One of the best things about being a reader is when someone recommends a book to you and you end up loving it. Here are some of the books that were recommended to me by people in my life – important people and people I only knew briefly – but books that have stuck with me all the same.
There have been so many more, but these are the ones that came to mind first. It’s amazing to think that, had I not had the right conversation with the right person at the right time, I might have missed out on some of these gems!
What about you guys? Which books were recommended to you? Did you love them because of who recommended them, or because of the books themselves? Any of these you have also read and loved?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Great topic! I’ve only read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS from your list, but I remember loving it! Happy reading! 🙂
My Top Ten Tuesday!
That’s one of my all-time favourites!!
I love Nick Hornby! I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck on a recommendation and loved it. (Why didn’t anyone just tell me it was a family saga? I LOVE family sagas!) My TTT list for this week starts with a book I’m reading on my sister’s recommendation, The Book of Kings by James Thackera. I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere but she said it was one of the best books she’d ever read! It’s huge, so I sure hope I like it! 😉
http://baystatera.com/top-ten-big-books-i-want-to-read/
Mostly me too, though I gave up on him when I got to How To Be Good, which I didn’t like as much. But for the most part he’s a fun and engaging read! I haven’t read any Steinbeck or Thackeray – I’ve always meant to try East of Eden, everyone who has read it seems to have only good things to say!
I love this topic! My family doesn’t read, but I’ve definitely gotten some great recommendations from blogger friends.
I’m lucky that my family reads, but my friends aren’t quite such book worms as I am, and blogging has definitely given me the opportunity to find like-minded folks to exchange recommendations with!
I love that your friends and family recommended such great books to you! I love Barbara Kingsolver’s books, and TFIOS is classic!
Yes, definite favourites! Upon re-reading I do see a lot of problematic elements in The Bean Trees series, but as a writer I love her work and I like how her brain works. I’d love to be friends with her! TFIOS is one of my all-time favourites, and was my introduction to young adult books and one that really made me wish the genre existed when I was younger!
Nice collection of books. I love some of your cover choices, too.
Have a good week.
My Top Ten favorite books by month
Haha! Thanks!
I’d really like to read I Capture the Castle. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Oh, it’s just so lovely. Dated, perhaps, but so worthwhile. I’ve read it several times!
Well, I could do without the Ayn Rand, but otherwise, that’s one impressive list!
I’ve gotten some flack for including her. I’m realizing I should have provided some commentary on some of these – I think I’ll do that in September (this topic is now on the list for then, but it wasn’t out when I wrote the post). Rand is not a favourite. I didn’t much enjoy the reading experience, don’t agree with her as a person and will not be reading her again. That said, reading her was an experience unlike any I’ve experienced before. It gave me chills – but not in a fun thriller-reading way. It was a new type of book, and in my reading a unique one. So not a favourite, but one I’m glad I tried nonetheless!
Yes, I get that. I’ve only read excerpts from her books and was so… well… to put it lightly… turned off that I never tried to read a whole work by her. But good for you for reading it.
I agree with you completely. It’s the recommendations from other people that stick with me.
I find it also creates a bit of a bond with the person who recommended it if you do end up feeling strongly about the book (positive or negative). You learn about people by the books they recommend!
I used to have an old battered copy of Adrian Mole wandering around my house as a kid. I kept starting it but never finished! I probably liked it because it had Noddy on the cover.
It’s one that takes some effort to really get into, particularly if you’re not used to British humour, but that once you’re in, you’re not going to want to get back out again. Townsend is a master of human foibles and creates figures of intense pathos, and yet full of amusement at the same time. It’s quite an effective combination, particularly for me when I was a younger reader!
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was excellent. Have you ever seen the film based on his life? It was also well worth checking out.
My TTT .
I don’t think I’ve seen the film, but I have been watching the Netflix series – Who Killed Malcolm X – and it’s very good. I think reading this book as a teenager was a very important experience for me – it was the beginning of an area of learning that I think is vital. If you can remember the name of the film please let me know and I’ll see if I can find it!
So glad you loved Good Omens! Hurrah for book recommending friends! And james Herriott is so gentle and “Sunday evening” reading!
This is my TTT!
Good Omens is my favourite book of all time if I’m pressed to choose just one! The humour and playfulness are exactly my cup of tea. I wish so much these two had collaborated on more books!!! I completely agree about Herriot. I recently watched the whole television series – dated, but has the same charm and whimsy and helped me out in a tough time. Love both!
What a great list! I have read so many amazing books recommended by so many different people. And you definitely can’t beat a bit of Pratchett! 😀
Yes! There’s that extra excitement of the book giving you a bit more insight into the person who recommended it as well as the book itself, I find. I’ve not read any Pratchett other than this one, but I completely adore it!
I’ve read 4 titles from your list, White Fragility being the most recent one and I definitely want to check out The Bean Trees, Thanks so much for this list!
Here’s my TTT if you want to take a look https://readwithstefani.com/10-books-i-want-to-read-by-the-end-of-2020/ Have a great day ahead!
I’ve read part of White Fragility – it’s good but I found it a little basic and repetitive so I moved on to some other books on related topics (highly recommend The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole). I adored The Bean Trees when I read it as a teenager. Recently re-read it and, while I see lots of problematic elements in it, I still loved it. Mostly I love her writing style and she comes up with some lines that are just gorgeous!
I enjoyed The Autobiography of Malcolm X; I read it in high school. The only book I can think of right now that was recommended to me (outside of book blogging) was The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. I was at my grandma’s memorial gathering, and my former German teacher, Herr Taylor, recommended it to me. It was the last time I ever saw him. But the book was good.
I read it in high school as well! It was a perfect age to read it – it helped to inform my view of the world in important ways. I am so glad that you were able to have that reading experience as a connection to two important people. And that it’s one you ended up enjoying.
Hi there! This is a wonderful idea and I so agree with you. The right conversation with the right person at the right time, brings along the right book. Books are so magical. They “speak” to us in a number of different ways.
Well done! Here’s my 10 Reasons why reading and blogging is good for you
Agreed! I love a book that is great in its own right, but that also forms a bridge between me and another person. It means any time I think of or pick up that book that connection exists there, even decades into the future, even if that person is no longer in my life. It’s a double kind of immortality in that way.