This week I’ve decided to take part in ‘Top Ten Tuesday’ again hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s topic is ‘Books I Read Because Someone Recommended Them to Me’. This wasn’t an easy topic for me as I’m rarely recommended books personally, so I’ve had to ‘cheat’ on a few of these!
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
When I was eleven or twelve my mum recommended ‘Twilight’ to me after reading the first book in the series. At the time, I don’t think she realised she was starting my first teenager obsession phase, otherwise I don’t think she would have recommended it to me – I spent far too much time obsessing over Edward – but I’m grateful she did. No matter what I think of this book now it was my introduction to YA fiction and I wouldn’t be here without it.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
A librarian recommended this book to me years ago, and I’ve only managed to pick it up this year. This was the first Gaiman book I’ve ever read – I know it’s a crime it took me that long – and I loved it; he’s an incredible storyteller and has such a fascinating imagination and I’m really excited to try more of his work in the future. This was one of the better recommendation’s on my list, as it introduced me to an incredible writer.
The Binding by Bridget Collins
If you follow this blog you may know I do series where I read and review all of the books in Waterstone’s ‘Fiction Books of the Month’ list this year (I am several months behind at the moment but that’s not the point). Whilst this may technically not be a recommendation as I’m required to read it for that series, it led me to ‘The Binding’, one of my favourite reads of the year (you must read it if you haven’t) and so many other great books.
The Silence of The Girls by Pat Barker
I believe I was recommended this book by a bookseller in a Waterstone’s early this year in January. Whilst I didn’t like the story, it was the first book I ever reviewed for this blog (read it here), and it led me to reading ‘Circe’ by Madeline Miller, so even though I don’t like the book at all it did lead to some important things in my life.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
This is my mum’s favourite book of all time, and she badgered me for years to read it before I gave in a few years ago and tried it. I didn’t like it all, which as you can imagine was a great disappointment to my mum; I’m also not sure I would like it now even though I’m favourable to classics at this age. I think I’ll try it again for the sake of my mum at some point but it just wasn’t for me and I can’t in good faith recommend it to anyone else either.
Scythe by Neil Shusterman
When the first book in the ‘Arc of a Scythe’ came out it felt like every mainstream booktuber at the time recommended this book to anyone watching. So I did pick it up based on those recommendations, and whilst I don’t think this trilogy is groundbreaking, I have just finished ‘The Toll’ and overall I enjoyed the trilogy – even though I have some problems with it.
We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
Whilst this wasn’t recommended to me specifically – like many books on this list weren’t. I came upon this recommendation on BooksandLala’s youtube channel. I can’t remember what video she spoke about this in, but I ended up picking the book up because of her and I really enjoyed it, and I do want to pick up more by this author in the future so it was a successful recommendation.
When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk
Again, if you follow this blog you may know I do a series called ‘Buzzfeed Recommends‘ and this is one of the books that I’ve read for this series. Whilst this series has led to some great and awful reads (I consider giving up at one point it was so bad), this one so far is probably my favourite and it is one I recommend to every YA reader. It is simply fantastic and I adore it.
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Okay this book is kind of a cheat, as my dad recommended Brandon Sanderson to me as an author rather than a specific book by him, and I then went and read the only Sanderson book he’s never read. BUT I did really like this, and I do have the Mistborn trilogy sitting on my shelves begging to be read because of this book.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
This book wasn’t recommended to me by anyone specifically, because book bloggers, booktubers and people in my life were recommending this book for a while. I picked it up earlier this year and just like everyone else whose ever read it it completely captivated me and was a wonderful and insightful read. And again, if you haven’t read it, another book blogger (aka me) is recommending it to you now.
Moonlit Books 
Nice list! Now I want to read “The Binding,” “Stardust”, “Warbreaker”, and your last pick.
My TTT: https://steppingstonesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2020/10/top-ten-tuesdays-recommended-books.html
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They’re all great, I hope you get to read them soon!!:)
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Ahhh good old Twilight. It was probably the first series I actually read. I had read standalones before it but SERIES? I didn’t even know those existed lol I’ve always wanted to do a reread of it now that I am an adult and it’s actually probably very terrible XD
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oh wow!! That’s so sweet that it was your first series. If you want to reminisce without cringing at the original I would recommend Midnight Sun – you will cringe and it’s awful but it won’t overtly taint the memories of the original 😂
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As a mom myself, I love that your mom got you into Twilight, which was like your gateway to loving to read as an adult!
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Yh I love it too! It’s really nice she started it and our tastes still sometimes match!
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I’ve heard good things about Stardust!
My post.
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It’s brilliant!
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I really enjoyed Scythe but I haven’t read the rest of the series yet.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/top-ten-tuesday-286/
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I hope you get a chance to soon, thunderhead is a great sequel!
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That’s good to hear 🙂
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I love that your mom was so influential on your reading habits. That’s awesome. I wish my kids would take more of my reading recommendations! LOL.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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You make me feel SO old when you tell me about your first time reading Twilight. LOL. I read We Are the Ants based on a blogger named Nick recommending it to me. I don’t think he has his blog anymore.
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Neil Gaiman is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!
Lauren @ Always Me
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Stardust was recommended to me as well and while it’s not my favourite Gaiman book it did introduce me to his writing which made it easier to read his other works.
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