10 books that I liked more/less than I thought I would. Linking up with The Broke and the Bookish.
Books I Loved
- Inkheart – Have you ever wanted to interact with characters from a book? This one is so fun for those of us who love books. And it’s beautifully written.
- The Host – I thought it would be shallow and fun, but it’s pretty thoughtful, and full of interesting complicated relationships and dilemmas.
- Ready Player One -LOVED this so much and I’m not really a video game fan (I just know many).
- The Covenant Series (book one is Half-Blood) – It was hard for me to see huge chunks of the Vampire Academy books in these but they just sucked me in and eventually headed their own awesome direction.
- Cinder – I thought “cyborg Cinderella, how dumb” how wrong! This was one of my favorites from last year
Books I Thought I Would Love But Just Didn’t
- The Giver – I don’t get the hype. It’s barely a story more like some world building.
- Blood Read Road – Holy moley I cannot handle that broken English.
- Life As We Knew It – Talk about depressing without any hope or resolution (and it continues that way for THREE books)
- The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag – I loved book 1 but this one just didn’t grab me
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone – I liked half of the book mostly in the middle but I just did not see the hype. I really wanted to like it more.
And I’ve got a big announcement. Some of you already know how addicted I am to Instagram. And since the ladies at Book Soul Mates only did their bookish challenge for one month I thought us nerds needed a photo-a-day challenge just for us again! So next month join me at @raegunramblings for the #rgrphotoaday challenge which will feature many bookish photo prompts. Feel free to join in when you can or do all of them. And if you’re not on Instagram feel free to play along on twitter. Just tag your photos #rgrphotoaday .
I would LOOOOVE help spreading the world so feel free to repost the picture and let your friends know. Also if you have any good idea for future prompts leave them in the comments :)
Christine says
Confession: I’ve never read The Giver. I keep meaning to, but I think I’m a little worried that I may not love it and then have to justify myself (eh, who am I kidding, I love a good literary fight).
Isa says
I’ve got Ready Player One waiting on my bookshelf to be read, I can’t wait to dive into that story. I recommended Daughter of Smoke and Bone to my friend because of all the positive reviews but she ended up hating it so I’m a bit scared to ever start that series. I was really anticipating Cinder but for some reason I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to.
Isa @ Chasing Quills
marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings says
Daughter of Smoke and Bone was okay and it was lovely but I had no desire to read the next one and it just kinda ended meh for me. Get on ready player one!
alexandrasscribblings says
I’ll second you on “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”. I didn’t mind it… and I was able to recognise the beauty of the prose… but I was expecting to be totally drawn in, and love it to pieces, and I really, really didn’t. Which sucks because almost everyone else seems to adore it!
I liked Cinder better than I thought I would too – though I was a bit underwhelmed by Scarlet – I think it’s such a creative, vividly imagined series.
Danielle Romero says
Great 10, I loved The Host more than I thought I would too
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Danielle @ Coffee and Characters
http://www.daniellecromero.blogspot.com
chrissireads says
I loved The Host too. I actually preferred it to the Twilight series.
marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings says
Me too!
Becca Bee says
To this day I don’t understand why so many people thought The Giver was such a wonderful book. I read it years ago in school and thought it was one of the most boring things I had ever read. The characters were beyond flat. I loved The Host! But I expected to after enjoying Meyer’s other books.
marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings says
Exactly!!!
Roslyn@Sew Delicious says
I loved The Host too and I was really expecting not to. Especially when several people described it to me as “being about aliens”. Which is isn’t really. I saw the trailer for The Great Gatsby so I thought I’d read it, being a classic. I am really struggling. The characters are just awful.
marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings says
I’m listening to The Great Gatsby right now and I’m not sucked in. we’ll see
Smallgood says
I have to disagree with The Giver. I loved it and it remains one of my top favorite books. I thought the characters were well drawn and there was so much gentleness and care from the Giver in the course of Jonas’ growing up and recognizing the flaws of the community. I read it as an adult though (and not a young child for school).
One that I cannot understand the hype for is A Wrinkle in Time. I have started that book 3 or 4 times. I just do not get the appeal of it at all.
Lizzie says
I loved Ready Player One so much, and didn’t expect to. I kinda want to listen to the audiobook now, mainly because Wil Wheaton does the narration. Have you read Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore? If you liked RPO, I think you would for sure enjoy this as well.
I also liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but agree, it definitely did not live up to the hype.
Maggie @ Just a Couple More Pages says
I’ve never read any of the books on your list but I’ve always felt like I should read The Giver (but I’m terrible at reading books I *should* read). The more and more I hear people like Cinder I think I need to give it a chance.
And I’ve always wanted to participate in one of these photo challenges but I know I would never remember and then I’d just feel like a total slacker…
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Michelle says
I love your instagram photo a day thing!!! So FUN!! Maybe I’ll play along on Twitter :) Anyway I’ve heard so many good things about the Vampire Academy books and it’s really made me curious… plus the girl on the cover looks like Angelina Jolie. And Cinder I’ve been seeing all these awesome reviews on it and I’m thinking the same thing as you were… cyborg cinderella?? I mean idk, but maybe I would be totally surprised by it! Anyway I’ll see you on Twitter/Instagram :)
Thanks for stopping by My TTT
bookrockbetty.com says
Happy to see The Host on there! I haven’t read it yet, but as always— mixed reviews. I saw the trailer for the movie, which is what got me interested. I hate seeing movies before reading. Blood Red Road – ouuuch! That was a winner for me!
Loni says
I felt the same way about The Host. I expected a sci-fi version of Twilight and it was so surprisingly good.
Tsukikomew says
I still haven’t made it into “Ready, Player One” but it sounds amazing.
Lori says
I haven’t read The Host but the movie trailer actually got me a little more interested in reading it. Hopefully I’ll get to it someday. I’m sad you didn’t like Daughter of Smoke and Bone more. I can see how it dragged a bit and sometimes I felt like the story drifted to places I just didn’t care about but the beautiful writing kept me going.
My TTT
Divergent Gryffindor says
Out of all these books, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve only read Inkheart. I didn’t love it, but liked it. I havent read the last book, though :P
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Ashling F says
I had the same reaction about The Host. I wasn’t really sure it would be any good, since I’m not a fan of Twilight, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love Inkheart and Cinder, so I’m glad you liked those too.
I read The Giver years ago in school, and I remember liking it then. But I don’t know how I’d feel about it now.
Ashling @ Reading, Writing, & Anything but Arithmetic
Bonnie R says
Ready Player One and The Host were big surprise reads for me as well! I felt like such an outcast when I failed to adore Daughter of Smoke and Bone like everyone else did. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Bonnie @ Sweet Tidbits
Bekka @ Pretty Deadly Reviews says
I was also not enamored by Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I mean, it was good, but just not mind-blowing like a lot of people said it was. To me, it felt kind of wordy, and the first half by far was better than the second half. I still plan to read Days of Blood and Starlight, but it’s not at the top of my list just now.
I will definitely have to take a look at Ready Player One. I just dismissed it because I didn’t like the cover and had no idea what it’s about, but this is the third positive thing I’ve seen about it over the past couple days, so it’s definitely spiked my interest!
quinnsbooknook says
I’ve loved all the Flavia de Luce books, and I really liked book 2. But I was a little meh about book 3. I’m reading Speaking from Among the Bones right now.
Cinder is on my list too. I still can’t believe how much I love that series, especially considering I dislike science fiction.
Eve says
I agree about Cinder and The Host. I thought that The Host was going to be Twilight all over again but with aliens and it turned out to be much better than I expected. And Cinder was just plain awesome!
Kelly W says
Definitely agree with VA, and I’m dying to read Cinder. I did love The Giver and DOS&B (okay, maybe “obsessed” is the right word for DOS&B), but I can see why you had issues with them. Not all books are for everyone.
Sash and Em says
Sorry that DoSaB didn’t live up to your expectations – we loved it!
Jessica @ Books: A true story says
So many people tell me to read Ready Player One! I really need to pick it up. I’m glad you loved Cinder! I totally thought that a cyborg Cinderella would just fall flat on it’s face but I was wrong, too. Great list :)
Merin says
I really need to check out Vampire Academy. So many people love the books that I just have to see if I’m in agreement!
Thanks for stopping by my TTT! :)
~Merin @ Read and Reviewed~
TeresaMaryRose says
Yes. I love VA and Covenant as well. Great list
Teresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives
Sandi says
I am RELIEVED to know I’m not alone in thinking “The Giver” is overrated!
whyanot says
VA, the Host and Cinder – I wasn’t expecting to like them and loved them all.
Especially the Host – I’m not a Twilight fan and wasn’t sure if I wanted to read this book but I’m glad I gave it a chance because I really liked the story.
Your Instagram challenge looks like fun!
justcaffeinated says
Great list! Ready Player One seems to be pretty popular lately, I’m going to have to check out that title.
Thanks for dropping by my blog last Tuesday =)
– Lianne @ caffeinatedlife.net