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| Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! |
But when you do that, you miss out on some of the good stuff... sometimes really good stuff! Be they backlog, indie-published, international, or just plain weird, chances are there are some really tremendous titles you just haven't heard before.
So, here are some of my favorite books, with 2,000-ish or less ratings on Goodreads!
1. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, Kathleen Flinn (1,601 ratings, 3.86 stars)
This food-oriented family memoir, tracking the lives of Flinn's extended relations through their own favorite recipes, has been one of my favorite reads of 2019 so far. Her way of describing not only food, but the ways it affects relationships and reflects tradition, really reminded me of those of my own family.
2. Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost the Knowledge of Where Food Comes From, and Why We Need to Get It Back, Ann Vileisis (350 ratings, 3.68 stars)
I love reading about food, but mostly in memoir form, and not necessarily nonfiction, so the way this book was immediately able to grab me late last year was a total surprise. It has made me way more cognizant of the effects of my grocery-purchasing habits, as well as the processing my food goes through before it manages to reach my cart.
3. She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, and Massively Crushed It, Hannah Jewell (479 ratings, 3.85 stars)
It's not easy to think of another book that so seamlessly matches well-researched feminist history with a great sense of humor, but if anyone's going to do it, it's Hannah Jewell. I'm usually skeptical of books that boast being filled with the names of impressive names "you've never heard of" - and true to form, I knew quite a few of them - but the ones that were included spanned such a wide reach, diverse and globally-reflective, that I even flagged a couple to read into more later.
4. All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Famous Friends Who Happen to Be Strangers, Alana Massey (1,602 ratings, 3.64 stars)
Hands down, one of my favorite essay collections from the past couple of years, right up there with Leslie Jamison's Empathy Exams. This one, though, captures a topic close to my heart: celebrity worship and modern pop culture. I liked it so much, I even bought a copy for my younger sister!
(2,197 ratings, 3.7 stars)
One of the only two fictional works on this list, and definitely the most surprising, being that it's a YA Contemporary pick (No, seriously). If I'm going to be spending my time on a high school romance, it better have all the glitter of a mid-2000s teen flick, and Strohmeyer totally delivers. Let me sell this to you, in three phrases: Disneyland-meets-Devil Wears Prada. It's crazy, and crazy wonderful.
6. Beyond: the Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comic Anthology, Sfe R. Monster (482 ratings, 4.09 stars)
I still don't get the chance to read as many comic books as I'd like, but I really enjoyed picking up this one a few years ago... especially when it comes from my younger sister's dresser! I'm always stoked to see diversity in fiction, but especially when it's presented in a visual format, like in this collection from a variety of queer artists.
7. Shake the World: It's Not About Finding A Job, It's Creating a Life, James Marshall Reilly (112 ratings, 3.88 stars)
Okay, I've read my fair share of job-finding books in the world, and there have been some really good ones... but this was the first after college that really sent the message home that building a career as well as a philanthropic habit are both fundamental parts of constructing an adult life as a whole. I'm still majorly working on both of those things, but at least this book gave me a good sense of direction about it!
8. Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books, Cara Nicoletti (1,833 ratings, 3.68 stars)
Out of all of the books on this list, this one probably requires the least explanation, because its title should serve as more than enough. Books are my favorite thing... and so is Food. Both books and food in one read? Truly a match made in heaven. (And her Instagram makes for a fun follow, too!)
... and the ones that are slightly above 2,000... but deserve so much more love!!
9. Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, Melanie Rehak (2,188 ratings, 3.76 stars)
As a Nancy Drew collector and super-fan - yes, I'm serious - this is consistently one of my favorite nonfiction picks to reread. Focusing in on the lives of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Mildred Wirt Benson, this tracks the legacy of not only their work to cement the intrepid teenage sleuth in the pantheons of youth fiction, but also how the various facets of the cultural mantle of ownership are entitled to both. SO good!
10. Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, Ron Suskind (2,263 ratings, 4.20 stars)
Get ready to cry buckets. Out of all of the books on this list, and quite a few nonfiction titles, this will absolutely be the one to tug on your heartstrings, like Quasimodo ringing those darn bells. One of my favorite non-fic picks of all time, this tale of how Disney stories and a loving family gave a young autistic boy the language he needed in order to communicate, was turned into an Oscar-nominated documentary a few years back. I haven't watched it yet, of course... mainly because I haven't found the kind of Kleenex box built big enough for it yet!
What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!
I'm adding Beyond to my TBR. It sounds so good.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Voracious made it onto my list too, but because I actually haven't read it! Will have to bump this up my list. I'm a huge fan of foodie books too. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have such similar tastes in books. I want to read all of these books (and then maybe go book-shopping with you. LOL!)
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten Tuesday post.
She caused a riot sounds interesting. I recently got a Tyranny of Petticoats (which is fiction, but kinda up the same alley) and that one only has a little over 3,000 ratings. These books are all new to me.
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