Top Ten Tuesday: Books I was forced to read

This week's topic is kinda fun and made me think of all those books I read prior to blogging. I hope you enjoy. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and Bookish. 

Top Ten Books I Was "Forced" to Read (either by teachers, friends, other bloggers, book club)

1) In Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien- I read this WAY back in high school and I really liked it. I was surprised with how much. It's a mystery novel that is pretty trippy. You are never sure what's the truth and what's made up. When I first heard the synopsis of Gone Girl, it immediately made me think of this novel. I haven't read Gone Girl so I don't know if they are similar. But In Lake of the Woods is a good story. 





2) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger- I was browsing the book store one day years ago and my friend saw this book and told I absolutely HAD to read it. Because it was SO good. So I read it. Loved it, hated the movie though. I thought it was JUNK! 

3) Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta- When I read this book every blogger and their cousin had been talking about it. Saying that it was amazing and their favourite book. I needed to know what all the hoopla was about. SO I did it, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Jellicoe Road is one of the book I recommend the most to people. I love it. 

4) Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill- I can't remember why I read this one. I think one of my teacher friends was teaching it to her grade 12 class and wanted me to see if it was appropriate. It's a heavy novel but VERY good. And it's by a Canadian author. 

5) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys- I read this book back in the tenth grade I believe. I loved this book and it made me ugly cry. A lot of books that I read in school made me cry. But this one particularly. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally disabled man who becomes a genius through an experiment. It breaks me heart just thinking about it. 

6) Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan- I specifically remember Farrah from I Eat Words talking about how much she loved this one, and if possible to experience the book via audio. I took her advice and absolutely loved it. The audio book is hysterical and the story is so endearing. Loved it. 

7) The Outsiders by SE Hinton- Read this book in the eight grade. I distinctly remember finishing it on the morning of my 14th birthday and bawling my eyes out. My mum came into my room and was like "what? What happened?"  This was a required reading for us that year and while I loved this book, once again, I was SO sad at how hopeless is made me feel. Oh the emotions of teenagers. 

8) The BFG by Roald Dahl- I can't remember what grade I was in when this was a required reading. But I know it was in elementary school sometime. But it was this book that fuelled my love for all things Roald Dahl. 

9) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer- This was a book club read from a couple month ago and I think it's my favourite so far.  I loved Charlie, the little boy and how messed up he was after the death of his father. I loved the perspective the author gave in terms of 9/11. How it affected the families involved. It was an intense novel and I am glad to have read it. 


10) Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt- My mum had to read this one for a class she was doing and she enjoyed it so much she insisted that I read it as well. I don't normally read non fiction because I don't usually like it. But this book was amazing and completely heartbreaking. But it's more hopeful than one might think. I really appreciated what it had to say.