Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Books That Completely Surprised Me










Banana Rose. I loved Natalie Goldberg's nonfiction. Oops. Not her fiction.





Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler. I loved everything I'd read of Anne Tyler. Everything else.





God of Small Things. Too graphic for this reader.





The Story of Mankind.   It won a Newbery. And why?





Kitchen Confidential. Can't stand that awful Anthony Bourdain. Get some integrity, fellow.











Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. I had heard McCammon writes horror. I hate horror. Boy's Life is a little different.






Chemistry by Wang Weike. I don't know anything about science, especially chemistry. It's still magnificent.





Radium Girls by Kate Moore. It could have been bleak and depressing. It was bleak and depressing, but good writing lifts everything up.





Winter by Karl Ove Knausgaard. So many people warned me that this would be impossible to read. They were wrong. Completely wrong.





The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams. What do I know about sports? Nada. A fabulous story even for a sporty-no-nothing like me.




Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

15 comments:

  1. Those are all totally new to me ones! Sorry to hear they were the negative surprises!

    Here's my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  2. I've not read any of these, but I have read other books by Anne Tyler. It's been a while though. I don't like Anthony Bourdain and so was never tempted by his book. And I have Radium Girls on audio (I think). I'll get to it at some point. I do non-fiction better on audio.

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  3. So sad to hear that you didn't like the Radium Girls. I had high hopes for that book.
    Great TTT ๐Ÿ˜Š

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  4. Why do you read books you think you'd hate? :-) it's good you gave them a chance.

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  5. Yes, Radium Girls definitely had depressing sections, but I loved the much more hopeful ending. Good choice there.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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  6. There. I edited the post. Hopefully, I made it a little clearer with the headers.

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  7. Hooray for you. Listing books you did not, not, not, not, not like!!!!!!! ,-))))

    Thank you for the ones you Loved. More reading suggestions.

    'Chemistry' by Wang Weike looks interesting, to this non-chemistry-knowledgeable person.

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  8. I need to remember to read Radium Girls!

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  9. I will be adding some of the books you've listed to my ever growing reading wishlist!!

    Here's a link to my TTT post for this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-surprised-me.html

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  10. I read Kitchen Confidential and had the same reaction.

    I LOVED(!!!) Boy's Life, as well as McCammon's creepy Swan Song (which is similar to Stephen King's The Stand). Now I want to reread Boy's Life and I have a copy so I should, right?!

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  11. Are there any out of this batch that you would label a "must read" for me. (Rae)

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    Replies
    1. Radium Girls was fascinating. You might be particularly interested in it since you are an advocate for women.

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