Top Ten Tuesday: most underrated books in certain genres

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic that the participants come up with a top ten list for.


Hey guys :) This week's topic was to pick a genre and spotlight ten books that we think are underrated within that category. My problem is that I can't think of a single genre where I can find so many underrated books! I mean I could easily give you ten awesome vampire novels or dystopians or whatever, but not all of them would be underappreciated. So I'm picking more than one genre.


Underrated reaper books


The Croak series by Gina Damico
These books are hilarious! Well, serious too because they're about death. But you can't read this without laughing. And Mrs Damico has the most awesome ideas! Just wait until you see the jellyfish or her version of the afterlife. Also, the romance is refreshingly non-sappy.

The Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent
This is also to a big extent a series about banshees, but the reapers become more important as it goes on. Also, there is Tod, my favorite reaper and one of my favorite male leads in general. He has the best black sense of humor. Also, the world building here is extensive and original - big plus! No weird, unresolved for-the-sake-of-plot convenient stuff. Things go badly. People die. The survivors continue to fight.


Underrated contemporaries


Notes from the Blender by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Two very different teens (queen of high school / the metal guy) suddenly have to deal with living together because their parents are getting married. It's both hilarious and sad and just generally wonderful :)

Collide by J.R. Lenk
I found this one on a list of books with bisexual characters, but I ended up reading to a big part because of the music. In a way, this was my scene when I was a teen (minus the parties). This was my music. These were, to an extent, my people. Reading this was like taking a trip down the this-might-have-been-me road of memory lane. It's really well-written! To bad I can't find anything else by the author...

Lovely Vicious by Sara Wolf
I bought this one on a whim and read the whole thing in one night (yes, until like four in the morning). I just couldn't stop. I just like how nobody is who you first think they are and I thought the voice was very strong.


Underrated YA crime/thriller


I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent series) by Barry Lyga
I always think this series is huge but then sometimes I think that not all that many people have heard of it. I'm not sure. Either way, it's fantastic and I think more people should read it. Jasper is a really untypical and lead with a complex personality. However, this is about gruesome murders. So you shouldn't be easily put-off.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
I mainly read this one because parts of it are set in Prague, but I got sucked in by the mystery/thriller element. Couldn't stop reading. So many possible suspects. So many secrets. But again, not a sunshiny read. This title is to be taken seriously.


Underrated historical / steampunk


Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
This is one of my favorite steampunk/zombie novels. I love it. I love the world building, I love Nora, I love Bram, I love the type of relationship they have together. I love that the book is both action-packed and bloody but also funny and romantic. Also, it talks about important social questions that apply to our own world as well.

Something Strange & Deadly by Susan Dennard
I think with the sequels, this series has garnered more attention, but still not all that much compared to other YA fantasy novels. Which is a pity because again, great steampunk/zombie historical combination. There's both awesome mechanical stuff but also magic and social boundaries and family issues. I really need to get the third one now that it's out...

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
I've only read the first two but I loved them! It's Victorian London with faeries, and the protagonist is a girl thief living on the street. I love how it picks up on how many Victorians believed faeries existed alongside them and how it portrays both the hardships of life on the street but also the companionship between Tiki and her chosen family.


So, that was it from me. Do you know any of them? Do you agree they are underrated, or do you think they are already getting enough attention? And what did you pick this week? Link me up in the comments :)

Stacking the Shelves: Alice's Dirty Secret and the Infinity of Collecting

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)

Since I couldn't do a book haul post last week because of my computer problems and sudden escape to Italy, this is two week's worth of books. I'm really happy about all of them ^^


For review / tour

Dirty Little Secret, by Jennifer Echols
Unhinged (chapter sampler), by A.G. Howard

I've never read a Jennifer Echols book before so I'm really excited to be on the tour! As for Unhinged, the wait is pure torture so when that sampler popped up on Netgalley, I had to have it!


Won in ebook format at Armchair BEA

Follow the White Rabbit, by Kellie Sheridan
Window, by T.M. Franklin

I was really surprised when I saw my name in the list of the winners! But I've been curious about Follow the White Rabbit ever since the cover reveal - I'm just a sucker for Alice retellings ^^


Bought in print

Phoenix, by Elizabeth Richards
Notes from the Blender, by Trith Cook and Brendan Halpin

I loved Black City and needed Phoenix asap! I'm reading it like now and really liking where it's headed.
Notes from the Blender is a book I'd won as an ebook already, but I just needed a print version. The paperback is out now so you can get it cheap - it's worth it for that beautiful cover alone! But the story is one of the best and funniest contemporaries I've ever read! You really should check it out :)


Bought as ebooks when they were cheap on Amazon


Savour You, by Emily Snow
The Collector, by Victoria Scott
Infinity, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Unmaking Hunter Kennedy, by Anne Eliot
Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers
Article 5, by Kristen Simmons

I've never read a Sherrilyn Kenyon book but I've been intrigued with the premise of Infinity for a while! I love reading guy-POV books every now and again. Plus, demon-hunters!
Everyone went nuts over The Collector. I'd planned to get the paperback but I couldn't resist it when it was that cheap. Savour You was only 99c when I got it last night. It's Kylie's story, and I really liked her character in Devoured. Article 5 is another one I was really interested in when it came out last year but I somehow never got round to it. I'm only now warming up to dystopians... that most people are getting sick of them :P Wonky timing.
Some Girls Are sounds like a gritty contemporary revenge story, and I can't resist those. And Unmaking Hunter Kennedy is for when I'm in the mood for a typical summer read :)

Also, if you're interested in a post on cover design and stock art I did yesterday, you can check it out here.

Alrighty, that's it from me! Which ones of them have you read or are you excited to read? And what landed on your doormat this past week?

Top Ten Books I've read in 2012

Hi everyone :) I'm part of the Top Ten of  2012 event co-hosted by Rachel from Fiktshun, Lisa from A Life Bound By Books, Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic, Jaime from Two Chicks on Books  and  Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

Each deay from December 24 to December 28, the participating bloggers post and link up their top ten of a certain topic. I'm really glad they allowed for multiple categories and a few honorable mentions, otherwise I'd have a very tough time choosing! I've read sooo many amazing books this year :) I've ordered mine into paranormal / fantasy books and contemporaries. The list is about books we read in 2012, even if they came out earlier.

 Paranormal / Fantasy:

Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor
I read both DoBaS and Daugher of Smoke and Bone in 2012, but I think the second book was even better than the first. It doesn't really matter though, because I absolutely adored both! The writing is just phenomenal :)

The Lux Series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I'm just putting them both together here. Yes, I'm a little cheater :P If you made me pick though... gah. I don't know. I loved Onyx and seeing Katy come into her was awesome, but I think I liked Obsidian just a tiny bit better ^^ I'm really curious for Opal, I'll have to get it soon.

Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh
I waited a whole agonizing year for this book to come out and it was worth every single second! Soooo good! I love Varen. He's hands down my favorite book boyfriend. And Isobel grew so much during this novel! The lore. The Poe aspect. The beautiful, beautiful writing. I need more! You can read my review here if you're interested :)

Something Strange & Deadly, by Susan Dennard
My first zombie novel, and I loved it sooo much! I mean I kind of knew it would be great, but it was just so much more than I had expected! The historical aspect was phenomenal, and I loved the dynamics between Daniel and Eleanor ^^

Dearly, Departed, by Lia Habel
Yes, another zombie book. I think I always pick the steampunk zombie books that aren't the usual zombie apocalypse book. I've never read one of those, and I doubt that I'd like them, but I was blown away by this one! The world building is amazing, and Bram totally made me believe in a zombie love interest! And despite the gore, it was a fun read too :)

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
I don't know why it took me so long to read this book. It was soooo beautiful! I felt completely pulled into the world of the cirque des rêves and my mind still goes there quite often. This book is so well-structure and thought out! It made me laugh and cry and feel pretty much the whole emotional spectrum.

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake
A year late to the party, but I read this in the summer really quickly. I love Cas' voice! Can't wait for Girl of Nightmares to come out in paperback so I can finally buy it and they'll match. I'm really curious about what will happen!

The Soul Screamers series, by Rachel Vincent
Yup, I'm cheating again and just putting the whole series there. I read it all between January and June. Then I read more of Rachel Vincent's books. I'd love to list them, too, but that might be going a bit far with the rule-bending. I love Tod and Kaylee and Sabine. If I had to pick a single favorite from the series it would be If I Die.

Black Heart, by Holly Black
I love Holly Black. All her books. She is such a courageous writer! The Curse Workers Trilogy is a masterpiece, and this was the perfect conclusion! I'm really sad there won't be more Cassel and Lila stories, but I like where it left off. Doesn't mean my heart wasn't broken on the way through the book. Definitely worth the pain, though!

The Shadow Society, by Marie Rutkoski
I requested this on NetGalley on a whim and never expected to love it quite as much as I did! What a unique idea, and what a wonderful heroine! And my favorite poem played quite an important role in it :)

Contemporary:

Notes from the Blender, by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
I laughed so much when I read this book, and still it was about serious matters, too! I loved both Declan and Neilly, and getting their separate perspectives of the same events was awesome. Also, the authors actually GET Declan's perspective and know what they're talking about with his music etc.! I read it in a day.

Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry
I loved Echo and Noah! A wonderful book, again with dual perspective. They're chemistry is off the charts, and they make a great team. The tough issues both characters are dealing with were well-handled.

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This was the first contemporary I read this year. The first one I'd read in many years! I stuck firmly to fantasy for like half a decade (probably more) before that. I picked it up on a whim at the bookstore because I liked the cover. Then I saw that it was about a girl from the foster system, and it played in San Francisco. The first few sentences pulled me in, so I bought it. Then it was on my shelf for almost half a year. Then I read it, and my heart opened, I hurt, I cried, I was happy. It's a tough book, but a truly beautiful one.

Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
This isn't something I would have bought if I hadn't read so many awesome reviews. I picked it when I won my first giveaway. It was such a fun, engaging read! I'm always scared there will be too much drama in contemporaries. I hate drama. But it wasn't too much in this one, and realistically handled. I really need to get Lola and the Boy Next Door soon!

The Breakaway, by Michelle Davidson Argyle
I finished this one yesterday but I just had to add it to the list! The issue of kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome, and abusive / dependent relationships was really well-handled, in my opinion. I think I would have acted different from Naomi on quite a few occasions, but I could see where she was coming from and why she did what she did. My review will be up in February as part of the blog tour for the sequel.

Manhattan Transfer, by John Dos Passos
The only non-YA book I've got here. It's a classic, and the writing style takes a while to get used to, but then I found it hard to put down! There are dozens of characters, some of whom never show up again, but there are also reoccurring ones and I loved following the development and intersections of their lives over the years. It covers New York history from the 1890s to the mid1920s.

I didn't manage to come up with ten contemporaries. As I said, I'm new to the genre. There were a few more that I read and enjoyed but I didn't really feel like putting them into my top ten just to fill it up.

Here are a few other amazing books I read this year though. Some of them it was really hard to pit against each other and I wish I could have featured them on my list!

Honorable mentions:

Click the covers to get to Goodreads

What do you think of my list, and which ones made it onto yours? Tell me in the comments!

Tomorrow, I'll choose my top ten favorite covers of 2012. It'll be agony >.<