Top Ten Tuesday: Books I loved more than I expected

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!  I actually forgot to post this last week, and I even had everything all ready to go!  Luckily for me, this week is a TTT hiatus, so I have another chance to post it.

Anyway, this topic is all about books that I loved more than I thought I would.  There was an option to do books that I disliked, but I figured I’ve talked about those enough!  I tried to go back in time since I feel like I’m always raving about the same few books.  I went way back to 2013 for this one, so I hope you enjoy!

Please feel free to send me any books that you’ve enjoyed more than expected and I’ll add them to my TBR!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: I have a documented problem with bestsellers.

Margot by Jillian Cantor: Historical fiction about the Holocaust, however important it may be, is not my favorite topic.

In the Blood by Lisa Unger: I don’t read a lot of thrillers and I really like kids, so I don’t generally enjoy books about creepy children.

Stiff by BB Hamel: This was the first stepbrother romance I ever read and I honestly did not expect to like it even one bit.

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan: If I’m honest, I don’t generally love memoirs. Especially memoirs from people I’ve never even heard of before. But this was surprisingly good and it read like fiction, which helped a lot.

Marie Antoinette’s Head by Will Bashor: Although I was a huge fan of Sofia Coppola’s film about her life, Marie Antoinette’s hairdresser does not top my list of interests.

Lust is the Thorn by Jen McLaughlin: I really just requested this book for kicks, but even though I went to thirteen years of Catholic school and have never thought of a priest sexually before, this book was HOT!

The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane: As a rule, I’m generally skeptical of anything from Kindle First, but this book was honestly really great.

Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman: I only read this book because I needed something published in 1990 for 2015’s reading challenge and it was enchanting.

The Void Series by Peter F. Hamilton: I don’t read a lot of epic fantasy – like the real kind that spans universes and millennia – but Hamilton is one of my boyfriend’s favorite authors and I can clearly see why.

Giveaway alert!

At the beginning of the year, I read a biography of Marie Antoinette’s hairdresser, Léonard Autié, called Marie Antoinette’s Head.  It was great, and as luck would have it, the author is giving away another 5 copies through December 20!

If you’re at all interested in the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, or history in general, I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Goodreads | Amazon

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of Marie Antoinette’s Head from the author in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, Marie Antoinette’s Head isn’t really about hair.

Second of all, I’m pretty sure Will Bashor just taught me more about the French Revolution in 200-some pages than I learned in all the history classes I’ve ever taken.

Marie Antoinette’s Head stands in stark contrast to most history books. When I think of books on the French Revolution, I think of those huge dusty books from the back room of the library that I had to read in eleventh grade English class to write research papers. I remember falling asleep after every couple pages because they were written so dryly and so impersonally that I couldn’t bring myself to care about whatever king or queen I was writing about that month.

In Marie Antoinette’s Head, Will Bashor not only managed to keep my attention, but he made me forget that I was learning! The book reads more like well-written historical fiction than non-fiction. The characters jumped off the page and came to life. And although I knew what the end result had to be, I felt so connected to Marie Antoinette and Léonard that my heart was pounding and I was devouring the book, hoping that she’d somehow find a way out of the mess she’d gotten herself into. I hoped that Léonard would finally get what he deserved, what he’d been promised… though I knew he wouldn’t.

If you’re at all interested in history, in Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution, or, yes, even hair… read this book.

Final rating: ★★★★☆

[also posted here]

I am sorry, monsieur, to have been compelled to fight with you; I never intended to win the woman with whom you are in love.

a sassy noble being sassy in Marie Antoinette’s Head (by Will Bashor)