Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, and feature lists related to all things bookish–characters, authors, titles, and favorites. They’re an excellent way to find new interesting books on a variety of topics, and to find bloggers that love the books you do.
Check out their blog for their top ten and lists of other bloggers who participate!
January 26: Freebie Week! Pick a topic near and dear to your heart! Something you wished was on our official list!
I’m recycling an old one: Top Ten Books I recommend the most. Which is difficult, because they change often, and I like such a variety of genres. But nonetheless…
1. Burn For Me; Ilona Andrews. Do you like your urban fantasy with romance? Then this book, the start of a series, has some amazing world-building, spectacular magic, and a bad-@ss family.
2. The Princess Diaries; Meg Cabot. Are you an awkward young adult girl–or just feel like one sometimes? Unlike the movies, there’s a lot more character development, and more than just a makeover to transform an outcast into a strong leader.
3. As You Wish; Cary Elwes & Joe Layden. A non-fiction memoir great for movie buffs. Packed full of details and fun stories, this is a behind-the-scenes look that’s an interesting read. And fans of The Princess Bride, of course, will find it inconceivable to pass up.
4. Welcome to Night Vale: Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor. Horror, with a dash of humor, a lot of weirdness, and plenty of inexplicable strangeness. You don’t have to listen to the podcast, though the podcast is also spectacular.
5. Hawk & Fisher; Simon R. Green. If darker fantasy is your thing, then Haven, a city full of crime and corruption, and the married guards who try to keep the streets honest, is a grand adventure. Plenty of murder and mystery and secrets and magic.
6. Furiously Happy; Jenny Lawson. If you’ve ever felt weird or outcast, and especially if you’ve struggled with anxiety or depression, this is the memoir to help you feel not alone. Her first book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, is also funny and amazing for similar reasons–but a little more biographical.
7. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power; Ryan North & Erica Henderson. Who doesn’t like a superhero comic? Especially one with a zany, squirrel-powered lead who sometimes hangs out with the Avengers.
8. The Amazing Maurice & His Educated Rodents; Terry Pratchett. It’s difficult to pick a place to start in a 40+ book sprawling fantasy world, but one of the stand alones is a good choice. This is the story of the pied piper… in a way you’ve probably never read before. Funny and thoughtful.
9. Steel City Magic (or Tinker and Wolf Who Rules); Wen Spencer. Elves, caste systems, and one small genius. This is a truly magical urban fantasy, with a world so cool you almost want to live in it–except for the killer walking trees.
10. Hospital Station; James White. Like all really good science fiction, there’s a well developed world(s), and characters–in this case, a bunch of different species of doctors trying to treat an equally diverse patient pool. In space!
caitlinsternwrites 
I always look forward to your Top Ten Tuesday posts, Caitlin! And as usual, this is a great list. First, you start with Ilona Andrews, and to my mind, they can do no wrong. I love all their books, and Burn For Me was one of my favorites. I’m dying for the next installment to come out!
I have Furiously Happy in my TBR pile, thanks to my wonderful editor, (YOU!), who procured a signed copy for me. Really looking forward to reading it. The cover alone is beautifully sparkly and amazing!
And of the rest, there are always titles that pop out at me, needing to be explored. Anything by Simon R. Green and Terry Pratchett makes my list every time, but Steel City Magic just leaps off the page at me, as something I MUST check out. I’m on an epic fantasy kind of kick these last couple of months, when I’m able to find time to read, and this looks like a lot of fun. Heading over to amazon to check it out right now.
Thanks for a great list, as always!
SCM got obsessively read and re-read when I was a teen. I hope you enjoy it–it’s not perfect, but it has a fond place in my heart. 🙂
I was looking at the series, and it’s hard to tell where it fits. There’s Elfborn, then Elfborn 1 & 2, and yet it seems to be written sort of out of “synch” with those. Should I read them first? You know how I am about reading anything out of order. But I love the looks of the whole series and it’s time I read some Wen Spencer, I reckon. 😀
It’s Tinker, Wolf Who Rules, Elfhome, and Wood Sprites, in that order.
(Steel City Magic is Tinker & Wolf Who Rules combined.)
The first three are in order chronologically, and book #4 takes place at the same time as part of books #1 & #2.
But! I’d say read them in order. Because #4 references events in #1 & #2, and seems to suppose you know what those events are.
There are a bunch of in between short stories, but most of them are very tangential, so you might want to leave them for later.
Thanks, Caitlin. That’s how I’ll read them, then. Looking forward to it, if I ever get time to read more than 2 paragraphs a night! 🙂
“Squirrel-powered lead”? hmmmmmmm I might have to check that one out. LOL. My TTT
Squirrel Girl is exactly what you’d expect from her name. 🙂
There’s two volumes out now, with all kinds of drawings and mini-comics with the collections, too.
Hm. I’m not really a huge comics/graphic novels person, but the 6 year old totally is. Anything in it super inappropriate for a 3rd-4th grade reading level?
There’s very little violence or bad language for a superhero comic, so I think it’d be fine.
Cool. I might have a look-see with her then 🙂
Jenny Lawson is one of my favourite authors to recommend to people. No one else can make mental illness so funny while still being serious. Great post!
My TTT
Right? She’s quite something.
I own Furiously Happy, I just haven’t got the chance to read it yet! I will soon though!
Some books have to wait a while, but this one is worth it. 🙂
I haven’t read any of these. I’m going to have to look into them!
Hope you find one or two that speaks to you!
CANNOT WAIT for the sequel to Burn for Me! I have been recommending that a lot too, more than the Kate Daniels because there’s only one book in the series so far. Which reminds me… I need to check on my friends who were planning to read this.
I’m going to add The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl to my wishlist because I’ve been meaning to read more graphic novels.
Hope you enjoy the squirrel power. 🙂
I’ve had a copy of As You Wish for almost a year now, but I keep putting off picking it up. I don’t know why – something else just always seems to come up. Glad to hear you liked it. I really need to get around to reading it!
There’s always more books than time. I have a TBR pile of my own that’s been waiting on me.
I love the variety between these different titles. Science fiction, romance, superhero comic, non-fiction, YA, adult; there’s a little something for everyone!
I’ve never heard of Hospital Station before, but it sounds really interesting! I might have to check it out!
Great list!
I read a lot of genres, so I took a stab at including most of them. 🙂
Hope you enjoy it–I especially love the thought put into alien biology, which makes treating them very challenging.
I really want to read As You Wish! 🙂 I’m also looking forward to Welcome to Night Vale!
Check out my TTT.
If you liked The Princess Bride, or the Night Vale podcast, you’re pretty much guaranteed to like their respective books. Happy reading!