Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!
A great topic for this week! For most of my teenage and adult reading life, I’ve been reading the classics. You know, all those books you were supposed to read in high school and college, but probably didn’t. I completely ignored contemporary books. I thought they were all crap. I admit that I was wrong. There are some great recently published books out there. Here’s my list (I fudged a bit on the publication dates, supposed to be the past 10 years, but I upped it to 20):
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999) — I adore this outcast tale. I really spoke to me in high school.
2. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (2008) — Really brings up some tough issues. Great discussion starters.
3. World War Z by Max Brooks (2006) — A beautifully constructed zombie documentary… Can’t wait for the movie.
4. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2002) — Beautiful creepy little children’s book. I want this to be on every lower elementary student’s bookshelf.
5. The Fables comic series by Bill Willingham (2002-present) — I love this reimagining of the great fairy tales. Fairy tales for grownups.
6. Sunshine by Robin McKinley (2003) — Not just a vampire novel. I see this as a coming of age story. Sunshine ultimately finds out who she is after a frightening encounter with some vampires.
7. The Magicians by Lev Grossman (2009) — In some ways a dark version of Harry Potter. I see it as a J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis world. I still need to read the sequel.
8. Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (2005) — Another awesome children’s series that all ages of adults can enjoy.
9. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2004) — Beautiful love letter to books and the worlds they can create. The language in this book is like poetry. And it’s even a translation from Spanish!
10. The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (1996) — Children’s literature that just doesn’t seem like children’s literature. The relatable subject matter makes this slim novel an instant classic.
Wading Through the Ocean of Life 
megan
May 29, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Great list! I kept mine all YA, but if I hadn’t, The Shadow of the Wind would have made my list. I love that book. I need to reread soon! Excellent call on Fables too. Percy is on my list too.
MJ
May 29, 2012 at 8:42 pm
I haven’t read any of these except The Hunger Games, but I keep seeing The Perks of Being a Wallflower on lots of lists. I’ve always wanted to read it, but now I wonder if it’s one of those books that speaks to you in high school, and maybe not so much if you’re a bit past high school. I should probably just read it!
Tobe
May 30, 2012 at 4:09 pm
MJ — I think Perks is one of those books that you really have to read in high school to connect with (a la Catcher in the Rye) but it’s just a beautiful little book. I always recommend it to high schoolers, especially those that don’t necessarily fit into the status quo.