Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside of My Comfort Zone

“As Katie wound her way among the tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair.”

First line in Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

It’s Tuesday and I decided that I wanted to try out Top Ten Tuesday which was created by The Broke and the Bookish, but is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. The topic for this week is books that are out of my comfort zone but I enjoyed anyway, which is such a cool topic. We all have our go-to genre and a book from that genre doesn’t require much convincing for us to pick it up. The topic/subject matter of books can also make us instantly interested while we steer clear of others. However, sometimes we end up taking a chance on these should-not-be-for-me-books and find they’re actually awesome and maybe expand our future preferences.

I managed to find 9 of these books. They’re not all books I consider to be my favorites but I really enjoyed reading them and they taught me something new about my reading tastes.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

An adult contemporary romance and that is so rare for me to pick up. It was recommended to me as the funniest book that person had ever read so that won me over. It’s is very funny, and I literally laughed out loud several times while reading it.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This is still my favorite book of the year. It was out of my comfort zone, firstly because it’s not fantasy. It’s fiction which I do read but not very often. Secondly, it takes place over several decades which I never like to read. I don’t like time jumps in general which is necessary for a book that spans so many years. A Little Life is the only exception. My love for these characters made me turn a blind eye to everything else.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

When I read the synopsis for The Raven Boys, I was sure the book wasn’t for me. It sounded like teenage relationship angst with a paranormal twist and that just made me think of Twilight (which I’m very much done with). People kept recommending it and I learned some more about it which made me believe it wasn’t another Twilight. Now, I’m so happy to have read it because that friendship group is perfect.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My favorite book. I feel weird when I tell people that my favorite genre is fantasy but my favorite book is a contemporary. I do read contemporaries, so it’s not that far out of my comfort zone but I’m still very picky with the contemporaries.

Seriously… I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

I don’t read nonfiction at all. A friend of mine added this to her TBR on Goodreads and I thought why not. It must be funny. It was hilarious and interesting at the same time so I’ve actually been wanting to read more of her books.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I forced myself to read at least one classic a year and last year, I picked Jane Eyre because that seemed quite popular. I thoroughly liked Jane as a main character whereas I often feel disconnected from the main characters in classics because of the writing style.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Yes, I know this is a fantasy book and therefore shouldn’t be outside of my comfort zone. It still is though because of the way it’s told. Our main character Kvothe is telling his life story to a chronicler and to me that’s just one big flashback. I don’t like flashbacks. As I see it, I’ve been spoiled for the ending and now I’m just being told how we got there. Just, no. The Name of the Wind had so many other things going for it, especially the world and the writing, that I really enjoyed it anyway.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

The only horror book I’ve ever read and I’m still wondering why I thought it was a good idea to read it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it for what it was because I was both fascinated and horrified while reading it. However, I read this in 2015 and there are still images in my head I wish wasn’t there.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

To end the list, we have another contemporary romance and yes, that was a surprise to me too. I’ve read a couple of Sparks’ books but this is the only one I really liked. The romance was alright but I mostly enjoyed the other themes of the book which I’d never read about before. I think the way Sparks portrayed the issues was the main reason why I was hooked the entire way through.

The end. I hope you enjoyed my first post for Top Ten Tuesday. I’d love to know if you’ve read any of them and maybe had the same experience as I did. What books do you consider to be out of your comfort zone? Chat with me in the comments.