#Top10Tuesday – Books I Loved More/Less Than I Thought

#Top10Tuesday is a weekly book tag hosted by the fab team over at The Broke and The Bookish

The rules are simple – following a given prompt (or choose your own) you choose 10 items that fit within that prompt.

This weeks prompt is ‘Books I loved more/less than I thought’ which is only the tip of the iceberg considering some of the calibre of work I have read over the last few years.

In no particular order;

THE FIREMAN by Joe Hill (Orion Publishing Group, 2016)

This was by far my TOP read for 2016! It took me completely by surprise. I don’t normally read a lot of Horror Fiction. But this book blew me away!

A deadly spore is infecting the world with fire. Alliances are soon formed in an effort to combat the infection – whilst others embrace the changes.

Click here for more info on this book!

 

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST by Ken Kesey (Penguin Books, 2008 – Original Publication 1962)

After being a long time fan of the movie – it took me until 2015 to finally pick up the book. The biggest misconception is that the book is about McMurphy. This certainly became apparent to me while reading it! A beautiful story.

Click here for more info on this book!

 

TENNISON by Lynda LaPlante (Simon & Schuster UK, May 2016)

Having never read any of Lynda LaPlantes’ work – I was a little dubious with TENNISON, but the blurb grabbed my attention. It’s one thing to read a modern day police procedural – but one set in the early 1970’s?

Exceptional.

Click here for more info on this book!

 

 

 

GABRIEL’S INFERNO by Sylvain Reynard (Penguin UK, 2012)

It’s true – I read FIFTY SHADES OF GREY/DARKER/FREED and although the writing was terrible….I actually enjoyed the books! I read all three in less than four days! So naturally I was looking for the next read that would satisfy (Oh my!) my needs for further fictional romance. I stumbled across GABRIEL’S INFERNO which incidentally was also born from Twilight fanfiction, but with a major difference. Reynard (a pen name) can actually write a beautiful love story! I always recommend this series!

Click here for more info on this book!

 
MAESTRA by L.S.Hilton (Zaffre, 2016)

Hilton must be well connected as this book made headline news in the UK as being the book to “make Fifty Shades look like a children’s book” and “the most shocking thriller you’ll read this year”. Unfortunately for me personally, neither of these statements are true. Within the first three pages we were served the C-bomb, which felt like it was there for shock value, rather than adding to the story. I just didn’t gel with this book….and I really wanted to after all of the hype I’d seen/heard.

Click here for more info on this book!

 

 

THE INFORMANT by Susan Wilkins (Pan Macmillan, 2014)

Bookmail for birthdays are the BEST, but also come with that fear of whether you’ll enjoy that book and how you report back! This happened when I received a copy of THE INFORMANT in 2016 – Would I like it? Would I hate it? How do I tell my friend I didn’t enjoy it? But my worries were misplaced. I LOVED this book! So much that I quickly bought the sequel….and getting geared up for the release of book three!

Click here for more info on this book!

 
AMERICAN PSYCHO by Bret Easton Ellis (Picador, 1991)

Like most people I know, my only experience with AMERICAN PSYCHO was watching Christian Bale dance around an apartment to Huey Lewis and the News and taking an axe to Jared Leto!! I was NOT prepared for the book. I now understand why some book stores actually SEAL the book and put an age restriction on it. It’s grim, graphic, gory and gaaah! Again, this is another book that I will recommend to people – however I am now constantly on the hunt for the next book that will sicken me (in a good way) the way this book did!

Click here for more info on this book!

 
THE CUCKOO’S CALLING by Robert Galbraith (Sphere, 2014)

I don’t mind admitting that this was a “sheep” purchase. I bought this book because everyone else was. Why was everyone buying this book? Because a journalist discovered that Robert Galbraith is a pen-name for Queen of the Muggles herself; J.K.Rowling.

I LOVED this book more than I thought I would. It took me a while to shake off that this was written by the same woman who wrote about our favourite young wizard – but this crime novel stands up with some of the best!

Click here for more info on this book!

 
EENY MEENY by M.J.Arlidge (Penguin, 2014)

There is a reason that this book (and series) is well loved across different Crime Fiction forums….it’s blooming excellent! I purchased this book as part of a large haul late 2016 and this book was in there. Another “sheep” purchase!

The premise reads like a SAW movie; when the chips are down and you are trapped….would you rather kill….or be killed?! This book sent chills down my spine and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next books to read what happened next!

Click here for more info on this book!

 

THE MERMAID’S SINGING by Val McDermid (Harper Collins, 2005 – Original Publication, 1995)

The final book in my Top10 and the book that got me interested in Crime Fiction from an early age. My Mum was a big fan of Val McDermid and had all of the Tony Hill books on her bookshelf. I was early teens when I asked if I could borrow one of her books. I’d always had a keen interested in Crime Fiction.

Once I got my hands on this book, I read it cover to cover and it dawned on me then that reading fiction would never be the same for me again. This book shocked me, it made me feel slightly ill and I fell head over heels for our protagonists; Carol Jordan and Tony Hill.

If someone was to ask me to buy them MY favourite book – it would be this!

Click here for more info on this book!
Have you read any of the books in my Top10? Can you relate to why I loved/disliked these? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

-S.