Please feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts on the lists. What books would you have put in them? Leave a comment! <3
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Top 5 Books That Made Me Cry
Not every good book has to make me tear up, though some novels I remember as being extra sad. No, I didn't cry happy tears at these; they were sad af. Anyways, here are some books for you if you're looking to cry a river.
(Also, tiny spoiler alert on this one)
1) "Längtans rike" ("The Sweet Far Thing") by Libba Bray
One of the first books over which I truly cried. This finale made a real impact on me. It's the final book in a series, so be warned.
2) "Stoner" by John Williams
Oh, Stoner... I cannot seem to talk enough about this book. Read it, please. It's a modern classic from the 1960's that just needs more attention. This is a standalone novel.
3) "Clockwork Princess" by Cassandra Clare
The best I've read by Clare so far, and the only story I've ever read that features an actually good love triangle drama. Mind you, this is also the last in a series.
4) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
A tragic story set in France and Germany during WWII, following two young protagonists on different sides of the war. This is a standalone novel.
5) "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Truly a novel I didn't like very much, but I cannot deny that the final part of it had me crying in the most uncomfortable way. It was purely stress and anxiety related, more connected to my own fears than the actual impact of the story telling. Still, I did cry a bunch.
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Top 5 Books I Read For School
Some books I read for school were pretty bad, but some of them were pretty good! It's sure nice not all of them were horrible. So let's celebrate the ones I liked! Here are the 5 best books I read for school.
My class had to read this in 7th grade (in Swedish), but I cheated and read it in English on my own outside of class. This is an indulging story of a young boy with autism and the adventure he goes on due to the mystery of a murdered dog. It's a book that I learned from and I'm grateful that I 'had' to read.
A book that I read for 9th grade English class. I wasn't super into it at the beginning, but it grew on me. It's full of gruesome scenes and emotions that really get you as a reader.
One of my now all-time favourite books. I read this in 1st grade of Swedish so-called 'gymnasiet' (aka I was 16) and it really opened up my eyes to the world of good classics. It's written in a flourishing way and has a bunch of charming characters.
Not the greatest on the list, but still a book that I really enjoyed while reading it. It is kind of iffy when a white woman writes from the perspective of black women in the 1960's today, but if one overlooks that, it's a novel of great female characters and an interesting story. This is one of few books that I've listened to as audio books.
The single Swedish book on this list. I'd been introduced to Khemiri's writing before by the same teacher, though that earlier book was one I really disliked. Luckily, this one was a whole lot better. I read it in 2nd grade of 'gymnasiet' for Swedish class. It's about the fear or forgetting things and not living your life to the fullest. Very nice, I recommend it!
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Top 5 Prettiest Book Covers
Of course there's a sea of beautiful covers out there, but I'll only include books that I've actually read, just to narrow it down a good bunch. If I've read one edition and later bought it in another edition, I'll only rate the one I read. They're on no particular order. Let's go!
Pink, shiny, leather bound, and weird. What's not to love?
It's white, black, red, clean, and classy. The covers for this entire series are iconic.
This cover is BIG and BOLD. The face comes off as real life sized and the lettering is just there. The spine is also cool. All of it just catches your attention and keeps it there for a while.
One of my favourite covers of all time. I'll never fully forgive Little, Brown Books for the cover change they made for this series... Scandalous! Anyways, this first edition is gorgeous and I would totally take its hand in marriage.
*angel choir noises* Wow! The popping colours, the fierce dragon... this is a banger cover! I love to see the spine in my shelves.
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Top 5 Most Forgettable Books
If you're a very active reader, or you've been a reader for a long time, you'll eventually look back on your list of read books and realise that there are titles on it that you barely think about anymore, or you can hardly remember what they were about or quite what you thought of them. You might even ask; "Did I really read that?". I feel like that with a few of the books I've read these past years, and here is a list of them. Were they bad? Were they good? I can't quite remember...
Note: As you might expect, there are no books on the list that I read in 2019, because I haven't had much time to forget them yet :/
Though I can't remember when or where I got this book, I know that I read it back in late 2012. I recall that it felt a bit too adult-ish for me back then, but that I did still enjoy parts of it. I gave it 3/5 stars, but I can't say that I remember much of the plot or the characters at all...
I received this from a family friend and was super stoked to read it. And I think I enjoyed it, but not enough to really remember it well. I read another book my Marchetta, "Saving Francesca", which I enjoyed more and recall somewhat more of.
I bought this at a Book Fair some years back because I thought the cover was gorgeous and I was on a wild book shopping spree. Nothing could stop me! However, as I look back now I can barely remember what this book was even about. I didn't enjoy it a bunch. Like the other books so far, this received an average rating of 3/5 stars.
Look at that cover! Stunning! This is a book I wanted to get my hands on both because the cover is super sleek and because the story is about time travel! I had sky high expectations for this back when I read it in 2014, but it kind of flopped. It wasn't such a big disappointment that I still remember it as such, though rather than that, I barely remember it at all.
I actually do remember the plot of this pretty well when I try to, but I still manage to repress the memory of its existence as soon as I can again after. This is a book I read for school in 2017, and I think the only reason I still remember what it was about is that I discussed the plot a lot with my classmates. I also strongly remember that is was not very good.
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Top 10 Biggest Books
I like biiig books and I cannot lie! Well, at least the good ones. The others are just impossible to finish. Here is simply a list of the 10 chunkiest books I read in the past eight years (which is the only time I've kept record of). I set a rule that there can only be one book from each series, but one author can have several different books on the list. So it won't just be full of Harry Potter books ;)
It's been a minute since I read Twilight, but read them I did. A lot of times, actually. Or, well, not a ton, but at least four times, not counting the times I just flipped to my favourite scenes and only read those over and over again.
2) "Clockwork Princess" by Cassandra Clare (571 pages)
I really liked this series, and still remember it as the only YA novels to ever execute a love triangle well. I stand by that statement, but of course I hope to sometime in the future find another story to also manage with that task. Until then, this is still at the top.
3) "The Diviners" by Libba Bray (578 pages)
Mentioned before as one of the most beautiful covers of the decade (at least of what I've read), this is also a kinda chunky book. Not the biggest in the shelves, but definitely takes up some space. It's also hella tall.
4) "Boktjuven" ("The Book Thief") by Markus Zusak (586 pages)
I sadly was never blown away by "The Book Thief", though I do consider it a good novel. I just remember that those 586 pages really felt like 586 pages...
5) "Eld" ("Fire") by Mats Strandberg & Sara Bergmark Elfgren (634 pages)
A series that has so far restored my hope in Swedish YA literature. Although I haven't finished the third and final book yet, I can say that this series is full of dark magic, great perspectives, and well written teenage voices.
6) "Yttersta offret" ("Last Sacrifice") by Richelle Mead (646 pages)
I flew through most of this series earlier this year and had a lot of fun while doing so! I have good memories from the whole thing. Unfortunately, the series peaked with its third instalment, and this final book was not my favourite. However, I look forward to continuing on with the "Bloodlines" series eventually.
7) "City of Heavenly Fire" by Cassandra Clare (725 pages)
Not the greatest series finale in the history of finales, and it only received three stars from me. I used to love this series, but perhaps I've grown out of it? It certainly didn't have to be this many pages at least.
8) "Längtans rike" ("The Sweet Far Thing") by Libba Bray (799 pages)
Wow! I don't remember this being so many pages! I guess that's evidence of a wonderful book. It's no secret that this series is one of my all time favourite reads, and I doubt that will change for a long time to come. If you're looking for dark, mysterious, historical fantasy, this is for you!
9) "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon (804 pages)
This was one hell of a brick, but one that I liked. This cover is stunning and the high fantasy politics had me hooked. Definitely a book to be remembered!
10) "Harry Potter och Fenixorden" ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix") by J.K. Rowling (1008 pages)
First of all, can we talk about the Swedish covers for Harry Potter? Gorgeous! This is, of course, the fifth book in the series, and the edition I've known all my life is just over 1000 pages. To this day, it's the only book I've ever read that reaches above 1000. It's also a very good book!
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Top 5 Thinnest Books
Just like there are dem thicc bricks, there are also novels that are almost impressively short. Some are, of course, novellas and short stories, but we'll count that in as well! As long as it is its own physical book (so not part of a collection), it counts! As with the big books, I'll include no more than one book from a series.
1) "The Little Prince" by Antione de Saint-Exupéry (109 pages)
A wonderful little book that has gotten all the attention it deserves! I feel that I should reread it at some point, though I don't know when. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend that you check it out!
Unfortunately a rather underwhelming and forgettable book... Nevertheless, perhaps useful in a read-athon?
3) "Quidditch Through the Ages" by J.K. Rowling (105 pages)
An informative book on the worlds most exciting sport; Quidditch! I can't remember much of its contents, but I did find it interesting. Worth a read if you're a slightly obsessed Harry Potter fan!
4) "Animal Farm" by George Orwell (95 pages)
A book that felt more like an essay than a novella, and I suppose it sort of is. Either way, I really enjoyed it and want to read it again sometime in the future.
I own one of those mysterious old Swedish translations that are nonexistent on Goodreads (or any other website, for that matter). I wrote an psychoanalysis on this novel for a course I took in literature about two years ago, and I had a jolly time doing it.
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