Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This is a tough one, because one of the things I especially like to focus on is that recommendations should nearly ALWAYS depend on the person to whom you are recommending. [Boy, I hope that came out grammatically correct.] There are certain types of books that I know certain types of people will like or not like or turn their nose up at, etc. Knowing the reader is essential. You don't have to know them like your best friend, but know at least a little of what they like. So, here are my top recommendations for some kinds of people:
If they are fans of classics:
1 - Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson (for Jane Austen fans)
2 - Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore (this is one of the first classic books I just found laugh out loud funny)
3 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (like a soap opera, this story)
4 - Precious Bane by Mary Webb (so, so moving)
If they like something exciting, fast-paced, action-packed:
1 - Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (hey, they are popular for a reason)
2 - Divergent by Veronica Roth (same here)
3 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
4 - Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
If they want something that will bend their minds or with awesome twists or surprises:
1 - The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
2 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
3 - Unwind by Neal Shusterman
4 - Variant by Robison Wells
For sheer I-Loved-It-To-Death factor:
1 - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
2 - For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
3 - Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
4 - House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
5 - The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
For laughs:
1 - Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
2 - Rick Riordan's stuff
3 - The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
4 - The Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud
For tears:
1 - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2 - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
3 - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
4 - Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
What are your top recommendations?
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Posts
Great categories, Melissa! I love your qualifier "top recommendations for some kinds of people." Lol.
ReplyDeleteI know, for some reason I just have a hard time saying anyone and everyone should read these :)
DeleteI love both Code Name Verity and The Book Thief. Both amazing, amazing books. Great recommendations!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteAlso, Precious Bane and Lorna Doone both look really good.
ReplyDeletePrecious Bane is such a wonderful book, it really changed the way I thought. Perfect for me at the time. And I don't even remember much about Lorna Doone, but the main man (whose name I can't even remember or bother to look up) was just so self-deprecating and funny!
DeleteCategories! Perfect idea! I love this and agree with them all.
ReplyDeleteI know, everything with me has to have categories :)
DeleteYou were smart to do categories. And, I agree -- it's hard to recommend books to people when you don't know them or don't know them very well. Books are just so subjective that way!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I always feel like I have to have a disclaimer about recommendations, but I'd rather know the reader a little bit.
DeleteGreat lists! I'm glad you did categories. I struggled with mine because I couldn't list all of the ones I wanted to, depending on what they were looking for!
ReplyDeleteI know, there were really so many fabulous books we readers love to recommend, I had to sneak in my extras this way :)
DeleteThis looks like an awesome list. Thank you for how you review books. I often read the YA books with my 11 year old and it helps me to know language and sex content ahead of time. Much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you find the ratings helpful. I like to know what's in a book in advance too, which is one reason I do them. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI love the categories, too! My already huge reading list just got a bit bigger.
ReplyDeleteThere was a great kindle deal on Hero's Guide, and I remembered how much you like it, so I grabbed it. I can't wait to get to it! :)
Ooh, I hope you like Hero's Guide, it is so much fun!
Delete"Knowing the reader is essential." I love that! It's very considerate of you. You read quite a range, and it's interesting that you have favorites from many different genres/themes. I'm more limited in what I choose to read.
ReplyDeleteI actually am more limited now in what I read, but some of these are favorites from when I read more widely :)
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