Hosted by the Top 5 Wednesday Goodreads Group
This week, I’m not in the mood for preamble. It’s Top 5 Wednesday and the topic is five books or series you read because of the online book community (BookTube, blogs, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.). I’ll be honest. I get most of my recommendations from hype online. But there’s a few that really stick out in my mind. I’m going to talk about them now.
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: You may remember from some of my earliest posts, but I was persuaded to read this series by BookTuber A Clockwork Reader. I’d heard about the series before, of course, but people always said it got worse as it went on. Hanna (who has similar taste in books to me) said the opposite. In fact, she listed it as one of her all-time favorite series. After I heard that, I bought the box set and binged the whole trilogy in a week and a half. It was so good and became one of my all-time favorite series as well. Definitely check it out if you haven’t. Laini’s writing is a marvel.
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: Despite being about twelve when the first book came out, I didn’t hear about this series until I was almost finished with high school and the first movie was coming out. I thought it looked dumb so I said “no thanks.” In late 2013, I became very active on Bookstagram. There were about five fandoms that were among the most popular and this was one of them, so I finally caved and read the series. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I don’t like the spin-offs quite as much, but this series is excellent. It’s like Harry Potter’s younger brother, underappreciated even though he’s just as good. Definitely worth the read, even if you usually don’t like middle grade.
- All for the Game by Nora Sakavic: Last year, this series was really popular on Twitter and Tumblr. Since everyone loved it so much and said it had a M/M romance, I decided to check it out. I really enjoyed it at the time. Once I had some space from it, I realized it had some problems and holes. Still, it was a pretty fun read and the aforementioned M/M romance didn’t go at all the way I expected (mostly because I thought it was going to be Neil and Kevin). I don’t know that I’d recommend it, but it’s a good misfit story.
- Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu: I actually first heard about this graphic novel series from Thoughts on Tomes aka Sam, the BookTuber who currently runs this Goodreads group. I thought it sounded dark and interesting so I gave the first volume a try. I really liked it. I’m planning on reading the second volume soon. Check it out if you like dark stuff.
- The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen: At the beginning of the year, this series was every BookTuber’s darling. I actually started the first book back then… and then put it on pause to read other stuff. I do intend on getting back to it and did like the first couple chapters, but for now I am woefully behind. It does seem like a strong start to an adult fantasy though.
What are some books you’ve read because of the online book community? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!
Strange Storyteller 