Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is The Last Ten Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover!
Hello Readers! So today is my birthday… I love that it fell on Tuesday this year. <3 I worked really hard on my Top Ten Tuesday for last week (a love song book playlist/soundtrack), so I was happy to see this week’s list would be easier to put together. And I could spend more time relaxing (which means reading) the night before my birthday. 😉 Here are the last ten books that gave me a book hangover!
(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)
1
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Synopsis: Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
I’d seen this book everywhere since it first came out, and I’d even read a sneak peek before it was published, but I didn’t add it to my tbr until friends began to recommend it. I’m so glad I finally picked it up. Great characters and so refreshing.
2
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Synopsis: The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.
And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.
Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.
Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.
Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . .
I’ve loved pretty much everything I’ve read by Maggie Stiefvater, so I felt pretty sure I would love this one, as well. But I enjoyed it even more than I expected, which is great when you’ve already got high expectations.
3
Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Synopsis: High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo–his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance–“Date Korean”–which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful–and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all.
I LOVED this book by David Yoon. I laughed, I cried, I thought it was very sweet.
4
Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
Synopsis: Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s excellent at dealing with other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it’s an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.
The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because she doesn’t fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don’t date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping…but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she’s worked so hard to be taken seriously?
I’ve only read two of Katherine Center’s books, but I feel like I’ve read more. She is an auto-buy author for me now. I loved this one. There were moments when it could have gone cheesy, but it didn’t. And I fell hard for Owen.
5
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Synopsis: A dazzling, multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple—still madly in love after forty years—recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they’ve built.
When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that’s to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she’s not sure she wants by a man she’s not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents’.
As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt—given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before—we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons’ past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.
This long book didn’t seem long at all to me. I enjoyed every word and didn’t want it to end. I definitely got swept up into the story and the characters leapt off the page. It was my favorite read of 2019!
6
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Synopsis: Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.
Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.
This one was so much fun. One of those books you can sit back and enjoy. Perfect for vacation or the beach, I smiled so much.
7
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Synopsis: Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…
Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…
Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.
The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?
This book was my biggest surprise read of 2019. I’d heard great things, but I was not expecting it to be as fun and unique as it was. Now, I’m the one recommending it to everyone.
8
Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM BOOKS 1 AND 2!
Synopsis: What if damnation is the price of true love?
Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.
It’s pretty much a guarantee that I’ll have a book hangover after any Cassandra Clare book I read. Even if it’s a reread. While I didn’t love everything about this series, it still sucked me in and had me furiously flipping pages.
9
The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer, Annie Barrows
Synopsis: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb…
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
I remember finishing this book and just smiling. It’s such a feel-good novel. And another one that people told me to read for years. I’m glad I finally listened!
10
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diane Gabaldon
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM PREVIOUS BOOKS!
Synopsis: The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge. Claire’s unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.
Much like Cassandra Clare, it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll have a book hangover when I finish an Outlander book. I really need to pick up the next one!
What book gave you the worst book hangover? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
I 100% could have put ‘Guersney’ on my list, but I was trying to think of more recent reads. Clearly I needed to go back further since I did struggle this week. Oh, well! Next time, I guess. 🙂 Anyway, glad to see “My Lady Jane” and Katherine’s on your list, both of which I’m REALLY curious about!
…Happy Birthday!! Hope you enjoy a wonderful and relaxing day.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have very many books that left me with a hangover last year, so I had to go back further. I can already tell this year will be better! Oh I hope you love My Lady Jane and Things You Save in a Fire as much as I did! Thank you for the birthday wishes! <3
Wow! Happy birthday, Dedra! Hope your wishes come true and have a wonderful life ahead.
I always want to read Cassandra Clare’s book, but somehow i feel so many TBR list on my head.
My Top Ten Tuesday
Thank you! <3
Oh I know. Cassandra Clare's books are a big commitment, but I adore them!
Things You Save is a fun read! And I’m so happy to hear you love Guernsey! Did you see the Netflix movie adaptation?
Yes, I did, and I LOVED it! One of my favorite adaptations ever. In fact, I think it’s time for a rewatch. 😉
I’m having trouble commenting…did my comment go through?
Oops! Sorry! I see them now!
Ha! No worries. <3
Yes to Cassandra Clare! If anyone causes me to get a book hangover, it’s going to be her!
Yay!! Same here! 😉
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society does sound good.
My TTT .
Oh, I loved it. And the Netflix movie was just as good as the book!
Happy Birthday, Dedra! I hope you had a wonderful day (with plenty of reading time) ❤️
This is a great list with lots of favourites — especially Things You Save In A Fire! Absolutely loved that book. I’ve been reading The Most Fun We Ever Had for a while now but took a break on it because I just didn’t feel in the right mood. Hoping to get back to it soon (and who knows maybe it’ll be book hangover material?)! Great list 🙂
Thank you so much! I actually did spend several hours reading AND went to a book store, so a great birthday indeed! 😉
The Most Fun We Ever Had is long. I read it during the summer while floating around in a pool, so that helped it go by quickly. Ha!
Oh my! I forgot about Gurnsey! You’ve got some amazing books on your list!
Thank you! Guernsey was so good. <3
I’ve read over half of these and can confirm they are bound to lead to a book hangover in the best of ways!
Ha! Yes, definitely the good kind of book hangover for all of mine. 🙂
Yes to Cassandra Clare & Gabaldon!! I’ve seen the Unhoneymooners on a lot of lists! I need that one!! Frankly in Love looks good. I’ll have to look into that one!!
My TTT!
Oh, The Unhoneymooners is a lot of fun. And Frankly in Love was like a male version of To All the Boys, but with more humor. 🙂
I adore Guernsey. It’s so beautiful!
I still have to read The Dark Artifices!
Oh, isn’t Guernsey just lovely?? I thought it was pretty close to perfect. I hope you get to The Dark Artifices soon. There were a few small things I didn’t love about the series, but overall it was amazing.
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Frankly in Love and I should really pick it up already. My Lady Jane is such a hilarious read. I loved it too.
Oh, I hope you get to pick it up, and that you enjoy it as much as I did! Yes, My Lady Jane was such a refreshing surprise for me. <3
I loved The Kiss Quotient so much! I’m yet to read The Unhoneymooners but it’s on my list and I can’t wait to get to it!
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
I hope you love The Unhoneymooners as much as I did! It was such a fun read, perfect for when you need something light and distracting. 😉
HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY!!! ? I’m so glad to hear that you liked Call Down the Hawk more than you expected to! That’s on my TBR for sure
Thank you!! I had a great day reading and visiting a book store. 😉 Yes! I was a little worried that Call Down the Hawk wouldn’t live up to The Raven Cycle, but my worries were unfounded. Loved it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. <3
I’ve been recommending My Lady Jane too! Even if I have not read the original story of Jane Grey, I really enjoyed this book! ?
Yes! I really didn’t know much about Jane Grey. Maybe that helped?? I don’t know, but it did make me more interested in the real person. 🙂
I really need to read My Lady Jane already! Since there’s a new one coming out in the series, I keep seeing people talk about it, and it seems like it’s a really fun read. I’ll have to try to get a copy soon. :3
Oh, I hope you get to! I love both of the Janies. 🙂
Great list! Queen of Air and Darkness gave me book hangover too, I just missed (and still miss) those characters so much.
Cassandra Clare is the queen of book hangovers! 😉 I’m currently rereading The Infernal Devices for about the fourth time and I’m dreading the book hangover!
Yas i’ve read a few of these and loved them all! I almost added Things You Save in the Fire to my list!
I will need to check out the others you’ve listed.
I hope you find some you’ll enjoy! I’m a big fan of Katherine Center’s books. 🙂
I LOVED The Kiss Quotient. Really have to read The Unhoneymooners.
I think the two books I’ve thought about most since I finished reading them were Legend and Divergent. They still inhabit my thoughts.
Oh, I did like Divergent! I just didn’t love the last book. I’m not sure if you’ve read it, so I won’t say why. 😉 Legend is on my tbr shelf! I’ve only heard good things. Hopefully I can get to it soon!
I really must get back to the Outlander series. I read the first book and then started watching the tv show, which I’ve stayed up to date with, but so far I haven’t been back to the books.
Ugh, the same for me. Thankfully I’m still ahead of the show. Hopefully we can both pick up the next one soon! 🙂
Oh, yes to 1 and 9! A few others here are on my tbr. Happy birthday, I hope you had a lovely day.
Thank you! I read and visited a book store, so pretty much a perfect day. 😉
Happy Belated Birthday Dedra. I hope you had a great day yesterday. I have read four of the books on your list and they were definitely all 5 star books. The biggest hangover for me would have been The Kiss Quotient. I was so disappointed to see the next book was not about Stella and Michael. I wanted to know what was going to happen next with them. There are a couple on here that I had not heard of but definitely intrigue me. Great list.
Thank you! I had a lovely day reading and visiting a book store. 🙂 I would also enjoy another book about Stella and Michael! <3
Happy belated birthday!! The Kiss Quotient definitely left me with a book hangover, too!
Thank you! <3 I don't know why it took me so long to read it. ;)
Totally agree on the Guernsey book. That one really draws you in. I loved the writing style too. Thanks for stopping by my page.
<3
I have The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society coming up very soon on my TBR. My sister has raved about it, saying both she and her husband read it really fast because they couldn’t stay away from it. I’m anxious to see how it goes for me!
Oh yay!! Me, too. I remember I flew through it. I hope you love it, as well! <3
I LOVED Things You Save In A Fire!!! It was a powerful, uplifting read!
Yes! That’s what I love about Katherine Center’s books. They’re positive and encouraging. 🙂
Ohhhh Happy Birthday!!!! ? And OMG ANOTHER PERSON WHO HAS READ CALL DOWN THE HAWK!!!! Why does it feel like there’s so few of us?? Maybe that’s just me. But I’m so obsessed with that book/series and it absolutely threw me into a hangover when I finished it. UGH.
Thank you! <3 It does seem like not as many people have read Call Down the Hawk... it's weird. But yes, it's a long wait until the next one! ;)
I loved Things You Save in a Fire too! Can’t wait for her next book! I hope you enjoy A Breath of Snow and Ashes — it’s pretty dark, but all Outlander books are amazing, in my opinion. 🙂
Yes! I so want an ARC of Katherine Center’s next one, What You Wish For, but I have a feeling it won’t happen now that she’s gotten more popular. I keep wondering what else can happen in the Outlander series, but it manages to keep surprising me. 😉
I have had my eye on Frankly for ages, but it’s been slipping down my TBR — however, you just bumped it right up — I’m so ready for a hangover like that!
Oh yay!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. <3
Thanks You Save in a Fire was such an amazing read. Great list of books here.
Wasn’t it?? Thank you. <3
First of all, I hope you had a very happy birthday!!! (If you’re interested in having extra people celebrating you every year, feel free to fill out the Birthday & Blogoversary form on my blog—I list birthdays and blogoversaries on the blog and tweet about them too. The form is in my Sunday Post every week.)
Now, back to business. 🙂 Out of these, I’ve only read The Kiss Quotient, and I loved it! I also own Call Down the Hawk—not sure why I haven’t read that yet. And I definitely want to read My Lady Jane!
Oh thank you! (I barely let my family celebrate my birthday. Ha! But I think that’s such a cool feature that you do!)
I hope you get to Call Down the Hawk and My Lady Jane soon. I enjoyed them both so much! <3
The Kiss Quotient is on my list of books to conquer this year. I’ve read so many wonderful things about it and it sounds like my cup of tea. Bring on the hangover haha.
Oh yay!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I put if off for a long time, too. I’m glad I finally picked it up. <3
Happy Belated Birthday!! I hope you got to celebrate and spend time with your loved ones.
I love that your list was books that you ended up loving as well as them giving you a hangover. The Kiss Quotient is one of my favorite books. Absolutely loved it <3 The Unhoneymooners was good too! Great list <3
Aww, thank you! <3
One of these days I need to actually read the Outlander books.