Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Most Unique Books



It's time for the Top Ten Tuesday linkup with The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is Top Ten unique books.  This one gave me some trouble as until recently I never read much out of my comfort zone.  Also, I tend to overthink which led to many arguments in my head over what the word "unique" really meant.

1.  And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - This is probably one of her best known books.  It has been turned into movies and plays and copied by other authors.  It takes the basic mystery concept of a locked room murder and amplifies it.  The idea of 10 people all guilty of murder that they can't be legally charged with being stuck on and island and picked off one by one is terrifying.  The twist at the end is one of Christie's best.

2. Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie - This is the book that made Christie truly famous.  It's another take on the locked room murder with a twist that is so unexpected there was public outcry.

3.  The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keen -  With this book we meet Nancy Drew.  Before Nancy there was no adventure type character for girls.

4.  The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson (review) - The POV on this was completely different than anything I've ever read.  The story is told by teenage girl who was the daughter of a king in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.  This is her story as she, her brother and her mother flee their country after a coup and the murder of her father.  We see her deal with that, the sudden availability of media and the realization of what public opinion about her country and her father really are as well as having to fit into an American high school as a normal teenage girl.  This book is fascinating and probably stuck with me longer than any book I've ever read.

5.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynne - I've never read a book quite like this and to be honest I'm not entirely sure I want to again.  The way the story unraveled, and watching the characters become more and more flawed was very well done and not something I've seen before.

6.  Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (review) - Of course I can't have a list without a Montgomery!  This one truly is unique due to the POV.  We first meet Rilla in Anne of Ingleside when she is born but in Rilla she is a young woman growing up as everyone she knows is swept up in World War 1.  Most novels involving war are told through soldier's or politician's eyes.  This one is told by a teenage girl stuck in a little town on a little island in Canada as everyone she knows goes off to Europe.  Many don't come back and those that do are changed forever.   I openly wept through most of this book.

7.  Mangle Street Murder by M.R.C. Kasasian (review) - This may get the award for the strangest book I've ever read.  I was expecting a British procedural and got instead a Holmesian maze of oddness.  I like that while the detective takes the main character on as a ward out of duty he has no affection for her.  At the end he has a little respect for her but they're not friends and probably never will be.  This isn't a heartwarming story but a complex mystery.

8.  The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier (review) - Books normally don't scare me.  I've read my share of pretty awful crime books (early Patricia Cornwall was a favorite) but the fear doesn't stick with me. This is a handy trick given my penchant for crime shows.  However, this book - oh my.  I will never look at birds again.  du Maurier does a fantastic job at taking an innocent, harmless everyday animal and makes it more and more terrifying.  The other stories in this collection are very good too.  du Maurier has perfected dread.

9.  Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood (review) - The MC in this book is a new type for me.  She's smart, rich, loves clothes but was also desperately poor at one point of her life.  She fits in beautifully with English aristocrats but is new enough that she has an outsider's POV.  This book also primarily takes place in Australia in the 1920s which is a first for me.

10. American Afterlife by Kate Sweeney (review) - The subject of this book is not something I've come across before.  I've read Stiff by Mary Roach and several books by former medical examiners discussing what happens to bodies or how crimes are uncovered.  This book is more about the living and how the living deal with death.  She discusses the evolution of mourning, the funeral industry and how grief is expressed historically and currently.  I haven't looked at a cemetery or roadside memorial the same since reading it.

20 comments:

  1. I'm going to read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. It will my first book by this author. Thank you for sharing.

    My TTT

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    1. And Then There Were None is very different than Christie's other books but still maintains the basic Christie fell. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for visiting!

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  2. I think that's about the only Agatha Christie Novel I've read. I loved the "Rilla" series. So many unique titles this week, enjoyed your list. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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    1. I have a weakness for British mysteries so I've read them all probably multiple times! I love Rilla too and it rereads well. Thanks for visiting!

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  3. I agree with your assessment of Gone Girl. I don't think I want to read another like that. Although it was unique and engaging -- I couldn't put it down -- I didn't end up liking it in the end. Here's mine.

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    1. I think I'm one of the few people who actually was okay with the end. I thought it was in character for both of them really. Glad I'm not the only person who had a love/hate relationship with the book!

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  4. Fantastic list. I used to love the Nancy Drew books!

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    1. I did too! I think I read everything with her name attached. Reread one of the old ones awhile ago and it was so funny. I enjoyed it almost as much as I did when I was a kid though for different reasons.

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  5. I have read all of Aggie's books and loved both the titles you mentioned. Gone Girl..was wow..so unique and totally jaw dropping. I never enjoying loathing characters so much in my life! Great list Katherine!

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    1. I'm trying to reread all of the Agatha's this year though I'm not sure I'll be able too. She wrote a lot of books! Gone Girl was crazy. Every time I thought I had that book figured out it'd change again!

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  6. Gone Girl really kept me guessing. I haven't really read any thrillers, and this was a good introduction. And Then There Were None sounds pretty intriguing. I haven't read Agatha Christie before!

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    1. And Then There Were None is one of my favorites. I just reread it (for the 10th? at least time) and loved it just as much as the first. I've never read anything like Gone Girl before either! It was quite a read!

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  7. Gone Girl is a good one! She really played off the alternating points of view very successfully and in a way that brought on lots of surprises! Great list!

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    1. Thanks! I normally don't care for the alternating points of view as it can get confusing but she did a fantastic job on giving each character a clear voice. Every time I thought I had it figured out it'd change again.

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  8. Sharp Objects by Flynne is actually better than Gone Girl. I liked Dark Places, too!

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    1. I started one of those 2 but didn't make much headway on it. I definitely need to go back and give them another try. Thanks for the rec!

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  9. I've seen And Then There Were None on different lists, but I've never read Agatha Christie before!

    I absolutely adore the Anne of Green Gables series, but I have to admit Rilla of Ingleside was my least favorite.

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    1. I loved Rilla but I can see where you wouldn't like it. Anne changes so much as I've reread it over the years it amazes me! I love it but my favorite book of the series changes pretty much every time I reread it.

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  10. I have only ever read Gone Girl and the second Agatha Christie novel you've written, and I have to agree with both.

    I think I would have trouble making this list too. I think though, at the top, would have to be The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. I have never read anything quite like it before or since. A coworker made me read it so I could tell her whether she liked it.

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    1. I like you had to tell her if she liked it. I've felt like that a few times! I'll have to give The Raw Shark Texts a try. I realized I need to step out of my comfort zone a little more!

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