Super Six Sunday: Books I’m Thankful I Took a Chance On

Super 6 Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Danny, Pushy and Heather of Bewitched Bookworms.
It’s inspired by the Top Ten Tuesday meme and is everything bookish!
Share you bookish lists and remember to hop on over to Bewitched Bookworms for other super posts!

Super 6 Books I’m Thankful I Took A Chance On

1. Entwined by Heather Dixon

While this book turned out to be my current favourite book of all time and the Moonlight Library’s Book of the Year for 2011 (which is for books published in that year), at first I was slightly hesitant and even a little sceptical about this book. It has a very generic ‘pretty white girl in a prom dress’ cover that really doesn’t do this insides justice, and at the time of reading it, I wasn’t aware of how much I love princess novels and fairytale retellings. So overall, I am extraordinarily grateful that I borrowed this book from the library, because as soon as I finished it I knew I needed my own copy to love and cherish and re-read.

2. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall falls into roughly the same category as Entwined. It has a pretty if kinda generic ‘dead girl/girl lying down’ cover, and although I knew I wanted to read it because it was billed as Mean Girls meets Groundhog Day, I couldn’t have predicted how moving I found the book nor how much I would love love love it. It also ended up being the Moonlight Library’s Book of the Year for 2010. I re-read it earlier this year and still loved it just as much. i am so glad I took a chance on it.

3. The Wrong Girl by CJ Archer

By the time I realised Patchwork Press on Netgalley was an author co-op, which means a collection of indie authors banding together so they can get their books on Netgalley, I’d already requested several books from them and been added to their auto-approve list. I’m wary of indie authors because most of the reviewer drama seems to revolve around them. At the same time I really want to support non-traditional ways of storytelling. I loved The Wrong Girl so much that I highly suspect it’s going to be the best book I’ve read all year. I’m so glad I took a chance on an indie author.

4. Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder

Without Netgalley, I would never have discovered Touch of Power. Without Touch of Power, I would never have discovered one of my favourite writers Maria V Snyder. I mean sure, this particular cover is kind of weirdly generic fantasy and I keep imagining the flower she’s holding is a dragon (there are no dragons in the book!) and the model kinda looks like Kristen Stewart, but this book. THIS BOOK. This book introduced me to Snyder and I will always be thankful I took a chance on it.

5. Banish by Nicola Marsh

I am thankful I took a chance on Marsh’s debut YA novel because it kept me reading until after midnight. it was an unexpected page turner, and though neither this book nor Marsh are my favourites, it did make me realise that experienced writers are normally pretty competent when it comes to stroytelling. I am thankful I gave this book a chance.

6. Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate (and various ghost writers)

I was a child when these books were first published. A friend in my school’s library showed me Book #2, which had a cat on it, and said I should read it, I might like it. I was already known as being cat-crazy back then, as well as book-crazy. I did manage to figure out it was the second book in the series, so I borrowed the first and second books with trepidation and read them. At the time, I didn’t realise it would be an ongoing arc because I had read Goosebumps, which were all independent books, and other mega-series like The Saddle Club and sweet Valley twins, where one book doesn’t really affect the next. I was horrified to find out Tobias really was trapped as a hawk. I wasn’t the critical reader that I am now, but I did enjoy them a lot despite my initial hesitation. I had been planning to do a re-read of the entire series now that I am an adult, and I am so glad I decided to do it this year. It’s been an amazing journey re-reading and re-living these books.

Subscribe to Blog via Email