Wednesday 22 May 2013

Caitlin Considers: Books You Love More Than You Thought You Would




Have you ever had those books that, for whatever reason, you've read but weren't really sure about? And then you absolutely love them and become a little obsessed with them? Me too.

Usually I've read them because I was curious about them or because they've been recommended multiple times or because someone has lent them to me. The thing they all share was that I wasn't sure I'd like them before I read them, I started with little to no expectation of them or even expected to dislike them.

This is my actual favourite thing to happen when reading. I love to go from scepticism to adoration. I love that moment where you realise that you are so immersed in the story that it is 5am and you have to get up soon. I love when you spend days remembering the world, thinking about the characters.

My first memorable instance of this is with the Percy Jackson series. I bought the first book cause it was a fiver for the hardback and it sorta looked like Harry Potter. I didn't read it for a few months and at first, felt the writing style was too young but I was soon immersed in Percy's world. The next day I left early for college so I could run to a bookshop first and buy the sequel. This is where my love for Percy blossomed. Since then I've read all the books and the Heroes of Olympus books and made my boyfriend read them (one of my other favourite things about reading is having my boyfriend admit to enjoying a book he was initially dismissive of. The day he finally accepted Harry Potter is a very fond memory).

The second time it happened was with the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow. I kept looking at them in the shop, thinking I might like them, but not prepared to spend the money to find out. Then I found them at a book sale, 2 for £1 and bought them (the first 2). I knew as soon as I started reading that I'd been stupid not to get them before. They were perfect for me, from the female main character to the mysterious hot boy to the heart-pounding action-filled plots.

Finding a book or series you adore is always magical. But finding it in a book you didn't expect to like much is always more so. There's just something about the change of attitude you have, of going from one feeling to another, opposite feeling. Of just knowing that you've found something special where you didn't expect to. 

Other books/series I love that I didn't expect to:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter
I Capture the Castle by Dodi Smith
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 
The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan 
Graceling by Kristen Cashore
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
The Fever series by Karen Moning

What books do you love more than you thought you would?

10 comments:

  1. I love this post! :-)

    Errr I didn't think I'd enjoy the Gallagher Girls series but I was totally sucked in & now I'm desperate to read the 6th book.

    Also the Demon's Lexicon series (awesome) and the Strange Angels series you mentioned in your post (Team Graves!).

    I haven't yet read the Percy Jackson books but I think I will now.

    Happy reading :-) x

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  2. I was the same with Percy Jackson! I read the first book from my school library I think just because I was bored and the blurb sounded all right. Then I just fell in love with the series, went out and bought them all. And I didn't think I'd like Anna and the French Kiss much either, I read it because people kept raving, but I was sceptical. But it was amazing! Great post! I'd love to see you do a list of books you thought you'd love but didn't too.

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    1. That's the plan for the next discussion post! Great minds, Liz ;)

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  3. This is one of my favourite things too. It happened with Out of the Easy and Graceling for me as well. I'm hopinh my next experience of this will be soon - there's nothing like it!

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  4. Ooh, I did this with Maggie Stiefvater - I'd never managed to get into Shiver (not even exactly sure why, it just never clicked for me), then tried her Books of Faerie, and wasn't overly fond of them either. So decided Maggie Stiefvater was simply not for me. Then saw a bunch of glowing reviews for The Raven Boys, and decided to give her one last try. And adored it. Then read The Scorpio Races and loved it even more. So I am indifferent to five out of her seven books, and love-with-unrestrained-passion the other two. So weird.

    (also I can't believe you've been back blogging so long and I haven't realised. I am so sorry, I feel terrible! Looking forward to reading back over what I missed.)

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  5. You know, I was just going to comment that the Vampire Academy series was something I refused to read for a long time because I am not a fan of vampires in general and after Twilight I refused to read any vampire books because I just didn't want to go there. But then I read Vampire and Academy and it was amazing. And now it's probably one of my favourite series ever. And....I just love Adrian, okay? And Dimitri. And Rose and Sydney and everyone!

    Ugh. I just love that series. And I resisted it for a very long time.

    Anyways, I was just going to say Vampire Academy and then I realized that Twilight was also a book that I picked up a LOT in the bookstore (because of it's pretty, pretty cover) but did not even think of reading until two of my friends sped through reading the first three books. And then when I borrowed Twilight from one of them it just sat in my room for four months. As soon as I did start reading it though, I blew through it and the next books. And, yes they are complete fluff but I just really enjoyed them.

    Those are all I can think of right now.

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  6. Divergent is one of mine too. I'm not a huge fan of dystopian fiction and since this one was SO hyped I thought it'd be just another buzz book that everybody else loved except me, but I was wrong! (it happens sometimes - rarely.) ;)

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  7. Ohh, completely agreed! It is the best feeling when you go into a book a bit unsure and come out of it absolutely LOVING it. It usually happens with me and contemporaries because they're not my usual kind of read. Like Anna and the French Kiss.

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  8. This was Harry Potter for me. I started reading them about two weeks ago and enjoyed the first one but wasn't sure how much until I'd finished it and refused to read anything else until I had Chamber of Secrets. I haven't read anything else since and have been working my way through them. I'm in love! :)

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  9. Haha I knew you were going to be skeptical over ANNA and I'm so glad you gave in to it's brilliance. And I love that your boyfriend reads! And I know I'm just responding to random snippets of this post but I can't organize my thoughts well and we all kind of know this xP

    I'm in that same boat you found yourself in when you wanted to start the PJ series. I just haven't been in the mood and yet I know I will love the series. I've only read the first book and I own all five... it's just... SOMETHING. I don't know.I'm hoping I'll finish the series this year!

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