These are my #mostpleasantsurprisesof2019 ! These are the books I wasn‘t expecting much from but they ended up leaving me feeling pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. A few of these also made my top 10 for the year but not all of them. Further explanation for each can be found in the comments. 😊
shadowspeak17 I saw several reviews from people who hated this book, so I wasn‘t expecting much from it, but the reasons people hated it sounded interesting to me so I gave it a go. What a pleasant surprise! Well, pleasant isn‘t exactly the right word. This book is pretty grim with some awful people in it, but I still really enjoyed it.![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
Gold Fame Citrus: A Novel (edited) 4y
Gold Fame Citrus: A Novelshadowspeak17 When my hold came in for this I almost returned it without reading it because I‘d seen a lot of mixed reviews for it and there were other books I wanted to read more at the time, but it was short so I decided to just read it anyway. Now it‘s in my top five for the year. I‘m so glad I read it! This book was a quick, engaging read and I really enjoyed the frustrating and twisted relationship between Korede and Ayoola.My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel 4y
My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novelshadowspeak17 As a whole, this one didn‘t really surprise me. I expected to like most of the stories and I did. I expected there to be some duds and there were. So why does this make my list? Mostly for the title story. I LOVED that story so much! ⬇️Friday Black (edited) 4y
Friday BlackSee All 7 Comments
shadowspeak17 It was so ridiculous but in all the right ways. The two other stories that take place in that same store were also excellent. I hadn‘t expected to finish the collection loving any of the stories as much as I did those three, so that‘s why I consider this collection to be a pleasant surprise.Friday Black 4y
Friday Blackshadowspeak17 I wasn‘t sure what to expect from this. I‘d seen a few positive reviews for it but nothing else. I ended up enjoying it a lot. The writing/translation was great and I loved the main character. It also made my top 10 for the year.Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel 4y
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novelshadowspeak17 I felt pretty meh about Borne, so I wasn‘t expecting much from this. I only picked it up because I needed a quick read while I waited for a library hold to come in. It turned out to be such a beautiful and sad little book. It touched me in a way Borne did not and now it‘s in my top 10 for the year.The Strange Bird: A Borne Story 4y
The Strange Bird: A Borne StoryBarbaraBB Great post! And very helpful! 4y
49 likes7 comments