I didn’t have a ton of time to prepare for this week’s prompt. For some reason, the topics for the month were posted very late this time, and I’ve also had an incredibly busy week. Normally I like to plan ahead and set up my posts over the weekend when I have the time to actually go through my TBR list and find books that fit well, because after work is just too rushed! It took me some time to really figure out how I wanted to tackle this week’s prompt in general because, like always, I already feel like I’ve mentioned the majority of the books that I’ve read so far this year that I’d really want others to try. Or, the books that I would choose are already a bit older and likely don’t need so much of a push by now. Instead, I started to think about which books I myself might have needed a bit more of a push to finally pick up, and realized there were several that I found intimidating at first and it might have helped if someone had dared me to just go ahead and pick them up. Of course, it also may have backfired since I sometimes get put off if a book seems too overhyped!
Top 5 Wednesday is a meme created by Gingerreadslainey on Youtube, and is now hosted by Sam at ThoughtsOnTomes. The official GoodReads group with the weekly topics can be found here.
1) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – I absolutely loved The Night Circus but I was intimidated to pick this one up and I think a lot of people would be too because the synopsis is pretty confusing. Erin Morgenstern’s writing is beautiful but a little dense, and this book is definitely one you need to pay attention to. It doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, but if you can get into it, it’s amazing.
2) Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – I often end up picking this book alongside The Starless Sea because they’ve become so closely associated in my head, and I loved both for very similar reasons. This is another book where the writing is dense but so beautifully written. I don’t even know why I was so hesitant to pick this one up since I ended up loving it immediately! Both books in the duology are on the longer side, so that alone might make people need an extra push to try it.
3) Middlegame by Seanan McGuire – This is another book that I don’t think would necessarily work for everyone, but if you can get into it, it’s fascinating. I was hesitant to try it at all because I didn’t really understand what it was supposed to be about (and the synopsis for the sequel is even more confusing). I picked it up mostly because I love this author’s writing and I’d seen so much hype around it, and I’m so glad I did. It’s definitely worth a try!
4) Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – This book is such a departure from Leigh Bardugo’s previous series, and I often find that alone is enough to put people off. I was absolutely obsessed with this book when I read it, and it was one that I’ve been constantly recommending ever since, although to be fair, this book does contain quite a few potential triggers. I can’t wait for the sequel coming out next year, and I think a lot of people would love this if they went into it with an open mind.
5) Nevernight by Jay Kristoff – I was completely intimidated by this series at first because I knew so little of what it was about except for assassins, which is something I’m not that interested in, and I’d also seen some complaints about the writing style and especially the footnotes. Luckily for me, I ended up absolutely loving this series a lot more than I expected, and I’d love to give others that push to finally pick it up if it’s something they’re already on the fence about.
Abyssal Librarian 