Top 5 Wednesday | Recommended Books I Loved

In all honesty, I don't get books recommended to me in the way that this topic probably refers to. In other words, I don't have a lot of bookish friends "in real life" that I discuss books with and get recommendations from (apart from my sister) and, in the same vein, I don't really get recommendations from friends online, either. Really, I'm a reading lone wolf (read: I'm too awkward to approach other bookish minds and strike up a conversation). Anyways, for this topic, I'm going to be discussing books that I found out about more indirectly; these titles weren't mentioned to me, specifically, but it is possible I wouldn't have found out about them or read them otherwise. On with the list.




5. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
For one of my human development classes, I had to write a paper connecting several concepts from class to either a book, movie, or TV show (this was a really basic, 100-level class). In my search for books that fit what I needed, my sister suggested this book. I think. I'm not sure how exactly it happened but I ended up borrowing this from her collection and writing about it. If you've read my newest discussion post, you'll know that this book is right up my alley because of the focus on a younger main character and an overall family dynamic. I really loved reading this book and, while writing about it was kind of less-than-stimulating (again, basic concepts from a basic class), it really was interesting to discuss it in a more academic setting as opposed to just reviewing it online.

4. Forgive Me If I've Told You This Before by Karelia Stetz-Waters
This book was recommended to me by Sara Quin of the band Tegan and Sara. Personally. Okay, so not personally, but a girl can dream. Sara posted the cover of this book on the band's Instagram account because she had provided a blurb for said cover and I was instantly interested. It took me a while to actually pick up the book but, once I did, I absolutely adored it. I, in turn, am taking it upon myself to recommend this book to anyone who happens to be reading this. Thanks, Sara. I feel like we are friends now.

3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
While I cannot say that I still remember everything that happened in this book and, no matter how smart I want to seem, while I cannot say that I understood all of the academia in this book, I really enjoyed it. Like number 5 on this list, my sister also recommended this one to me - more by declaring it one of her favorite books and less by outright telling me to read it - and she is pretty spot on in picking out books I will enjoy. Sometimes. Even if I didn't fully grasp everything that was going on (and that isn't to say that I didn't grasp the actual plot), I really liked the characters and the dynamics in the group. I don't know if this book led me to read The Likeness by Tana French or if I read that one later without even thinking about this story, but I'm going to credit this book for getting me into The Likeness, which - I'll admit - I liked a lot better. That really has no significance to this post, I just like to ramble about books I like, okay?!

2. Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Graudin's other novel, The Walled City, made its rounds around Booktube, but I never felt especially compelled to pick it up. When this one started to show up in videos and on blogs, I was initially turned off - a motorcycle race? Hard pass. Despite my interest in the alternate history aspect of the book, something about that darn motorcycle race kept me away. Bad choice. Regan from PeruseProject talked about Wolf by Wolf several times more recently and, finally, my curiosity outweighed my initial trepidation. I love this book! Thank you to everyone who kept talking about it and pushed me over the edge, if you will. I cannot wait for the upcoming novella and sequel.

1. The Young Elites by Marie Lu
I resisted this book for a long time. I saw people talk about it in multiple videos, saw reviews for it on Goodreads, the whole nine yards but, for some reason, I wouldn't give in. I don't know why. Not all of the reviews were glowing but that doesn't usually matter to me. Regardless of all of that, I eventually did pick this book up and, holy crap, I waited entirely too long. One of my favorite new series, I immediately ordered the second book before finishing the first. I cannot wait for the last book to come out and I hope that this series stays popular around the bookish community because it deserves it.



That's a wrap! What are some of the books that you chose/would choose for this topic? Do you have any recommendations for me based on the above list?