Top Ten Tuesday #446

Hi all, I hope you’ve had a good week since I last did one of these. As I mentioned in my last post, it was YALC weekend this weekend, I was there on the Saturday this year, just the one day this time for the first time since 2016 but there weren’t enough authors I wanted to see on Sunday this year to justify doing two days. Anyway, I was back with my friend Hannah again this year after she missed out on last year’s and we had such a great time, it was so fun to be back there again together this year. We did find that we had a little less to do this year than in previous years as we only had two author signings to go to and there weren’t particularly that many panels or workshops that we really wanted to do, but we were quite able to keep ourselves occupied by chatting and people-watching cosplayers in the Comic-Con area downstairs from the upstairs balcony so we still had a great time. I do hope that they’re able to sort out a better space for next year though because the upstairs mezzanine space is just so small, everything is very cramped and though they had improved it somewhat from last year, particularly by moving the author signing areas so there was more space to queue, it was still quite a small space for everyone to fit into and it made browsing the stalls a little difficult, we kept going back around thinking we’d go back when there were less people and there never was! Having said that though, I was pleased to see they seemed to have taken some of the feedback from last year on board: the separate YALC entrance was back which made the queueing experience much better and they FINALLY had actual seating in the chill zone, even sofas which I hope become a permanent addition because honestly Hannah and I were very close to never leaving that sofa for the whole day, it was so comfy. I also actually quite liked the change to the November date: it was much cooler in the hall, there were slightly less people than there usually are in the summer and honestly it’s nice to have something to look forward to in November, it’s normally a pretty dull month!

Anyway, it’s Tuesday, so time for another Top Ten Tuesday courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is from Rissa @ Pretentious Reader Girl and we’re talking Top Ten Mainstream Popular Authors I Still Haven’t Read. This was a fairly straightforward one for me because to be honest, I tend to read less of the hyped, popular books than I ever used to, and though I still have read a lot of mainstream, popular authors, there are so many books out there that there are always bound to be some that you haven’t got to yet! I stuck to ones that I think I might have an interest in reading in the future as it’s all very well saying that I’ve not read any Stephen King, but let’s face it, I’m never going to. So here we go:

1. Cassandra Clare

Both of my big reader friends love Cassandra Clare and have been trying to get me to read her books for years, but I’ve always resisted, mainly because of the sheer number of them. I have no problem with a lengthy series, but I need to get into it when there are still a manageable number of books to catch up on and at this point, the Shadowhunters Universe is way past that. I also think at this point that I might just be past the age where I would enjoy the Shadowhunters books? I think I might have liked them at 15/16 but I’m not sure I would now. However I know she has a new non-Shadowhunter related book out that I think is Adult Fantasy, so if anyone reads that and thinks it’s any good, then let me know.

2. Angie Thomas

I tried The Hate U Give and just couldn’t really get into it. I did enjoy the film though so it does make me wonder if I should give the book another chance? But then I am kind of past the point where I really enjoy YA contemporaries, and even when I was a teenager, they weren’t really my thing so maybe I should just accept that these probably aren’t going to be for me? I don’t know, I’m very conflicted!

3. Holly Bourne

Another YA author that I feel like I really should have got into because she writes a lot about feminism and mental health and those are topics that are important to me and I enjoy reading about in fiction but I think her YA books just kind of missed me when I was a teenager (I think her books started coming out in the tail-end of my teenage years) and I just don’t find contemporary YA fiction all that interesting anymore. However she has written some adult books, so I guess I want to know if they’re any good? I feel like Holly Bourne should be an author I like as she writes about a lot of stuff that I really care about, but I’ve yet to find a book of hers that has called to me!

4. Juno Dawson

I’ve been seeing Juno Dawson’s name around at YALC for years and heard people talking about her books but again, nothing has ever super appealed to me. However, her new witchy adult fantasy series sounds right up my street and Nicola Coughlan narrates the audiobooks which immediately had my interest piqued so I do plan on picking these up at some point, maybe next year after the final book is out and the trilogy is complete!

5. Taylor Jenkins Reid

I see Taylor Jenkins Reid everywhere and I’m kind of curious but at the same time I don’t know if any of her books are really my thing, since I’m not really a romance reader. Are there any that I might like? Or is Taylor Jenkins Reid just likely not to be one for me? I’m okay if not, but I guess I’m just kind of curious to know what all the hype is about.

6. T.J. Klune

I’ve heard fairly unanimous praise across the board for The House In The Cerulean Sea and from what I’ve heard of his books, he does sound like an author I’d enjoy so I think it’s more a case of when I get around to his work rather than if I try it. Has anyone listened to his audiobooks? Are they good, because I reckon that’s probably the format I’ll go for when I do try his books? What should I start with? Let me know!

7. Fredrik Backman

My mum really loved A Man Called Ove, and I always take notice when my mum says she really enjoyed something because my mum is not a big reader so it means a lot when she said she really enjoyed something. I’ve also seen his books pretty widely around the blogosphere and I enjoyed watching the recent American film adaptation of A Man Called Ove (retitled A Man Called Otto) so I’d like to try his books at some point, maybe I will start with that one as I’m already familiar with the story from the film?

8. Margaret Atwood

I have to admit, I’m put off by anything that could be remotely considered a “classic” because I just got so put off by them at school and Margaret Atwood’s books, particularly The Handmaid’s Tale, do seem to fall into that category. But I have really enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale on TV and it does make me wonder if I should actually try the book at some point? I know she has written many, many other books as well and it does feel like I’m maybe missing out by not having tried anything she’s written. I don’t know, if you’ve read any of Margaret Atwood’s books, what do you think? Any you would recommend (aside from The Handmaid’s Tale)?

9. Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of those that I’ve seen around for a while, but moreso since The Inheritance Games series has come out and she has quite the backlist. I have The Fixer and have been meaning to read it for ages but kind of forgot about it and then seeing everyone so hyped about The Inheritance Games reminded me that I had it to read. I really do need to actually get around to it at some point!

10. Agatha Christie

I know. I know. In my defense, I’m not a huge crime reader, it’s a genre I read kind of sparingly and though I enjoy mysteries on the TV, I always find it hard to get invested when I read them for some reason as I tend to find them too easy to work out. Both of my uni friends, Rebecca and Nicola really love her books though and Nicola has been telling me I should read them, and she’s generally quite good at knowing what I’ll like, so maybe I do need to finally get around to reading them one of these days.

So there we go, those are some Mainstream Popular Authors I’ve Not Read Yet. Any you think I should prioritising reading? Will I like Taylor Jenkins Reid or are all her books super romance-y? Any Margaret Atwood books aside from The Handmaid’s Tale people recommend? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday, and it’s Reasons I’m Thankful For Books as the annual Thanksgiving themed topic. I thought this was one I had already done, but checking back through my Thanksgiving freebie topics, it actually isn’t, shockingly, so I will be doing that one next week (and am honestly quite glad I don’t have to think of something else, Thanksgiving topics when you live in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving is hard!).