Top Ten Tuesday-Books that surprised me

 Happy Tuesday, friends! The theme for today's top ten Tuesday is books I would hand to someone who claims to not like reading. This is difficult for me to do because I feel like you really have to know someone and their interests in order to find a book that will be a good fit for them. Plus, the mood they are in as well will affect their enjoyment of a book. So, I decided to tweak this a bit and do 10 books that surprised me-meaning that I enjoyed more than I thought I would (actually have 11 and could have kept going 😉). To find out what our other bookish friends are doing for Top Ten Tuesday check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

I highly recommend listening to this one on audio for your first reading, otherwise you might miss some of the sarcasm and allegory. This is NOT a genre I would normally read from, but it was fabulous!

 Flabbergasted got mixed reviews on Goodreads so I was not sure what to think. I listened to it on audio with my husband and our 16 year old son as we were traveling and we were rolling. Again, maybe listening to it on audio makes for a better experience than the actual reading, but it was hilarious.

 

 

I had never heard of Tom Threadgill but signed up to read his second book for a review because it sounded interesting. So, I went back and read the first book and devoured it! Devoured the second as well and hope there will be a third, again it was fabulous! My son loved them as well, and so did my husband. It is awesome to find authors who appeal to multiple age groups and both genders.

 

Jocelyn Green was another new author to me. Historical fiction is always hit or miss for me. I try to avoid it, but have read a ton of it this year. The reason is because of authors like Jocelyn who write in such a captivating way that I can't help but want more, and this is written about the Chicago fires, not something that has been overdone (or done much at all).

 

I listened to Kara Isaac's Then There was You on a trip where I was traveling by myself. I not only enjoyed the storyline and humor, but it gave me a love of audiobooks, something I rarely ever bothered with. It was engaging, witty, original, and you could physically see what the author was saying (which is not my strong suit)!

 

 Science fiction is not my genre, but I LOVED this Come Back to Me!
The writing is captivating and this story has it all: romance, suspense, strong characters, a well-developed and fast-paced storyline, seamless dual-timeline, and a great balance between dialogue and narration.

 

Again, Castle of Refuge is not a genre I would normally read. I read this one because it IS a genre my daughter would read and I wanted to see if she would enjoy it. It's a fairy tale retelling of The Ugly Duckling. From the first line to the last, Castle of Refuge captivated me. It is Gripping. Compelling. Powerful.  And faith is as natural as breathing. I apparently am missing out by not having read fairy tale retellings before!

 

I do love contemporary fiction so I figured I would enjoy A Flicker of Light. But, I kept putting it off because I figured it would be one that might be a little harder to get into. I was wrong. This one is also powerful. Emotional. Heart-wrenching. Deep. Gripping.

 

I love the Olympics and thought this would be a good read. I loved it!! This book is beautifully crafted. It is poignant and sweet.

 

I adored this children's book that had a lesson everyone needs to learn! Ben fills a need that most people scarcely realize they have, the need to be happy or to find joy in something.

 

While I love Amish fiction, Forbidden Gift, is a debut novel, so you never know what you are going to get. I have read a ton of books featuring the Amish. There is not much that surprises me and most tend to follow similar story lines. However, this one had a very unique storyline, starting with the bishop forbidding Joanna and her district from writing!!

 What did you decide to do for this weeks topic? Have you read any of these books? To see what other topics our bookish friends are doing this week click on the image below.