The Rosie Project (romance): I usually feel like love stories are mostly interesting to the people inside them, and feel too manipulated by romances to get into them. But even though I could see the strings being pulled on my heart as I read this, I didn't care. It was a treat!
The Hate U Give (young adult): I know plenty of adults read and enjoy YA, but I generally find it too straightforward to really engage me. This story about a black teenager who watches her friend get murdered by a cop, though, really grabbed me.
Battleborn (short stories): I am by and large not into short stories (I read way more of them for my book club than I would ever pick up on my own). I like sinking into a full-length narrative! And maybe it's because I live in Nevada, but this collection set in and around the Silver State are truly excellent.
The Nazi Officer's Wife (WWII memoir): I'll be honest, I tend to steer away from World War II memoirs, finding them emotionally taxing but often treading very similar territory to work already available. This one, though, had a perspective that was new to me and was very well-told.
The Lords of Discipline (military fiction): War stories are a big snore for me. This book is set in a military academy, but it's a beautifully rendered coming-of-age story that I'm so glad I took a chance on, because I love it.
The Girl With All The Gifts (horror): Usually telling me something has zombies in it is a ticket to a quick "no thanks". I heard this recommended so often that I decided to pick it up, and really enjoyed the tale it told about the relationship between a zombified girl and her teacher.
The Sky Is Yours (science fiction): This book is bananas. There are dragons, there's genetic engineering, there's all kinds of bizarre stuff. On paper, it seemed like something that would not at all do it for me but I couldn't put it down.
The Bear and the Nightingale (fantasy): I'm actually fairly amenable to fantasy if it's done well, and this whole series was a magical romp through Russian folklore.
In The Woods (mystery): I love books that are character-focused, and most mysteries are plot-focused, so that tends to leave me out of them. I appreciated that some things were left unresolved, but I mostly really enjoyed reading about the people.
Lincoln in the Bardo (experimental fiction): This is written like a play rather than a novel, and initially I found it off-putting but once I got past about halfway through, I was suddenly all in and wound up loving it.
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I've been meaning to read 'The Hate You Give' for ages, and I'm not big on YA either. I always like short stories when I read them, don't know why I don't pick them up more!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://basedonthebook.blogspot.com/2019/09/ttt-books-i-liked-that-were-out-of-my.html?view=magazine
If you enjoy short stories, I'd definitely recommend this collection, as well as Jhumpa Lahiri's The Interpreter of Maladies
DeleteI have read a few of these and liked them all very much. I really liked Lincoln In The Bardo, but can understand that most people I know couldn't get into it at all.
ReplyDeleteLincoln is a very weird one!
DeleteI have the same reaction to most romances, but I also really liked The Rosie Project.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
It's really charming!
DeleteI've been thinking about trying Tana French for a while, and that one In The Woods has beckoned me a few times! The Sky Is Yours sounds really quirky and interesting too- I love that bright cover!
ReplyDeleteCover design on The Sky Is Yours is definitely A+. And I really enjoyed In The Woods, but have heard the second one in that series (The Likeness) is really the best of them
DeleteI completely concur with Lincoln in the Bardo and The Hate U Give. It’s so important to try books that fall outside your comfort zone, I think.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to just read the stuff that you know you'll like, but taking a chance on new stuff can be so rewarding!
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