Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Read Because Someone Recommended Them to Me

Hey Top Ten Tuesdayers! It’s been a while (again) but this was a prompt I couldn’t let pass me by, I’ve been recommended some wonderful books over the years, some of them from many many years ago still stick out in my mind and I’ve shared them here, others are more recent and have reignited a love of Kid’s Lit!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Books I Read Because Someone Recommended Them to Me

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

About The Book…

Told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian congo in 1959, The Poisonwood Bible is the story of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

My GCSE English teacher recommended this one to me along with Beloved and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I loved the way she encouraged me to expand my reading far beyond the syllabus.

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To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

About The Book…

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Another GCSE period read, this one was one of our set texts but we were the only class out of 15 that read this book so I’m going to treat it as another recommendation for me…

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Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch

About The Book…

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

This book was recommended to me years back when I was looking for something to spend my Audible credits on. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith brings the stories to life and I’ve since listened to most of the series on audiobook, although I’m a couple behind currently.

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Gilded Cage by Vic James

About The Book…

In modern-day Britain, magic users control everything: wealth, politics, power—and you. If you’re not one of the ultimate one-percenters—the magical elite—you owe them ten years of service. Do those years when you’re old, and you’ll never get through them. Do them young, and you’ll never get over them.

This is the darkly decadent world of Gilded Cage. In its glittering milieu move the all-powerful Jardines and the everyday Hadleys. The families have only one thing in common: Each has three children. But their destinies entwine when one family enters the service of the other. They will all discover whether any magic is more powerful than the human spirit.

Have a quick ten years. . . .

I can’t remember exactly who recommended this one to me, I think it was a book my bit of book twitter was talking about a lot. I absolutely adored this series so I was so pleased I listened to the little bit of hype and picked it up.

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Viper by Bex Hogan

About The Book…

Marianne has been training to be the Viper for her entire life – to serve and protect the King and the citizens of The Twelve Isles – but to become the Viper and protect the islands she loves she must find the strength to defeat her father. A new fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas.

He will make me a killer.
Or he will have me killed.
That is my destiny.

Seventeen-year-old Marianne is fated to one day become the Viper, defender of the Twelve Isles.

But the reigning Viper stands in her way. Corrupt and merciless, he prowls the seas in his warship, killing with impunity, leaving only pain and suffering in his wake.

He’s the most dangerous man on the ocean . . . and he is Marianne’s father.

She was born to protect the islands. But can she fight for them if it means losing her family, her home, the boy she loves – and perhaps even her life?

A brave heroine. An impossible dilemma. An epic new fantasy trilogy set on the high seas.

This was another book twitter rec, specifically the wonderful people of the Six For Sunday chat. I managed to read this and the follow up Venom in around 24 hours and they were amazing! Now I’ve to wait until April to get my hands on the final book in the trilogy!

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Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball by Laura Ellen Anderson

About The Book…

Meet Amelia Fang.

She loves playing Goblin Tag, and cuddling her pet pumpkin, Squashy. She hates going to her mum and dad’s boring Barbaric Ball. Oh, and one more thing – Amelia is a vampire.

When the spoilt prince of Nocturnia captures Squashy, Amelia must plan a daring rescue. But things in the Kingdom of the Dark may not be all they seem…

Join Amelia on her first abominable adventure. She won’t bite!

This one wasn’t a direct recommendation as such, however my goddaughter was absolutely obsessed with this series after reading one at school, so I needed to figure out what all the fuss was about. I’ve only read the first couple so far but it’s such a cute series!

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Nevermoor: The Trials Of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

About The Book…

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

After starting to read a little more kid lit so I would be able to buy my goddaughter books I thought she’d enjoy I asked for some general recommendations and this was one of the titles that popped up. I really loved this book, I thought Morrigan was a fantastic character but it’s Jupiter North that really sold the story for me!

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And Then I Turned Into A Mermaid by Laura Kirkpatrick

About The Book…

Molly Seabrook’s dull seaside life is turned upside down when she turns 13 and is let in on the family secret: she’s PART-MERMAID! While this does explain why her bonkers Mum is always skinny-dipping, Molly isn’t exactly thrilled. She already has to dress as a haddock to promote the family fish ’n’ chip shop, and now this? Growing up is hard enough without sprouting a fish tail in Double Maths, or disguising your gills from the cute boy at the ice cream kiosk.

Join Molly as she navigates the stormy sea of social awkwardness, best friend fallouts and the World’s Most Embarrassing Family – all while attempting to hide her (Very Weird) new double identity. Will she sink or swim? You’ll have to wait and SEA . . .

I loved Laura Steven’s debut YA novel The Exact Opposite Of Okay so I was intrigued when it was announced she’d be publishing an MG series as Laura Kirkpatrick I was intrigued, and when a couple of my closest blogging friends told me how much they enjoyed it I knew I had to pick up the book!

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High-Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson

About The Book…

The detective duo everyone is dying to meet!

Summer in London is hot, the hottest on record, and there’s been a murder in THE TRI: the high-rise home to resident know-it-alls, Nik and Norva. Who better to solve the case? Armed with curiosity, home-turf knowledge and unlimited time – until the end of the summer holidays anyway.

The first whodunnit in a new mystery series by Sharna Jackson.

This is another that I can’t remember precisely who recommended it to me, but one that was raved about on Twitter in general and for very good reason, I really loved this one, and the second is already on my shelves waiting for me to pick it up.

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Floored by Various Authors

About The Book…

The Breakfast Club meets One Day in Floored, a unique collaborative novel by seven bestselling and award-winning YA authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood.

When they got in the lift, they were strangers (though didn’t that guy used to be on TV?): Sasha, who is desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he’s the best-looking guy in the lift and is eyeing up Velvet, who knows what that look means when you hear her name and it doesn’t match the way she looks, or the way she talks; Dawson, who was on TV, but isn’t as good-looking as he was a few years ago and is desperately hoping no one recognizes him; Kaitlyn, who’s losing her sight but won’t admit it, and who used to have a poster of Dawson on her bedroom wall, and Joe, who shouldn’t be here at all, but who wants to be here the most.

And one more person, who will bring them together again on the same day every year.

I can’t remember if Floored itself was specifically recommended to me or if it were just the case that these authors are all ones that the UKYA section of book twitter rave about in general so I figured I should pick it up… I didn’t instantly fall in love with it but it was a grower for sure!

There we have it, ten titles that have been recommended to me over the years! There are many many more books on my TBR thanks to direct recommendations or having read a review on another blog maybe this time next year I’ll be able to share another list of 10 books! Be sure to drop a link to your Top Ten Tuesday in the comments if you’ve taken part this week!