Books I'm So Happy Were Recommended To Me

This week's Top Ten meme from The Broke and the Bookish asks us to feature the books you probably wouldn't have picked up without a good recommendation.

A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton- Janssen at Everyday Reading reviewed this on her blog, and I am so glad she did. It's an amazing resource for any parent who loves to read and wants to pass that love onto their child.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart- Another recommendation from Janssen. Love, love, love this book.

White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son by Tim Wise- This book was briefly mention on a post by Kristen at Rage Against the Minivan. The title sounded familiar, so I did some digging and I had read an excerpt from the book in a gender studies class in college. It's a hard, but important read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak- My county and the library systems in it did a "One Book, One County" program for a little while. This was the book in 2008. This is one of my favorite books and he is one of my favorite authors even though I've only read two of his books.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison- I first heard about these books from a fellow English major, Heather. These books are so funny (at least 1-4 and then the last one).

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry- In 2009, I decided to make a list of 100 books to read that year. When I asked for recommendations on Facebook, Danielle mentioned this one. Out of all my other choices, this is the only I for sure would not have ever read. I hadn't ever heard of it, for one, and then when I went to get it at the library it was huge (over 600 pages). So glad I stuck with it.

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt- I'm in a small book club where we take turns picking the book. One month, one of the women chose this book. It's another big one. I've had another book by that author (Possession) on my to-read list for a long time, so I was intrigued. I liked it. The reading almost was like things I read in my literary history classes. I'm glad she chose it, but I don't know if I would recommend it. Out of four women, I was the only one that finished it and liked it.

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells- Heather also recommended this one. It popped up on her Goodreads profile with this short review: "This could be the best book I've read this year and in a long time." Of course I had to read it.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer- This one has nothing to do with regular book blogging, but it's still a book I am extremely glad was recommended to me. A friend who is a doula told me to read it, and then my midwife did too. Such a good book for pregnant women that want to be informed about birth.