Top Ten Books I’m Thankful I Gave a Chance

It’s Tuesday! That means in two day, I’m running my first 5K! I’m excited and nervous. I know I can do it, but I’m still worried that something will happen.

But that’s Thursday. Today is Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Thankful Freebie”, which means we get to choose the topic. I’m going with Top Ten Books I’m Grateful I gave a Chance.

1. The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. So, I’ve been in fandom a long, long time, and I knew who Cassandra Clare was long before she started writing books. All I knew about her was that she was wanky and got her fans to buy her a laptop. Because of that, I never read any of her books. However, this year, I decided to give Clockwork Angel a chance and I’m so glad I did. Not only was the whole series wonderful, but it helped inspire me to start writing again. I didn’t realize that all her books were set in the same universe and it occurred to me that I could do the same thing. In less than a year, I went to having one book written to almost three (I’m currently writing the third.) So, yeah, I’m super glad I gave the books a chance.
2. The Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. Before discovering BookTube, I’d never heard of these books. I was introduce to them by A Dash of Ash. Even hearing her enthuse about them, I wasn’t sure they were for me. Still, I decided to give them a try. At first, it was a huge struggle because I wasn’t following who the characters were. But, once I adjusted to the format, I fell in love. I love the characters, I love the story, I love the format, and I love AIDAN. In fact, it may be time for a reread of the series.
3. Scythe by Neal Shusterman. This was another book I’d never heard of before BookTube and I dismissed it at first because I didn’t know what it was about. Then, I picked it up at a bookstore and read the first chapter. I fell in love. I didn’t buy it, but I checked it out from the library. However, I think I’m going to buy all three books now that The Toll is out and reread the first two before diving into the third.
4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Yet another book I thought I wouldn’t care for, I bought this for three bucks at the library store. It was in perfect condition and I felt like I had to buy it. It was such a magical book. I loved the characters, the setting, the worldbuilding, everything. And to think,I never would have given it a chance if I hadn’t first read
5. Caraval by Stephanie Graber. I’m not a huge fantasy lover, and I thought this book would be out of my comfort zone. However, I decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did. I loved Scarlett so much and the whole game of Caraval and her obsession with following the rules was just so much fun to read. I liked Legendary even more and I’m so excited to read Finale very, very soon.
6. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. This is another book that I picked up because of BookTube. It was so popular and people loved it so much, that I decided to give it a try. I admit, I struggled with it. I couldn’t get into it at first and actually put it down and stop reading. Then, one weekend last March, I hurt my foot and called in sick to work. I decided to spend the weekend reading and I went back to SoC and jammed through it. I was so glad I did. I actually liked Crooked Kingdom even more, but I never would have read that if I had’t read the first one.
7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I struggled so much to read this book. My mom recommended it to me, and I tried, but couldn’t get past the first chapter. It just didn’t grab me. Finally, I sat down and pushed through and I discovered the delightful magic of Harry Potter. I’m so glad I gave it a chance.
8. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. So, one of the places I hang out on the internet has strong opinions about everything. I swear, everything they like, I hate and vice versa. Which is why I finally decided to give Fangirl a chance because they hated it so much. I figured, I’d love it. And I did. It was like reading about myself during my early years in fandom. I was never as popular as Cath was, but I had a very popular series that people made fanart for, fangirled my OCs, and kept me going through some dark times.
9. Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I don’t like dragons all that much, and when I read the description of this book, I thought it was about a literal dragon. And even when I realized my mistake, I wasn’t sure. However, I have loved every single fanfic that I’ve read of Naomi Novik’s and decided I was being stupid. I loved Uprooted so much. I’m so glad I gave it a chance.
10. Beauty by Robin McKinley. I remember the first time I came across this book. I was in eighth grade in our library. I was trolling the shelves for books and came across this one. Instead of reading the description, I read the first line and went, “A Sleeping Beauty story told in first person? That’s so dumb.” And I put it back on the shelf. It wasn’t until I got hurt (there’s sort of a theme here) and stuck in the library during PE that I gave it another chance and realized it was a Beauty and the Beast story and it was amazing. I cannot stress how much I love this book. It’s my favorite book ever and I read every year and just… yeah. It’s a huge part of my heart.

What are some books you are thankful you gave a chance to?