Top Ten Tuesday: Out of My Comfort Zone

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
Hi guys!

Today is my first time participating in Top Ten Tuesday :)

I wanted a meme that would tax my creativity a bit but also was fun and easy going. Top Ten Tuesday fits the bill perfectly!

This week's topic is books that I've enjoyed outside my typical genre / type / comfort zone.

My comfort zone falls squarely in the middle of a paranormal, dystopian, sci-fi, fantasy world. But, I'll give just about anything the chance if the timing and circumstances are right.

Here are my top 10 - or rather 5 - books that took me out of my comfort zone and made me glad for it.

Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham

An adult contemporary rom-com. So very much NOT my thing. When it showed up in my mail box I was very much, thanks publisher for thinking of me but oh man, what am I going to do with this now!

It sat next to my computer for a bit and then one day I went to move it to a more convenient location and flipped through it a bit.

The format of emails and text messages intrigued me a bit and then I read the Author's Note and saw that it was written basically in real time, with each author in the dark about a lot of what the other was writing - I was more intrigued and then I read the first page / email correspondence and finally said, 'what the hell!' - and pretty much finished it in one sitting.

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
A Gothic retelling of Jane Eyre and I really really didn't like Jane Eyre so it wasn't looking good for Jane Steele

So many people were excited for this one so I though, before I pass on the ARC I got at ALA Mid Winter I would read a few pages to see just how much like Jane Eyre it was - aka - how much I just knew I wouldn't enjoy it.

I was wrong wrong wrong!

I started reading and couldn't stop and it's nothing like what I usually read and it was fantastic!

It comes out next month and I highly recommend it!

Hello? by Liza Wiemer
I met Liza Wiemer once at a blogger/ author party during BEA one year and she was the nicest person!

My reading / blogging slump caused me to miss out on a lot in the world of books and the fact that she had written a novel was one of them.

Hello? is a contemporary romance and I try to stay far away from contemporary in general and romance specifically.

But! It was Liza's book and there was lots of hype and it popped up on NetGalley and I hit that request button and the rest they say, is history!

I really enjoyed Hello? and honestly, if it wasn't Liza's book I don't know that I would have read it so jokes on me cause I would have missed out on a fabulous book!

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day
It's non fiction, which I do read. But! It's an autobiography which, no way! I never, ever, never, ever, never, never read!

Seriously, I couldn't even tell you were the autobiography section in my very small local bookstore is! And I practically live there!

But, it's Felicia Day and I love her! She's weird and crazy and amazing and such a geek and she's totally my role model :)

So, I knew I had to have this but I was still supper duper scared I was going to hate it - or even worse - hate HER after reading.

I should not have worried my pretty little head one bit because I gobbled this one up.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Ok, so I do read adult mystery thrillers. I own quite a few actually and I very much enjoy them.

However, I tend to stay far far away from super hyped up 'bestsellers'.

Anything with an Oprah's Book Club pick or from NY Times Bestselling author - not my thing. I just don't trust the hype and I've been burned in the past.

The one though - it wasn't going away quickly.

Tons of requests came in for it at the library were I work. A few of my co-workers had read it and so, when it became available around the time of the last Dewey Readathon I thought, why not?

I don't know exactly what it was about this one...but I really really liked it. It's a murder mystery but a really really well done murder mystery. Very glad I gave into the hype!