Top 10 Books Out of My Comfort Zone That Ended Up Favorites

Hi all! How is your week going?

I am still reading Glass Sword and I just don’ know how I feel about it. It’s kind of not really living up to my expectations and it really pains me to say that. But I am hoping it picks up because I don’t want to not like this book 😦

Anyway, before I start another rant that I am sure my boyfriend is sick of hearing, it’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday!

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, please check here for future topics!

This weeks topic is books that you read recently that were out of your genre/comfort zone that you ended up really liking.

So without further ado…

Outlander

I AM SORRY! Yes, I have to mention Outlander AGAIN, but I am really proud of myself for reading this book! And even more proud that it is not one of my favorites. I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone with this book because I usually hate reading long books. And if this series doesn’t intimidate you…then well…wow because it definitely did me!

The Martian

Another new favorite. I really don’t even know what made me want to read this book because it’s definitely not my usual genre, but it was so fantastic!

 

Ready Player One

Now this is still techinically YA I suppose but it’s not something I would usually read. I am not a gamer by any means. I don’t play video games, nor do I even try to understand them but this book really makes me want to! I loved all the references and the feel to the entire book. It was so vivid and makes me feel like I was in the stimulation myself. I really really enjoyed this book. It was so much fun to read.

Gone Girl

I actually really enjoyed this book. I was hooked and totally creeped out by the crazy. I ranted to my mom the entire time while reading this book. I would rush out of my room screaming and yelling telling my mom everything that it made my mom feel like she read the whole book right along with me XD

Modern Romance

This is nonfiction. I don’t read nonfiction. Ever. But it is Aziz Ansari and even though it was more academic than I thought it’d be, I still really enjoyed it.It probably helped that Aziz still put his flair and humor whilst talking about some serious subjects. He made it entertaining and informing at the same time.

Percy Jackson

Middle grade. I didn’t even want to touch Middle Grade because I thought it would be a little too kiddie for me but surprisingly enough this is one of the best series ever! I can’t believe I waited this long to finally read them! It’s not completely out of my comfort zone because it’s still Fantasy and I love love love Fantasy, but I am including it because it’s mostly MG.

Yes, I still need to read The Heroes of Olympus series 😦

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And that is honestly all I can think of that I read recently. Whoa I didn’t even have 10. If that’s not a sign that I need to mix it up then I don’t know what is! So this year I better rectify this and read some more books out of my comfort zone because this is just sad 😥

Any suggestions?

Until next time,

 

 

September Wrap Up! & (Maybe) October TBR

September was an okay month for me reading wise. I didn’t read as much as I wanted to (I blame Queen of Shadows for my imminent hangover/reading slump) However, I am still proud of my little pile!

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the books:

A little note: Clicking on the book cover will take you to Goodreads and clicking the title will take you to my review.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas. – 5 stars

#Scandal by Sarah Ockler – DNF at page 270.

Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe #1) by Rosamund Hodge – 4 stars

Frost by E. Latimer – 3 stars

The Martian by Andy Weir – 5 stars

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – 4.5 stars

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan – 5 stars

Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer – DNF @ page 116.

I thought this book a little juvenile and I just couldn’t get into it at all. I found the two main characters to be completely selfish. Even though what they were doing was so they could be together it made it seem like they didn’t care about others feelings except their own. I don’t know. Maybe I should have read it’s predecessor but I didn’t like it at all. I am rather bummed by it too because I need a really cheesy read to mix up all the sci-fi I was reading. So I just picked up Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover instead. CoHo never lets me down!

Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5) by Colleen Hoover-  5 Stars (duh)

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favorite book this month

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least favorite book this month

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October TBR

  

I am keeping this a little small because I never stick to TBRs. I am a mood reader and if I don’t feel like reading the book at the time I will not enjoy it so since these are my most anticipated, they are top priorty! Also, I am cheating. I have been reading Red Rising for a week already and I need to definitely finish it because I am lagging! I’m only 100 pages in ):

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There you have it! Did you have a good reading month?

What was your favorite book this month? Least?

Let me know!

Happy reading!

WWW Wednesday #2

Hello lovelies! Today is another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme now hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words!

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The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?

I picked this up from my library because I am still taking a break from YA. I can’t say what I feel about it much because I literally just started, meaning I read one chapter. But that one chapter was pretty good! 😛

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What did you recently finish reading?

 

Oh god. I am still recovering The Martian because it was so fantastic! i just keep thinking about it. I cannot wait to see the movie!

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What do you think you’ll read next?

I know I will read these because I checked them out from my library! Still continuing a little “non-YA” and a fluffy read for in-between. I hope these are good. I’ve heard many good things.

Well off I go to read Ready Player One!

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Published by: Random House LLC
Genre: Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller, Space
Pages: 387

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Synopsis:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

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Opinion:

I decided to pick this book in anticipation of the movie coming out next month and having a need of something that wasn’t YA. Boy, am I pleased that I read this. This book was fantastic! It’s definitely way more than I was expecting and I had a great time reading it. If you are skeptical about reading it, don’t be…read it!

“I guess you could call it a “failure”, but I prefer the term “learning experience”.”

Now I am not going to talk too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was pretty simple. Mark Watney was left on Mars after his crew thought he was dead after an accident. So the book is told from his POV through his log entries while on Mars and his voice is truly fantastic. He had a great sense of humor and voice. This man was truly clever and too smart for his own good. I couldn’t even deal with what he did on Mars. I seriously would have died at least 200 times. The first day stranded I would have stressed ate all my ration packs and then died of starvation. Or I’d forget to put on my EVA suit and get myself blown up for the atmosphere. But not this man! He planted his own crops on soil that grew nothing and beat every obstacle thrown his way. I bow down to your awesomeness, Mark Watney.

“Me: “This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?”
NASA: (after five hours of deliberation) “No. You’ll fuck it up and die.”
So I took it apart.”

As for the writing, I am awed. The writing was simple, yet very humorous and scientific. I admit, most (probably all) of the science talk went right over my head and made my brain feel all fuzzy, but I still couldn’t put it down. Every time you want to walk away, something else insane happens and you find yourself clutching the book again (or at least I did). As previously stated, the humor in this book is so entertaining. It was surprisingly hilarious! I don’t know how Weir did it.

“I’m calling it the Watney Triangle because after what I’ve been through, shit on Mars should be named after me.”

Overall, this book was stellar (see what I did there? Cheesy? I’m sorry). I couldn’t put it down and experienced every emotion possible to a human being. I laughed, I cried, and was at the edge of my seat! Seriously, guys,I had little spurts of anxiety from getting so nervous while reading this book!

“I can’t wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”

Now I cannot wait for the movie! Let’s hope they keep Watney’s fantastic personality.

WWW Wednesday #1

Hello lovely bloggers! Today I decided to take part in the weekly meme WWW Wednesday, now hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words! I am always looking at something new to blog about daily so I am not only posting tags and reviews. So in this meme you just answer the 3 W’s! So let’s get to it!

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The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?

I received this book from Netgalley and thought I would give it try since it sounded pretty interesting. So far, I am enjoying it and it kind of reminds me of the Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking. I have no idea why since one dealt with trolls and this has “frost giants” but I don’t know. I am finding it enjoyable. It’s what I need to get me out of a reading slump. It’s just the right amount of paranormal.

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What did you recently finish reading?

I really enjoyed this book! I loved that it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast so I may be a little biased, but I thought it was fantastic. I had some issues with it, but for the most part I loved it. You can check out my review here.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

I have no idea what I should read next! I kind of what a little break from the YA genre so I think it is a toss up between these lovelies:

I know I have been reading Outlander for over a month *insert ashamed, pouty face* and am only 54% done but I do need to finish this book sometime right? Oof. I don’t know! Let’s see what my library has for me because I can’t buy any new books right now!