Top Ten Tuesday #32

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is any topic of my choice! Well, sort of. This is my opportunity to redo any past TTT topics or maybe do ones that I missed. So my choice for this week: Top 10 Books I'm Glad Were Recommended to Me. (NOTE: Apparently this is next week's Top Ten Tuesday topic; I got them switched, but am too lazy to fix it).

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

Book #1 in the Ranger's Apprentice series. I'm so glad my friend Trinity recommended this book to me, otherwise I might never have discovered John Flanagan's books! I will always love these books, even the ones that aren't as good as the others.

Entwined by Heather Dixon

A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale. I love fairy tale retellings, and this is one of my favorite fairy tales, so obviously I was excited when my librarian friend Linda told me about this one. Oh my gosh, such a good book; one of my favorites.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book #1 in The Lunar Chronicles. It took forever for me to actually read this book. I had seen it several times, read its synopsis, and decided it sounded too weird to be any good. Cinderella a cyborg? Not for me, thanks. Finally, I did, though, after my librarian friend Lisa went on and on about it. So glad I did, because it's awesome!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Book #1 in what I like to refer to as The Panem Trilogy. Another librarian friend - Sheri - recommended this to me, and with a library event coming up involving this series, I decided to take her up on her recommendation and read it. I won't say that these are some of the world's best books, but they are fun and entertaining. I might never have picked them up because of their popularity.

The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

I suppose that this wasn't exactly a recommendation. But my sister was the one who found it and told me I might like it. The Roman Mysteries was my absolute favorite series as a kid, and I still hold a lot of affection for it. The first eight books are good; it's after that that it got a little strange and drawn out.

A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee

Book #1 in The Agency series. My librarian friend Linda is the one who recommended this to me. I had seen it, but didn't get a chance to read it. So she lent me her copy (before she was even done reading it!), and yes, this series does have flaws, but it's still a really fun series.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Book #1 in the Inkworld Trilogy. I don't remember who recommended this to me. This was one of those books that when I first read it, I didn't actually like it all that much, but I said I did, because I knew that it was the mood I was in that was keeping me from liking it. By Inkdeath, I loved the series, so I'm very glad that this book was recommended to me. It's my No. #1 comfort read.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

I believe this was recommended to me by my librarian friend Kate. It's been a long time since I've read this book, mostly because it's hard to find a hardcover copy of it. But I recall really, really liking this book. A very good medieval story with a romantic interest I had a crush on.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Book #1 in The Darkest Minds trilogy. An employee at Barnes & Noble recommended this book to me. I was looking at it, debating whether or not I should add it to my TBR, and the lady came up and started telling me all about it. This is one of those books that the more I think about it, the more I realize just how much I really did like it.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

I don't remember who recommended this one, either, but I'm glad they did! It's such a hilarious book; one of my favorites. It's got great characters, great inanimate objects that are, in fact, animate (but shouldn't be), and a great storyline.