Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed but Hardly Ever Talk About

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme originally created by The Broke and The Bookish and is currently run by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

It's Tuesday again! I want to apologize for how few posts I've managed to get up in the last little bit -- you'd think I'd have extra time for blogging now that I'm stuck indoors, but apparently not! :P Know that I am not wasting away the time on Pinterest -- I've been focusing intensely on my fiction writing in the last little while, juggling two WIP novels and a short story. It's been fun. :)

But on to this week's prompt! I honestly thought I was going to have trouble coming up with the books for this week -- books I enjoyed, but rarely talk about. I'm a very excitable reader, who loves shoving her latest fave onto anyone who will listen. 

But when I started making this list -- surprise, surprise -- I came up with ten books easily. Apparently I'm not quite as excitable as I thought. :P

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: A British operative in Nazi-occupied France is captured and forced to reveal Allied secrets. 

I don't know why I don't talk about this book more, since I genuinely did enjoy it. I guess it just doesn't fit with any of the topics I've really focused on here. Maybe I should do a historical recommendations post? (Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in something like this!)

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: Six dangerous outcasts, an impossible heist, small chance of success. Or survival.

I was as surprised as anyone when I realized just how little I actually talk about this book. Because I did like it. A lot, actually. I have no idea why it doesn't come up in my conversation more often. 

3. Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: As Wren's behavior and addictions spiral out of control, her parents send her to a wilderness rehabilitation camp.

This is definitely an underrated book! It's not something I would immediately pick for myself to read, either, so I'm really glad my book club forced me to pick it up, because I adored it. I thought it handled its subject matter really well, and I loved the female friendships in it as well. 

4. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: A strange new star rises in the sky, and normal people develop superpowers. But this isn't the beginning of a superhero story -- it's the beginning of the apocalypse.

I actually know why I don't talk about this one too much -- it's because Brandon Sanderson's other books are so much better. :P But Steelheart is actually really good, though it does have its flaws (and books 2 and 3 should not have been written, in my opinion). But a superhero dystopia is a really interesting concept, and the first book displayed this splendidly (along with some great plot twists).

5. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

My Rating: ★★★★

One Sentence Description: With twelve hours until her family is deported, Natasha isn't looking for friendship, and definitely not love. But then she meets Daniel, and everything changes. Can you fall in love in a single day?

I read most of this book in a single day (so the same amount of time the story takes place over!) and I loved it. The ending actually had me close to tears. Was it because I was feeling particularly emotional that day? Maybe. But I do think it's a great book, and I really should recommend it more often.

6. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: Meggie's father has the ability to read characters out of stories -- with dire consequences.

This is a childhood favourite that I'm pretty sure stands the test of time. Inkheart is a story about every book lover's dream -- what if fictional characters could come to life? And it's fabulous. The audiobook narrator also does an amazing job. :)

7. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

My Rating: ★★★★

One Sentence Description: Online, Eliza Mirk is LadyConstellation -- the anonymous creator of the popular webcomic, Monstrous Sea. IRL, her life is falling apart.

I really enjoyed this book. It's another contemporary that I don't talk enough about. Eliza's passion for her story was really relateable for me, since I'm also a storyteller (though I don't think I'd have the patience to draw a webcomic!) I also really appreciated the anxiety rep in this story and thought it was very thoughtfully written.

8. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: A senior demon writes letters to his nephew instructing him how to capture the soul of a young man.

I know The Chronicles of Narnia is the series that makes C.S. Lewis's books famous, but honestly? I enjoyed The Screwtape Letters more. I think that the whole idea of it was superb, and Lewis is a genius storyteller -- using the most unreliable narrator possible in order to showcase so much truth. I thought it was a brilliant story, and I loved it a lot. 

9. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: The Dashwood sisters Marianne and Elinor are very different from each other, but draw closer together through the trials of love and heartbreak.

I think this was my favourite of Jane Austen's books. I loved Elinor and Marianne's relationship -- sisters in fiction so rarely have good relationships, so I enjoyed seeing theirs grow and develop. Plus, Captain Brandon was amazing. <3

10. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

My Rating: ★★★★★

One Sentence Description: Lina's family is forced into a Soviet work camp during a dark period of Lithuania's history.

This is another hard hitting book about World War 2. This book focuses on a dark period of World War 2 that not many people know about -- Stalin's concentration camps. It was a really impactful book, and I'm interested in picking up more of Sepetys's books. I guess that historical fiction must not be something I talk too much about. I should change that.



And that about wraps it up! Now it's your turn! What books did you enjoy but hardly ever talk about? Have you read any of the books on this list, and if so, what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: Fantasy Books That Give Me All the Feels

I'm so excited to do this week's Top Ten Tuesday! I honestly had a hard time picking what to do for today's topic -- genre freebie, which means a lot more thinking on my part, and then narrowing down the millions of options I now have. But in the end, I decided to go with a topic I know really well -- fantasy books. And more specifically, fantasy books that give me all the feels, whether those be happy feels or sad feels or any other kind of feels.

Basically, the fantasy books that have stayed with me.

For the sake of ease, I'm not including Harry Potter on this list. First, because I include Harry Potter on pretty much all of my lists, and it's starting to get embarrassing. (Am I that obsessed?) And two, because I want to talk about some fantasy books that at least some people haven't heard of. And I'm pretty sure the entire Internet knows who Harry Potter is.

So, without further ado, let's get started!

1. Mistborn: The Final Empire and The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Okay, The Well of Ascension did give me some serious feels as well. But the first, and especially the last books in the trilogy were an emotional rollercoaster, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried (actual tears) at the end of The Hero of Ages. 

2. This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Victoria Schwab's writing in these books was. So. Beautiful. Every time I think about these books, I want to re-read them to experience them all over again. The emotions I felt while reading these books are just more than words can express. The characters and the character arcs and the hope despite the darkness just hit me right in the feels.

3. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Oh, look, it's my newest, latest, and greatest obsession! But this series also hits you in the feels. Repeatedly. With a sledgehammer.
The end of The Raven King, especially, was amazing and beautiful and also a freaking gut-punch.

4. The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

I know, I know, I can't stop talking about these books. I'm sorry. Not sorry. But these books are so, so good! I can't stop recommending them to anyone and everyone who will listen.
The characters are so lifelike and real, and some of the scenes (in all three books) gave me chills. Or made me tear up. Or made me outright laugh.
Which I consider to be an amazing thing.

5. Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier


My mom actually read this aloud to me and my brothers a few years ago, and I remember distinctly the part where I was actually starting to tear up listening and had to turn away so no one would see me crying over a kid's book. :P
Auxier has a gift for writing children's stories that are timeless, and his books are criminally underrated. Sweep is my favorite of his stories, though I have yet to read The Night Gardener. 

6. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I still can't get over the ending. It was so perfect. I'm going to start getting into spoilers if I say any more, but suffice it to say that Maggie Stiefvater knows how to end her stories well. And with tears. I won't say whether they're the happy variety or the sad variety. You can find out for yourself when you go read this book. *gentle push towards Overdrive because you shouldn't break quarantine for a book*

7. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

It was the movie that made me cry first. Then the book. Well. Technically they only both made me tear up, but it still counts. The ending, though! You know those endings that are... not sad exactly... but still make you cry so hard? Like the end of the Les Miserables movie? That's what the ending for this is like, too. And so even though I like the movies better, this book still makes it onto my list.

8. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Does this even count as fantasy? *quickly Googles* Well, Wikipedia says it is, so I guess I'm rolling with it. I love this book. It's a really quick read, but it stays with you. And yes, it nearly made me cry. Most of these books nearly made me cry. If I read it again, I probably will cry.
This is a book about a boy whose Mom has terminal cancer. There's a monster, and fairy-tale like stories, but at its core, this is a story about grief. And it handles it beautifully.

And that about wraps it up! Bookworms, now it's your turn! What are some fantasy books that you cried over (or laughed over)? Have you read any of the books on this list? Let me know in the comments!