Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Smug: A Cautionary Tale


I am stubborn. I am arrogant. I am smug.

This makes life difficult for me. People are often trying to share good reads with me. But I am quick to cut them off with a scathing remark. Oh, no thank you, I say, that's not really my kind of read. Not my kind of read. I say it very stubbornly. Arrogantly. Smugly.

Every now and then I let down my shields and try something that, initially, I might condescendingly scorn. 

And I'm shocked to discover some amazing reads. 

Here are ten of those books I almost (smugly) passed up:








Please tell me you are not a book snob like me. 
But, if you are, do you have books that have surprised you out of your smug-ness?
And, if you're not, do you have recommendations for me? (I ask this very humbly.)



Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

27 comments:

  1. OMG, Me Before You made me bawl my eyeballs out. It is so good! You should definitely stop being so smug and pick that one up ;)

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    1. I guess I was a little unclear. I was ALMOST too smug to read these. Almost.

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  2. You should definitely read Eleanor & Park! It's a really great love story + awesome narration.

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  3. I absolutely loved The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

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    1. I thought it would be too silly. Glad I tried it!

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    2. Typically Douglas Adams: the "trilogy" (which has five volumes) is worth your reading time. "So Long and Thanks for the Fish," the end of the series and the (spoiler alert) end of the universe, offers the answer to "life, the universe, and everything". The request for the answer is fed into the (then/when it was first published ) brand new computers. The answer is hilarious. We "young marrieds" spent as much time discussing (and laughing at) the answer as we did trying to figure out the meaning of the cosmos/embryo in "2010" back in 1964. (Correction on dates, please "2001" "2010"?? loved both movies!) Rae

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  4. The Fault In Our Stars was one that would have been on our list because people had been suggesting it over and over, but we just read it this summer in our Book Club. It was very good. You'll have to try it sometime. I haven't seen the movie to know if it's similar or not though. I'd love to try the Hitchhiker's Guide too, but no one had suggested it. I just consider it a classic. Game of Thrones is one I have also been told to read several times, but it's such a beast! WOW! Happy reading.
    Top 10 @Libby Blog

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  5. I wasn't overly impressed by The Fault In Our Stars. I mean, it was good, but it wasn't amazing. I read the first Game of Thrones and I think it took me about a month. If you do decide to pick it up - do not get attached to anyone!

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    1. Yes. Everyone dies in GofT. It's almost like a soap opera in that way.

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  6. I've heard The Rosie Project is adorable! I don't know that I have read any of these books...;)

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    1. I thought Amanda said, The Road was adorable and was being sarcastic! LOL
      The Rosie Project is now on my to-read-list thanks to both your comments.
      THANKS Miss Amanda (and apologies) These Senior Citizen eyes are unused to reading on the computer screen. Rae

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  7. I've wanted to read Mr. Pettigrew's... for book club and I keep getting vetoed. Now I have ammunition. Now I also know that I must read Game of Thrones. I haven't avoided it out of smugness, just no time. Sigh.
    My TTT

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    1. Tell your book group that your blogger friend almost passed on Pettigrew and is so glad she didn't.

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  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  9. Finally getting back to my stack of books. The Giver (easy read, would have had more impact if I wouldn't have read Hunger Games etc first - good book for school discussions but not running out to see movie), and Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich - I was surprised how much I enjoyed that book! It was also an easy read, simple book where she told the good, the bad/sad & the humorous aspects of backyard/very small scale farming. It wasn't full out Bill Bryson funny but I did giggle a few times. She includes recipes and additional sources for further research for the reader. I've ordered 2 more of her books.

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    1. She is new to me. I must add her to my wishlist. Thanks, Sherry!

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  10. It's funny, but I would totally see The Rosie Project as your kind of book (the sequel is coming out here soon). I really want to read Rainbow Rowell, and more John Green. I think I will leave GOT unread- it would take the rest of my reading career. The Road I can see as not being your thing- but I agree it was amazing. The only book I've ever read over again right after I finished it the first time.

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    1. It is my kind of book, but it isn't the kind of book that I want people to think is my kind of book.

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  11. I loved the beginning of the Rosie Project - the characters were fantastic. Looking forward to The Rosie Effect coming out next month! E&P was my first Rowell book and it hit me in the heart like a Mack truck. But in a good way. You know what I mean. Same with TFIOS, obviously. I ran out of kleenex.

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  12. What good picks. (Since you picked some of my favorite books!) How dare you (originally) "not consider reading them!" LOL We MUST be eclectic/equal opportunities readers! LOL
    Just finished Wonder, your recommendation. WONDERFUL, wonderful book with something for everyone. I copied many of the "precepts" and wrote one of my own after reading the book. Rae's precept: We are not "defined" by our differences and should never "define" others by theirs. Rae

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  13. I think there's always a book snob in all of us. I actually haven't read any of the books you mention, but a few of them are on my to-read list.

    Wandering through the Shelves

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  14. LOL! Lots of those look great to me. Last one that I thought was "too literary" for me and I ended up loving was Beloved by Toni Morrison. Stepping out of comfort zones is where the fun is :)

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