Top Ten Tuesday #134

Hi all! I hope you all have had a good week since I last did one of these, I’ve had a brief reprieve from essay hell but I have another one due next week, so I’ll be diving back in again very soon! I went to see Murder on The Orient Express with my friends yesterday and it was so good, I definitely recommend going to see it if you get the chance. My NaNoWriMo project is still progressing solidly and whilst I’m behind on my word count and am not sure I will reach 50k by next Thursday, I’m still happy with what I’ve managed to write over the past 3 weeks.

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of the lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is Thanksgiving themed, as it is Thanksgiving in the US on Thursday and although we don’t celebrate over here in the UK (honestly having two turkey holidays so close together baffles this Brit’s mind), it still seems like a nice idea to share the things that I’m thankful for. In the past, I’ve shared authors that I was thankful for and just general bookish things that I was thankful for. This week, I’m going to be sharing the Top Ten Books That I’m Thankful For. It will be hard to narrow down, but I’ll give it a go:

1. Harry Potter Series-JK Rowling

How could I make a list like this without including Harry Potter? I just couldn’t. These books were my entry into fantasy, the books the made me want to be a writer, I connected with so many of my friends over a shared love of Harry Potter, I will never not be grateful that I read these wonderful books.

2. Shades of Magic Trilogy-VE Schwab

AHH THESE BOOKS! Such a creative, engaging fantasy world with so many brilliant characters, I am so glad that I listened to all the blogging hype and decided to read this series as through it, I have discovered one of my favourite authors, one of my favourite worlds & several favourite characters.

3. Skulduggery Pleasant Series-Derek Landy

One of the two main fantasy series that marked my teen years, I’m so thankful that I got to experience Derek Landy’s wit and humour, not to mention his wonderful skeleton detective who is without a doubt one of my favourite characters of all time.

4. PJO, HOO, TOA & Magnus Chase Series-Rick Riordan

Okay so that’s basically all the Rick Riordan books I’ve read, but I don’t care. Rick Riordan’s books are so much fun, so inventive and I’ve learned more about Greek, Roman and Norse Mythology through them that I ever knew was possible. I’ve also been introduced to some of my all time favourite characters, the most obvious of course being Percy Jackson.

5. Unwind Dystology-Neal Shusterman

The Unwind Dystology is one of the creepiest, most inventive dystopians I’ve ever read and whilst yes, certain scenes in the last book may have given me nightmares, I’m so glad I read this series, it showed me that there were new and different ideas in dystopian fiction after all and it didn’t just have to be a rehash of the same old tired plots.

6. The Raven Cycle-Maggie Stiefvater

I nearly put the first book down when I was reading it because it took me so long to get through it, but I’m so glad I didn’t because this is now one of my absolute favourite series, it just took me a while to get used to the strangeness of Stiefvater’s world. I’m very thankful for the wonderful friendship of the Gangsey, one of my favourite friendship groups in YA.

7. Throne of Glass Series-Sarah J Maas

I literally picked the first two books up on a whim because of a 3 for 2 offer in Waterstones three years ago. I’m so glad I did because in that time, the world and characters have become amongst my favourites in the fantasy genre. I got to meet Sarah last year and it was so amazing, I’m so grateful that I got the chance to do that!

8. The Book Thief-Markus Zusak

Should you be thankful for having your soul ripped into a million pieces? I don’t know, but this book is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking things I have ever read and I’m so thankful that I got the chance to read it.

9. My Sister’s Keeper-Jodi Picoult

Again, not necessarily sure I should be thankful for this one as it destroyed me, but this book was the gateway into one of my favourite author’s work, not only that, it’s a beautiful story that has sister relationships at the very heart of it, which is something that will always be important to me.

10. Code Name Verity-Elizabeth Wein

Yes this book crushed my soul and all that jazz, but I’ve never read a book that centred female friendship as much as this one and for that I am so grateful, we need more books with girls supporting girls at the centre.

I could honestly go on and on about all the books I’m thankful to have read, but I’m going to be good and stop at the usual ten this week, especially since I went so overboard last week! What books are you most thankful for? Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR, but since I don’t tend to sort out my Winter TBR until January, I’m going to swap with the New To Me Authors That I Read In 2017 topic from the beginning of January. I don’t think I’ll be posting during the rest of the week, as I’ll be working on my essay, but I will be back here again next Tuesday!