Top 10 Tuesday: On A Whim

Top 10 Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in 2010. It combines what I love most in this world into one—lists, books, and blogging. It couldn’t be any better suited for me! We all have those books that we pick up because they have been on our lists for years, but this week’s Top 10 is all about the books I’ve picked up just because they looked appealing at the time. Let’s get started!

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I picked this book up when I was buying Christmas presents for my family. I’m not sure why it spoke to me, but when I read the synopsis on the back and heard it was about secret societies I knew I had to read it.

2. The Museum of Intangible Things  by Wendy Wunder
The cover of this book really spoke to me when I was shopping in Barnes and Noble one day. It looked like a cute book with a great story and I was not disappointed.

3. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
I was in a used book store and really wanted to get a solid copy of a good book. My friend found this and I couldn’t pass up a book for $5.

4. Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
I loved the font on this book — I’m very interested in typography and I also just found it to be a very interesting cover. I read a few pages in the store and figured, “What the heck?” It probably took me three days to read this book, and it was a great one.

5. Unbroken by Laura Hilenbrand
Obviously I had heard about Unbroken because of the movie coming out, but I wasn’t super interested in reading about war. Lucky for me, I found this on one of the tables at Barnes and Noble and I am so happy I read it. I’ve recommended it to so many people since reading it.

6. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Honestly, I picked this book up because I really loved the cover, and I kept it because I really loved the story.

7. Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bizzinger
This is another used-bookstore find. It reminded me of the TV show, and then I found out the TV show was based on the book. I never thought I would like a book about sports, but I actually loved it!

8. Assholes *A Theory by Aaron James
Do you know the tables in Barnes and Noble that are categorized as “Summer Reads” or “Books to Make You Think?” I always stop at those tables first, and this was on a “Buy 3, Get 1 Free” table. I couldn’t pass up the deal, and the title really intrigued me.

9. Too Soon Dead by Michael Kurland
I read a couple pages of this and thought the cover was super interesting. Unfortunately, the book wasn’t that great — but one bad book out of 10 isn’t such a bad success rate for books picked up on a whim.

10. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick
I saw this in an aisle and actually picked it up because on of my favorite blogger’s talked about it. I thought it would be a good light read for the holiday, and wasn’t disappointed. It was a little bit too much like Pride and Prejudice (the names are the same!), but it was still a good way to pass the time.

What are your favorite books that you picked up on a whim? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy reading,
Kimberly