Top Ten Tuesday

April 9: Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger

Well...I've been blogging for, oh five minutes or so now, so this Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish is pretty much just a Top Ten list. I tend to have a hard time nailing down a list of favorites (of any type) because so much of my response to a book, or movie, or song, is tied to the particular place I was in when I first read it. And sometimes, even though I may LOVE a book, it doesn't necessarily hit the spot. So, here is a mostly arbitrary, and in no particular order, list.

1. The Boy Next Door, by Meg Cabot

As previously mentioned, this book is hilarious. I love the format; the entire story is told through emails, text messages, memos, etc. It is the literary version of a Chick Flick, and I can always count on it for a few relaxing and entertaining hours.


2. The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin

I recently assembled a new dresser. While doing so, I  discovered that most of my friends thought that sounded like a terrible time. But I enjoy it immensely. I could probably never design a piece of furniture that would be functional, but I am a kickass furniture assembler. I'm good at things that require step by step action. A goal, with clearly defined intermediate tasks sounds heavenly to me. And this book is organized in just such a way. It's a project with practical instructions, but also provides enough wiggle room that ANYONE can adapt it to their own unique situation. I'd be interested to see how some of my more creative minded friends would enjoy Rubin's style. Her methods make ALL kinds of sense to me, but is it just because she's organizing things the way that I prefer? 

3. Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner

This is another project/memoir book, and thus not difficult to see why it's another favorite of mine. The order, and organization that is intrinsic to this kind of project appeal to me, as do the authors introspection and self analysis. 

4. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell

I've been doing my best over the last few years to branch out from my usual genres, especially with regard to non-fiction. I think this was the first non-fiction book that I gave a 5 star rating. It was a fascinating look at why certain people are so successful.

5. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

This book earned a spot on this list because it was the first time I realized that I could actually enjoy Science Fiction. Now, I highly doubt that Sci-Fi/Fantasy are ever going to be my favorite genres, but because of this, I learned that I shouldn't write them off as a whole. It's still not my go to, but I'm much more willing to give them a shot these days.

6. The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory

Similarly to the last item on my list, this was one of the first Historical Fiction novels that I read, and I really enjoyed it. Were there problems with it? Sure. But I loved this book not just for what was between the covers. I loved this book because it made me want to learn more about the time period. I loved it because it made me more interested in history than any history class I ever took. And as far as I'm concerned, anything that makes a person want to keep reading, or prompts someone to study something, is a worthwhile use of time.

7. The Art of Racing in The Rain, by Garth Stein

I picked this book up when I was in line at Starbucks - and it was fantastic. It's probably exactly the opposite of The Boy Next Door, in terms of emotion, but it was every bit as enjoyable. Sometimes, you just want to read something that's gonna make you cry.

8. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

I'm about to embark on reading/rereading all of Vonnegut's books, so it'll be interesting to see if  this one stays on the list after I'm done. I've enjoyed all of the stuff that I've read by him, and it's likely that this one sticks in my head because it's the one that gets referenced the most often in pop. culture.

9. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

I have to be honest, I didn't enjoy this book the first time I read it. In fact, I don't think I really enjoyed it until the third time through. (And no, I don't habitually reread books that I don't like,  this was required reading, of sorts). But I did learn a valuable lesson - and that is that sometimes it's worth it to put in a little extra effort, you might find something you aren't expecting. This is the book that prompted me to start attempting more classics.

10. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

I'm obviously not alone in this. It's a classic of American Literature for a reason. I don't know why it took me so long to read this, but I'm so glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it really did measure up to everyone else's reviews.