recommendations, I decided to give it a go! I can't say it was my favorite by any means, but it was certainly interesting. I plan to continue at some point, but I'm really not sure how I feel about the series. (And no, I have not told my mother-in-law that I've read it yet because I don't yet know if I want to break her heart with the fact that I don't like it that much, haha.)


A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher: This one was sort an 'almost-missed connection' because I initially passed over it when Orbit offered it up as an option for a review request last year. However, then I started seeing some great reviews for it, particularly Tammy's review from Books, Bones and Buffy, and I decided that I had to go back and see if I could still get ahold of a copy from them--and I'm certainly glad I did. 

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins: Now this is an interesting one because way back in 2017 I got an ARC of this one. I remember starting it and finding it fairly interesting, but I had other books I really wanted to read and wasn't overly captivated yet by it, so I put it down. And then apparently promptly forgot about it for a few years. In the past year or so I've noticed more and more people mentioning The Library at Mount Char and how good and weird it is, so much so that I was finally convinced to pick it up again and try it. And I liked it!

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller: Greg over at Greg's Book Haven first mentioned this book and sparked my interest in it and is why I eventually picked it up! I agree with a lot of what he says in his review about it and I'm glad I read it simple because of how unique it was. I've not read something quite like it before, that's for sure!


The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee: I don't exactly remember who recommended this one to me, but I know it was a mixture of someone telling me about it and hearing about it on a podcast that made me want to pick it up. My father died of cancer when I was younger, my mom has had three primary cancers in the past ten years or so, and I also lost a cousin to cancer, so cancer has played a huge role in my life. This is now one of my favorite nonfiction books because it's incredibly well-researched and Mukherjee has such a captivating narrative and perspective that makes this history of cancer hard to put down. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the sort of "history" of one of the most prominent and deadly diseases out there--or simply some good nonfiction. 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I'm not sure if my mom ever specifically recommended this book to me, but it's one of her favorites and I knew she'd love for me to read it. I read it a couple years ago an thought it was a charming little story--though a bit horrible heartbreaking at times!--that I can easily see re-reading around the holidays for something a bit cozier. 


Have you read any of these? What books have you read as a result of recommendations?

7 comments:

  1. I have a copy of Little Women that I need to get to eventually!

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  2. Thanks for the shout out, Jordan! Its nice to know my endless screaming about A Boy and His Dog had some impact😁

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  3. My favourite book in the Earth's Children series is the one that happens right after Clan of the Cave Bear. It's called The Valley of Horses.

    No pressure to read it, but I sure liked seeing what Ayla was like as an adult.

    My post.

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  4. A favorite blogger of mine keeps recommending A BOY AND HIS DOG. I haven't read it yet, but he speaks so highly of it that I really want to give it a go. Looks like he's not the only one raving about it!

    Happy TTT!

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  5. I have wanted to read Clan of the Cave Bear and that whole series really for so long, but just never have, The whole Ice Age setting just appeals to me. But at the same time I've never been sure. I really should try 'em and just see. :)

    And Blackfish City- thanks for the shout out! It is definitely a unique book isn't it?? :)

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  6. If you didn't like the first Clan book, you can safely skip the rest of the series, because it's EASILY the most interesting. 2 & 3 have some interest as Aayla (I think) finds 'her people' and begins building a life, but the rest of the series is a big ol' prehistoric soap opera. Absolutely nothing happens in the last two books!

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  7. I haven't read it yet but A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is on my TBR because of Tammy too. :)

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