Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week,
they post a different topic, and you get to create your own top ten list. This week's topic:
Books That I Read That Were Outside My Comfort Zone
1) At Home by Bill Bryson - I love Bryson's travel books, but this is such a well researched, in depth look at our current homes. I normally shy away from nonfiction books, but this one was so good!
2) First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph Ellis - another nonfiction work, this one detailing the marriage of one of our founding fathers and his intelligent wife. A great book and definitely makes me want to read more of Ellis's books.
3) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I typically stay away from books with magic or time travel, but as I was standing there reading the back of this book in my local Borders store, an old man came up and said, "That is a phenomenal book. You should read it." That's all the more recommendation I needed, and he was right. Sometimes, it's good to take advice from strangers.
4) Forever by Pete Hamill - I don't like books with fairies or old Irish folklore, but the picture on this book was just too beautiful to pass up. I'm glad that I put aside my dislike for a subject so that I could read this beautiful story.
5) The Devil In the White City by Erik Larson - it sounded like an interesting story, but I didn't think that a book that was based upon actual events could be all that good. This book proved me wrong! And now, I love the narrative nonfiction genre!
6) A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - this book didn't really appeal to me, but after reading so many rave reviews and it winning the Pulitzer, I decided to give it a try. Wasn't for me, but glad that I pushed myself to read it.
7) Mice by Gordon Reece - I don't like being scared, so thrillers and horror stories are something that I avoid. This one sounded interesting and I decided to push my limits and read it. Turns out, was pretty good! Wasn't too intense, but definitely had me on the edge of my seat at times!
8) Moonlight on Linoleum by Terri Helwig - I really don't like memoirs focused on bad childhoods (like The Glass Castle), but thought that I should give them a chance. Wasn't my favorite memoir, but glad that I opened myself up to these types of books.
9) Twilight by Stephanie Meyers - now, I don't read paranormal/YA/romance, or any close to those. However, I got swept up in the hype. I liked this book, didn't like the rest of the series, and it gave me a taste of the YA paranormal romance genre (and one taste was all that I needed).
Well, that's all that I could come up with for this week. What books pushed you out of your comfort zone?
I love Bill Bryson books, too. Although At Home was good it wasn't my favorite - that one would have to go to The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. He's so funny! I was giggling through the entire book.
ReplyDeleteI loved At Home too!!
ReplyDeleteNonfiction is hard one for me too, but I really loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks! Need another time travel book? I highly recommend Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and Hourglass by Myra McEntire. They are YA, but so wonderful. Here is my list http://wp.me/pzUn5-F9
ReplyDeleteTwilight is on my list too. I'm glad to hear you liked At Home, I have had my eye on it for a while.
ReplyDeleteLaura @ The Scarlet Letter.