Hey guys! It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, which is currently being run by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. We knew instantly that we wanted to take part in this weekly meme because both of us love making list, so this is perfect!
This week’s (September 3rd, 2019) topic: Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside of My Comfort Zone
Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
I read this early on when I joined the online YA community. I was really hesitant on picking up a sci-fi book because I didn’t think I would like that sort of thing. Thankfully I was dead wrong. Illuminae (and a couple after it) opened me up to a completely new category, now I love it.
Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely
The cover on this is amazing, so that is what really drove me to this book, I’m not going to lie. My only hesitation was that it was a western. I had never read a western and still have no experience in the genre – but this ended up being tons of fun. It wasn’t super heavy western and that made it really accessible to me. I would try another western, if it feature a female lead.
Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno
I don’t think I’m the only one that when I hear “magical realism,” I run in the other direction. I think I just had this preconceived notion of it that I didn’t like it and a couple of kind of meh experiences with it. I decided to give this one a try this year and I five starred it and fell in love with Katrina’s writing. I am not near as nervous of words “magical realism” anymore because of this book.
Saga Vol 1. by Brian K. Vaughan
This was WAY outside my comfort zone. I had zero experience with graphic novels or comic books and Saga was a little out there for something that I would normally grab. Thank god for branching out and getting out of my head. I own the nine volumes that have been released so far and freaking love it. I also now read graphic novels pretty regularly.
This is all I can think of right now. Anything else I choose would just be more from the same genres and that seems a bit redundant.
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
I got this book in an Owlcrate Box and didn’t really want to read it. I’m not a major contemporary reader and even less hard-hitting contemporaries. If I do pick up a contemporary it’s usually fluff. I did decide to pick The Serpent King up and I am sooooo happy I did. It’s now one of my favourite books ever and Jeff Zentner is an auto-buy since then.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
I don’t really enjoy non-fiction. It’s not my thing, I mostly read to try and forget about real life, lol. But I was gifted this one and love love love Mindy. I am really happy I read it, it was so much fun and instructive.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
I wasn’t sure about this book when I first got it. It was given to me by a friend and since I knew she loved it so much I decided to give it a go. Again this was a hard-hitting contemporary with maybe a touch of fantasy. I wasn’t sure what I would think of it, but I absolutely loved it. It left me a ball of emotion.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
I haven’t watched the show yet but I decided to give the book a shot. I don’t pick dystopian a lot and even less adult dystopian. I didn’t really know what to expect from it but I must say I really liked it.
What books did you enjoy that are outside of your comfort zone? Let us know in the comments!
Great list!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Illuminae was definitely a book I enjoyed outside my comfort zone!
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It’s so good! Love me some AIDAN!
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Great list! The Handmaid’s Tale, Illuminae and Summer of Salt are all on my TBR. 🙂
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This looks like a fantastic list!! I love Saga too. You might try his other series Y: The Last Man. I actually preferred that one to Saga, but I will say it’s much less complex.
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I’ve seen that one around but never picked it up. I guess that is going to have to go on my TBR now! Thank you for the great recommendation!
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I hope you love it!
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I’m glad you’re liking The Handmaid’s Tale! The book is different from the film in some key ways. It’s much less violent, for one. 🙂
My TTT.
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Some great books on this list! I’ve read the first couple of graphic novels in the Saga series. So good! I need to get back to that series and catch up. Also, A Monster Calls is one of my favorite books. So emotional!
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A Monster Calls kills me. I loved it but it’s one I don’t think I’d read again – too sad.
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Great choices! Illuminae was out of my comfort zone, too, but I loved it so much.
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Right?!
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🙂
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omg I still haven’t read The Serpent King, and I also got it with Owlcrate!
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Haha I feel like that is a lot of us with sub boxes. I need to buckle down and do like a month where I catch up on some sub box books because it’s getting stupid LOL
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Great List! I definitely agree on Non-Fiction and The Handmaid’s Tale. Here is my post – https://paigesofbook.blogspot.com/2019/09/ttt-books-i-loved-out-of-my-comfort-zone.html.
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I definitely want to try Illuminae sometime! I was hesitant to read it when it first came about, because I wasn’t sure what to think of the mixed media format, but I’ve heard nothing but praises for it, so why not. 😀 And yay, glad to hear Saga was a hit for you!
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Illuminae is amazing. The format is so much fun and different. Even if it’s a huge book, it reads so fast
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Illuminae *nods* I mean I read a lot of sci-fi but for some reason this one just looked… IDK, not in my comfort zone? Not even sure why, but I loved it and the second one even more! Yay for trying new things. 🙂
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Gemina was so amazing. I loved both but I do agree that Gemina was even funner
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Yes! Every time one of the strike team people got killed and there was like an X through their name I cracked up. And the music that kept playing and no one could turn it off, if I remember right. So many good moments. 🙂
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@Melanie: Yay for Illuminae! Gunslinger Girl does have a gorgeous cover, too. I’m not one for Westerns, either, but after reading Rebel of the Sands, I sort of dig the girl with a gun idea a little more.
@Mirielle: I want to read A Monster Calls, too! So glad it was such a win for you.
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Just prepare your heart. I probably cried for 10 minutes afterwards
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Oh noooo. Thanks for the heads up. I’ve heard a lot of good about the author and I just haven’t picked anything of his up yet, but our library has this one, at least. I’ll have to wait and squeeze it into something more upbeat to offset it lol.
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Gunslinger Girl, the Handmaid’s Tale and Summer of Salt are very much out of my comfort zone — magical realism in particular. I just have not been able to get into it at all.
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I loved The Illuminae files! The Gunslinger girl was a mixed bag for me but I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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It is always great when books you are unsure of end up being such great hits. I have heard great things about The Serpent King. I almost bought it once when I still thought it was a fantasy and not a contemporary haha.
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I didn’t love “Gunslinger Girl,” and I was SO ready too. It looks like so much fun, and though I’m not big on westerns like I was as a teen, I liked that it was a western since I never see that in the fiction I look at. Still, I’m glad I read it, and like this fun cover 100 times better over the recent redesign! Thanks bunches for visiting Finding Wonderland last week. 🙂
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