Top Ten Popular Authors I've Never Read
I feel like I had to cheat a bit making this list--I've read so many "popular" YA books that it made it really difficult for me to figure out who I haven't read. So, after browsing through various "Best YA" lists on Goodreads, I came up with these:
1. Judy Blume: Honestly, I really don't know how I grew up without ever once reading a Judy Blume book. It seems like every girl on the planet read her books growing up. I guess I was more of a Beverly Cleary girl.
2. Neil Gaiman: Okay, so I know you should never judge a book by its movie but…I watched Stardust when I was in high school and was so disappointed by it that it turned me off from wanting to read the book.
3. Diana Wynne Jones: I've heard good things about Diana Wynne Jones but somehow I've never read her books. BUT, Howl's Moving Castle is on my TBR list! I will get to it someday!
4. S.E. Hinton: I know, right? Who hasn't read The Outsiders? I think it's required reading in middle school, but I had moved back to Indiana with my family right after the English class at my new school had read it. So I missed out on studying it in school and haven't had much interest in reading it on my own.
5. Brian Jacques: If every girl I knew in elementary and middle school had read Judy Blume, then every boy had read Brian Jacques's "Redwall" series. I don't know much about the series other than it involves talking animals, which is the main reason I've avoided it. I'm just not a fan of books/movies with all animal characters.
6. Eoin Colfer: I remember seeing the Artemis Fowl books in the bookstores around the same time as Harry Potter and I think I might have tried reading the first one in middle or elementary school but couldn't get into it.
7. Holly Black: This is really sad because I have checked out Tithe so many times from the library but always end up returning it unread. I do own The Coldest Girl in Coldtown though, so I will get around to reading Holly Black at some point.
8. Ellen Hopkins: My little sister loves these books but I've always tended to avoid them because I'm not really a fan of verse novels, or poetry in general.
9. Tahereh Mafi: Ms. Mafi has been creeping higher and higher up on my TBR list because I've heard so many people raving about Shatter Me and now Ignite Me. I've also started watching her YouTube videos and just adore her as a person--she's so funny!
10. Beth Revis: Poor Beth Revis. Her book Across the Universe has been sitting on my shelf, ignored, for about two years now. It's not that I don't want to read it--I do!--it's just that I've been distracted by other books.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
I can definitely recommend Tahereh Mafi. Her series is brilliant :-) I haven't read Beth Revis yet, I feel like I probably should soon!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I will definitely have to get Shatter Me the next time I'm at the library. :)
DeleteOne of the guys in my YA Lit class said of the Ellen Hopkins book he ended up regretting choosing, "There are some things you can't unread." He didn't exactly have a glowing opinion of her writing or the story!
ReplyDeleteI read a number of Judy Blume's books when I was younger. It upset me to hear that some of them, like the Fudge books, have fallen victim to the current trend of "updating" older youth literature. Why pretend they were written in the 21st century by replacing references to old tv shows and technology with modern things?
My TTT
Yeah, I've heard the topics of her books are pretty intense. Not sure if I really want to read stories like that.
DeleteOh wow, I didn't even realize that was going on. That's kind of sad, not to mention unnecessary.
I never read The Outsiders either--thought I was the only one!
ReplyDeleteOh, Judy Blume. . . such a big part of my childhood reading life! You should go ahead and give her a try, even now. (For what it's worth, I liked Judy Blume AND Beverly Cleary!)
I've seen quite a few other people include The Outsiders on their lists, so we're not alone!
DeleteNever too late for a little Judy Blume! (I don't think I've read her either, now that I think about it!)
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Ten Popular Authors I've Never Read.
I'm with you on nearly every single author you listed. I was only recently introduced to Neil Gaiman (aka I had to read him for a graduate seminar and was stunned I hadn't read him prior). He's very good, so when you get the chance, dive in!
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LOL how did you grow up without Judy Blume?? Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was my LIFE in elementary school. I probably read it ten times. I haven't read Shatter Me either... been thinking about it, but not sure if it's something that I would like or not. Cool list :)
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