Top 5 books I’ve read because of blogs and YouTube

Social media and the internet is a wonderful thing when it comes to finding out about books. There are so many to choose from, and being able to hear others thoughts about them is INCREDIBLY helpful! They help you find out about books that you may not have heard of otherwise. And so many times I’ve read a synopsis and wasn’t sure if it was something that I would enjoy. Hearing others feelings about a book can definitely sway my decision! Here are the 5 books that I read and loved thanks to blogs and YouTube!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme where I explore different topics. If you are interested in participating I would love to have you! Here is a list of my Upcoming Topics in July – please remember to ping back a specific post of mine so I get a notification and I will add you to the participants list!

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is probably the number one example of a book I ADORED and never would have read. Actually, I downright refused to read it! I had seen it around the blogosphere before its release, but I decided that I hated everything about it. The cover was awful (I still don’t like it) and it had to do with the life of a Hollywood starlet. I despise all things Hollywood. I didn’t want anything to do with a shallow woman and her “struggles”. A few months after the release, the rave reviews STILL kept coming, and I started to pay closer attention. Everyone was saying that this book was so emotional and not what they expected at all. It was finally when I saw a review by Bently at Book Bastion that I decided to give it a try. Now it’s one of my all time favourites!!!

MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

I am a huge historical fiction fan, so this one should have automatically made it to my TBR. Especially the fact that it deals with the Tudor dynasty which is my favourite time period in a historical fiction!! But, for some reason, I decided I didn’t want to read it. I think it had to do with the fact that I heard there was a character that turned into a horse. Magical realism is something that I generally can’t relate to. Almost everything I’ve read I didn’t enjoy. So I decided that I wasn’t going to enjoy this one. But speaking with Flavia at Flavia The Bibliophile I was convinced that the magical realism would work and it would be a great read – IT WAS! Once again, I added this as an all time favourite!

READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline

Long before I started the blog, I became obsessed with BookTube. And every single channel I watched, they all had one thing in common; they’ve read and LOVED Ready Player One. Even if that person didn’t typically read books like this, they still read it and raved about it. Naturally, I needed to know what all the fuss is about. I am SO thankful I did! I also read this at a time that science fiction wasn’t a thing I read, so taking a chance on it was even more difficult. This book helped kick start an interest in the genre 🙂

CINDER by Marissa Meyer

Oh yes, the infamous red high heel shoe. That’s the reason why I refused to read this. The cover is misleading. If you don’t know anything about the series, it’s easy to assume that this book will be girly and immature. I know I’m not the only one that thought that way! I saw the shoe and my mind wouldn’t allow me to see the mechanics of her leg. But through blogs I realized that this is nothing like its cover and there isn’t a single girly thing about it! I LOVED this series so much and so glad I listened to YouTube!

CITY OF THIEVES by David Benioff

Without Regan from The Peruse Project on YouTube, this book never would have made it on my radar. It’s rarely talked about and I never see in in a book store. Thanks to her mutual love of historical fiction, she talked about this book a few times and I decided that I needed to take a look. The premise immediately grabbed me – world war 2, and two criminals are given the chance of their freedom if they manage to find a dozen eggs for the generals daughters wedding cake. Seems an easy task, but when food is so scarce that people are eating the clue from spines of books…… it’s almost impossible. This is a short read but packs a punch you can’t imagine!

TOP 5 TUESDAY PARTICIPANTS:

• Lili’s Blissful Pages
• A Happy Little Bookworm
• Robyn Reads Books
• Hanna Reads
• The Girl With All The Books
• Malanie Loves Fiction
• Meeghan Reads and Bakes
• Birdie Bookworm
• Kristin Kraves Books
• Kyera’s Library
• The Fuzzy Bookworm
• Fictionologyst
• A Fictional Bookworm
• Jillian The Bookish Butterfly
• The Book Prescription
• Paper Royalty
• Books Are Only The Beginning
• Tays Infinite Thoughts
• Bibliophile – Struggling Bookaholic
• Secret Library Book Blog
• Libby Reads
• Bookishly Rebecca
• Milkz’ Bookshelf
• The Reading Hobbit
• Junky Writing
• Shades Of Paper
• Lost: Purple Quill
• Beware Of The Reader
• Paperback Cassie
• Stuck In Fiction

To me, this Top 5 Tuesday topic proves that social media does its job and does it well. It can be such a useful tool to help spread the word on some amazing reads and give them the exposure that they deserve! What books have you loved that you found through blogs or YouTube?

Until next time, happy reading!