Top Ten Tuesday is a meme started and run by the awesome Broke and Bookish blog. This week's lists are the top ten books you either ended up liking more or less than you thought you would going in.
1. The Thirteenth Tale (Liked less) - I was VERY
excited about this book in book club, and in the end, this is one of the
biggest literary disappointments in my life. I didn't find it
compelling, or well written, or possessing of particularly interesting
characters. The mysteries were awful and it was less homage to classics
than it was stealing plot points to the point it ruined its own plot.
2. The Help (Liked less) - Everyone talked about how amazing this book was. I got about halfway in and wasn't terribly gripped. It felt like the book wanted me to applaud a pretty basic understanding of institutional racism, and I thought the characters were kind of flat and left me uncomfortable and not in the thought-provoking good way. It's one of the few books I stepped away from without finishing, and I don't regret it. I read "A Lesson Before Dying" instead, which I found far more engrossing.
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Liked better) - A friend in college loaned me this book. I'd been heading about this Harry Potter thing for a while and stayed away because of the hype and because I felt like I'd already read this premise twice before - both in the Circle of Magic books and the Wizard's Hall book. but I was bored, out of other books, and gave in to her urgings. SO glad I did, it's now one of my favorite series. :)
4. One Piece (Liked better) - This looked SO stupid! A pirate made out of rubber having cartoony adventures on the high seas? I caught some of the 4 Kids dub of the anime and that only cemented my opinion. But then I had a chance to read the first volume, and I fell in love. In love with Luffy and his outlook, with the quirky cast of characters, and most of all with the sense of hope and optimism that threaded through the manga.
5. The Secrets of Jin-Shei (Liked less) - A story set in a fantasy version of China, populated by female characters and focused on their interactions and friendships, lives and struggles? Count me there! But some writing decisions that just didn't work for me left me pretty ambivalent about this book by the end.
6. Hogfather (Liked less) - I'm a fan of Terry Pratchett, and Hogfather is widely considered one of his best books. Everyone I knew who liked his stories liked this one and recced it. So I finally read it and... it was okay? I mean, it was well-written and engaging, the characters were fun and the themes it explored were very interesting to explore. But it just never grabbed me.
7. Kushiel's Dart - I hadn't ever read a fantasy book that read so much like a romance at the time. I didn't think I'd like it, but I was very, very wrong. And while Carey isn't one of my top five authors or anything, I've enjoyed to one extent or another everything I've read from her since.
8. Santa Olivia (Liked less) - After reading the Terre d'Ange books, I was ready to give anything Carey wrote a go. and while I liked Santa Olivia and its ties to superhero literature, it never captured me the way Kushiel's Dart had.
9. Crimson (Liked more) - I always thought of comics in a particular and not terribly flattering way in my high school days. But after graduating from college, I had a local comic book store which I sometimes went into for some of the games and other stuff they offered. And in there as well was the first trade of Crimson. I bit back my pride, bought the book, and started not only giving comics books an equal chance, but to check out anything Ramos did.
10. Goblin Tales (Liked less) - I love Jim Hines' work. I loved the Jig novels, I loved the Princess books and to only a slightly lesser extent, I loved Libriomancer. But for some reason, I just couldn't get into this collection of short stories. Probably part of the issue being that I don't really like reading short stories. I want a story I can immerse myself into for a while.
Don't you think a lot of how we feel about a book is influenced by the buildup a book has been given? I'm often disappointed by books that had a big buildup.
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Ten List of Books I Never Expected to Like.
I totally agree. That's why I sometimes just try and avoid the hype machine books all together - STILL haven't read the Hunger Games books. But maybe once I do it'll turn out like HP. :)
DeleteI like how you mixed up your list. I'll have to check out Crimson, as I love graphic novels. It's always nice to find a book that surprises you in a good way!
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten
Be warned, it's a pretty angsty vampire story. :) I'm not sure it was objectively good, but it hit certain styles that just made me fall in love.
DeleteHarry Potter is a wonderfully common thread in these lists. I never thought to put it on mine because I'd read it that many years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why, but for me Harry Potter was always the definitive example for me of a book I expected not to like and got blindsided by. I suspect part of it's just when I read it, and how hungry I was at the time for a new fantasy series to sink my teeth into (and how unaware I was of wanting that)
DeleteI haven't read any of these except Harry Potter. Actually, I was the same as you. When the fourth book came out, I begrudgingly started the series not expecting much, but now I love them all.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read The Help, but it's been on my list for a while now.
I'd say it's probably worth reading - it clearly speaks to a lot of people. I just wasn't one of them.
DeleteI love that I'm not the only one who has HP on the list. Though, I think I liked The Help more than I expected just because the premise didn't grab me and I only read it on recommendation from a friend. Great list!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
I've only read a few of these, but I did really like THE HELP. It wasn't the most amazing book I'd ever read, just one I enjoyed. I read THE THIRTEENTH TALE, I just can't remember if I liked it or not ...
ReplyDeleteOh no, The Help is on my to read list! However, I haven't let myself read too much of the hype around it, so hopefully I'll get on okay with it. I sometimes think it's the build up that lets a book down.
ReplyDeleteSarah