Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Top Ten Tuesday-Not my typical books

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic isBooks I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone (or books you’d like to read that are outside your comfort zone!) I feel like I have done this topic before, or something similar, but since I couldn't find it, I will just apologize if this is a repeat, LOL! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can head over there to see what our other bookish friends are up to today.   

Top Ten Tuesday-Books I've read and enjoyed that were outside my comfort zone 

The Phantom of the Tollbooth by Norton Juster-I am not a middle grade reader, or a fantasy reader. I don't like talking animals. However, I have listened to this several times on trips when my kiddos were young, and it is so well done. I think it was the literal aspect of it that I enjoyed most.
Holes by Louis Sachar-I read this one recently for book club. Again, I am not a middle grade reader, but this one is realistic fiction, and it kept my interest.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer-again, not a fantasy reader, not into vampires (or ghosts) or anything of the like. However, one of my friends bought me this book when I was overseas. We were getting ready to be back in the states and I thought she would ask if I had read it, and I wanted to be able to say yes. I was impressed with how well-written it was and how clean.
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell-I am not a huge classics fan either. I think because they are SO heavy on description, and I prefer more dialogue driven stories. However, I liked this one alright. I don't think I will read it again, but I am glad I got through it the first time.
Divergent by Veronica Roth-If you know me at all you know I am not a Sci-fi reader, or dystopian. I am not sure what compelled me to read this one, but I did and I really enjoyed it.
Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund-again, I am not a fantasy reader, nor I am into time travel, yet again, I really enjoyed this one. It was such a compelling read and I was engaged with the story, so much so that I read the second book. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first, and while the series continued after that, I was not interested enough to pick up the other books. 
The Hearts Charge by Karen Witemeyer-I rarely read western's or books about cowboys, I have my reasons, but because I like Karen's writing, I picked up this book. And, I loved it. It was so well-written, and the characters were amazing. This one is my favorite of the series.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee-this was another book club read and not one I would pick up. If the story had been told from any other perspective other than Scout's I would not have enjoyed it. However, her sass and personality made the story.
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster-I tried this one because I was trying to read more classics. I had seen it recommended and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did, I absolutely loved this story. It made me laugh and giggle, Jerusha's letters were just so funny.
The Serendipity by Emma St. Clair-you all know I love Emma St. Clair, but I do not read magic stories, not even magical realism ones. They are not my cup of tea. But, because I do love Emma's books, I gave this one a try. I really enjoyed it. I felt like the magic in this one was as "realistic" as it could be.

Clicking on the picture will take you to my review, if I have written one, a few of these were before I started blogging. 

So, there you have it. Ten books I have read that were outside of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed them anyway. Have you read any of these? 

What topic did you do today? I would love for you to share in the comments. To see what other topics our bookish friends are doing this week click on the image below.

40 comments:

  1. It was my son as a kid who recommended Phantom Tollbooth to me, and I'm so glad he did. I also loved Holes, which I found when I was reading all the Newbery books. North and South was a classic I liked, and I felt happy to have read it.

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  2. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic.
    rsrue.blogspot.com

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  3. I need to read Daddy Long Legs! I need to move that up my TBR.

    I love To Kill a Mockingbird. It is one of my all time favorites. And my cousin yesterday compared me favorably to Scout and that is now a treasured compliment.

    My son loved The Phantom Tollbooth! I was not as big of a fan as he was - I am not as into that sort of absurdist kind of lit but I did like parts. However, he LOVED it.

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    1. Erin, Yes, read Daddy Long Legs!! I am glad Wyatt loved The Phantom Tollbooth, it's not normally my thing, but the lesson learned was good.

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  4. I've read three, Holes, Twilight, and To Kill a Mockingbird...I feel like I read TOAM too young and didn't have the knowledge to fully appreciate it's value... I read Twilight too old and loved it anyway.

    https://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2025/11/top-ten-books-that-push-my-comfort-zone.html

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    1. LOL, funny. I read To Kill a Mockingbird this year, had I read it as a teenager, wouldn't have gotten as much out of it as I did.

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  5. It is good to be surprised by a book that is outside your comfort zone like Twilight.
    Here's a link to my TTT post
    https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/%f0%9f%93%9a-toptentuesday-10-books-outside-my-comfort-zone-reading-tuesdaybookblog-booktwitter-bookx/

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  6. I do love the feeling of reading outside of your comfort zone and surprisingly loving it anyway!

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    1. Lindsey, sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't even want to try, LOL!

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  7. The Phantom Tollbooth is such a classic.

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    1. Lydia, I agree. I don't know why I was never introduced to it as a child.

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  8. I read Twilight! I thought it was good. Have a good week! Here is my TTT.https://dmhoisington.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/top-ten-tuesday-9/comment-page-1/#comment-1039

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  9. I forget about the Twilight books. I read them too and they were not my normal type of read for sure. :) Great list!

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  10. Glad you had to read To Kill a Mocking Bird!
    The Phantom of the Tollbooth: I read this 25 years ago, need to revisit it!

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    1. Emma, it's been a few years since my last reading of The Phantom of the tollbooth, but not quite that long ;)

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  11. Twilight was one of those weird series' when I was reading it, I was so immersed and invested but the second I finished it I....couldn't understand why I was so trapped in it! I love To Kill A Mockingbird, it's the one book I read for school that I feel held up and that I still love as an adult

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    1. Bree, I understand. I have no desire to read it again.

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  12. I've read Holes and To Kill a Mockingbird and enjoyed them both. Their adaptations are so amazing.
    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/ten-graphic-novels-ive-read-in-2025/

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  13. We only have Twilight in common! I was never appealed to Divergent LOL.

    My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/11/11/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-enjoyed-that-were-out-of-my-comfort-zone/

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  14. I read Twilight. I thought it was good, but I never felt the need or desire to read the rest of the series. I'm not big on reading about vampires although I have read a couple I enjoyed.

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    1. Yvonne, I read the entire series, but those are the only vampire books I think I have ever read.

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  15. I read North and South and enjoyed it! I do love the BBC mini series adaption of that book!

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  16. This time, there are a few books that I have read and liked: Holes, North and South, To Kill a Mockingbird, Daddy Longlegs. But none of them were outside my comfort zone. I did not like The Phantom Tollbooth, though.

    Here is my list of books outside my comfort zone:
    https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/top-ten-tuesday-books-outside-my.html

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  17. I have some Emma St. Clair books on my shelf but haven’t read any yet. Holes is a good movie, I might enjoy the book.

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    1. Carla, my book club all agreed it was interesting and well-written. I love Emma's books!

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  18. I still need to read those multi author "magic" contemporaries (they seem fun!) but don't read classics (probably can count the ones I did read on one hand) nor have I ever read a Veronica Roth or Stephanie Meyers book. It's fun to see readers have so much nostalgia for those though. :) Thanks so much for visiting my list this past week!

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    1. Rissi, I am still trying to find a few classics to read and enjoy.

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