Today's Topic:
Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like MORE/LESS Than I Did
More
(Books I Thought I'd Like More, But Didn't)
- Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld- This just sounded like a "me" book. Mysterious death and 2 girls that are eerily connected in some way. That's so me... but the writing in it was too adjective-y. And the plot was super thin.
- Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill- I had heard so many people raving about this book and it looked so cute!! And it was cute, but that's all it was for me... cute.
- The Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John- I was SO excited to read this book. The idea of a deaf girl managing a band intrigued me. But I just didn't connect with any of the characters.
- Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn- I thought I would LOVE this book. I love books set around Christmas-time and I love alternating chapters. I heard so many good things about it that I knew it was a good fit for me. It was ok, but pretty short... and Lily was SO annoying!!
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs- When I heard this was based off of creepy pictures that the author found, I was so interested. I just knew this book was going to be awesome. It was just ok.
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta- I actually read this before I ever heard anyone talk about it. But when I found it at the library, I thought it sounded like something I would really be into. And I just didn't get it. I thought it was really well written, but I just didn't connect.
- Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli- I had wanted to read this for a long long time before I actually did. It sounded so cool and it has this book-cultish following. I liked it ok, but was very middle of the road on it.
Less
(Books I Didn't Know I Would Love)
- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin- I thought it was going to be more supernatural and less contemporary.....I was pleasantly surprised.
- Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo- The cover didn't wow me... and I guess I judge books by their covers.
- Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry- I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't expect it to become my fav. book of 2012!
- After by Amy Efaw- I have a child so I wasn't sure if I could do this book or not. I definitely didn't think I would ever end up having an understanding for the M/C.
- Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler- I had never read a Sarah Ockler before, so I had zero expectations. I also didn't read the back of the book because I thought it was going to be a light-fluffy book about meeting 20 boys. Umm WRONG!! It was so freaking good and emotional and NOT about 20 boys.
Which books did you guys really expect to like more or less than you did?
I love Melina Marchetta's writing and Jellicoe Road is the first book I owned by her but I ended up reading The Piper's Son and Saving Francesca first. Hopefully I'll connect with the story. I loved flipping through Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for the pictures and I've been tempted to buy it but I heard the story was average as well. Pushing the Limits was disappointing for me, I couldn't really connect to the characters but I did get emotional at times.
ReplyDeleteIsa @ Chasing Quills
Miss Peregrine's Home fell REALLY flat for me too! I couldn't understand how such a GREAT premise could be so....meeeeeh. =(
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Me too! It didn't quite make my TTT list but I was SO intrigued by the photos.
DeleteWere either of you weirded out by the whole (SPOILER) macking-on-your-grandfather's-ex thing?(/SPOILER) I couldn't get over it.
YES!!! I thought it was totally icky to be hooking up w/ your grandfather's ex!! I mean totally weird! And I thought Jacobs "peculiarity" was going to be cooler than it was.
DeleteI didn't expect to love Pushing The Limits, either, but now I'm very excited for the companion novel, Dare You To! I loved Jellicoe Road but I can definitely understand why not everyone would like it. Nice list!
ReplyDeleteYes! Mara Dyer just attacked with with awesomeness so so good!
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten
Great lists. I loooved Pushing the Limits, and really enjoyed The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer too.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
YES!! Your list has me excited--- I have Mara Dyer and Pushing the Limits lined up to be read next!! Kinda sad though to see Jellicoe and Miss Peregrine's on there--- haven't read them, but was looking forward to them. I do have Jellicoe already, but will probably still buy Miss Peregrine's as well just because otherwise I'll always wonder about it! haha
ReplyDeleteGlad you found my blog so that I could find yours!!
The only book I haven't read on your "that I'd like less" list is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I guess I should read that one because I liked all the others (although I was disappointed with Love and Other Perishable Items like you saw on my TTT list).
ReplyDeleteI've had Meant to Be and Jellicoe Road for a while and haven't gotten around to them. People seem to go crazy for Jellicoe Road but when I read the description I just kind of think "meh."
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Great lists!
Jellicoe Road was just really confusing to me... there were A LOT of characters to keep track of and flashbacks and I was just really confused for the first 1/3 of the book.
DeleteI felt the same for DASH & LILLY and 5 FLAVORS OF DUMB. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into it and I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. For the books you loved more than you thought you would, I haven't read any of them! But I'll remedy that soon :) Great list!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Great list! I felt exactly the same way you did about Meant to Be, Dash and Lily, Mara Dyer, and Pushing the Limits. So sad about the first two, even though they weren't bad really, they just weren't great like I wanted. And so happy about the others, I love finding books that exceed my expectations!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
I didn't expect much from Dash & Lily's anyway, so I wasn't really that disappointed.. I was mindblown by how much I was able to relate to Katie McGarry's characters. PtL is a sure favorite of mine :D
ReplyDeleteTop Ten Tuesday
Check This Out! :)
So, so glad you loved Pushing the Limits. I was surprised with how much I loved it too. It was one of my favorites for sure.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way with Meant to Be. It was cute, but I was expecting to love it a lot more.
Completely agree with your comments on 'Meant To Be'. 'Dash and Lily's Book of Dares' was a disappointment for me too (after Nick and Norah). Strangely enough I hated 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer'; so many people love it and I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteLOVED Mara Dyer! It's so gripping and fast-paced!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read it, but I've heard such good things about 20 Boy Summer. I need to snag it from my media center when the kids return it! :)
ReplyDeleteI read After last May and it was such a well written book. It was a great book.
ReplyDeleteWow! There are some surprising books on this list! I LOVE the new look of your blog btw! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!! I like it too... it was SO time for a change :)
DeleteI loved Pushing the Limits so much! I expected to because of what authors I love said about it, but I was still wowed :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I really want to read Mara Dyer already!! I keep hearing how great it is - same with Twenty Boy Summer.
About your comment on my blog: don't bother with Beautiful Disaster. Judging from what you said I can tell you you won't like Travis. Save yourself the hair you'd pull out because of it...
Thanks for stopping by yesterday :)
Oh my goodness, completely agree with you about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I was so intrigued by how the story was thought up, but went into it expecting something else entirely. I thought it would have more of a creepy feel to it and it read more to me like a Lemony Snicket novel. That's not bad, but also not what I was hoping for.
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