Books That Exceeded Your Expectations

These are books that pleasantly surprised you. They could be classics that you really loved or more recent fiction that just caught you off guard by its greatness.
901

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3.99 avg rating — 876,498 ratings
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901

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 26,999 ratings
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901

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4.26 avg rating — 27,102 ratings
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904

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4.08 avg rating — 468,569 ratings
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905

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4.49 avg rating — 8,762 ratings
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906

by
4.14 avg rating — 65,549 ratings
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907

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4.52 avg rating — 2,506 ratings
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908

by
3.76 avg rating — 10,482 ratings
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909

by
4.35 avg rating — 610 ratings
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910

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3.84 avg rating — 195,258 ratings
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911

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3.75 avg rating — 9,120 ratings
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912

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4.06 avg rating — 582,235 ratings
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913

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3.94 avg rating — 6,442 ratings
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914

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4.16 avg rating — 561,946 ratings
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915

by
3.96 avg rating — 12,319 ratings
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916

by
3.87 avg rating — 145,953 ratings
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917

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,505 ratings
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918

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3.68 avg rating — 43,491 ratings
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919

by
4.63 avg rating — 229 ratings
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920

by
3.91 avg rating — 939 ratings
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921

by
4.11 avg rating — 183,350 ratings
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922

by
4.03 avg rating — 75,745 ratings
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923

by
4.32 avg rating — 342,257 ratings
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923

by
3.81 avg rating — 3,079 ratings
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925

by
4.17 avg rating — 39,265 ratings
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926

by
3.84 avg rating — 53,197 ratings
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927

by
4.32 avg rating — 6,759 ratings
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928

by
4.16 avg rating — 493 ratings
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929

by
3.86 avg rating — 65,722 ratings
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929

by
3.69 avg rating — 27,988 ratings
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931

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4.30 avg rating — 121,072 ratings
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931

by
4.23 avg rating — 1,838 ratings
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933

by
4.02 avg rating — 82,931 ratings
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934

by
4.09 avg rating — 189,270 ratings
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935

by
4.37 avg rating — 811 ratings
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936

by
4.24 avg rating — 333,488 ratings
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936

by
4.15 avg rating — 43,526 ratings
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938

by
4.32 avg rating — 909 ratings
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939

by
3.81 avg rating — 926,809 ratings
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940

by
3.61 avg rating — 441,044 ratings
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941

by
3.90 avg rating — 37,590 ratings
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942

by
4.24 avg rating — 819 ratings
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943

by
4.42 avg rating — 53 ratings
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944

by
4.38 avg rating — 1,175,857 ratings
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944

by
4.02 avg rating — 43,511 ratings
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944

by
4.12 avg rating — 19,183 ratings
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944

by
3.88 avg rating — 416,146 ratings
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948

by
3.70 avg rating — 718 ratings
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949

by
3.99 avg rating — 133,168 ratings
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950

by
4.28 avg rating — 326,616 ratings
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950

by
4.02 avg rating — 382,155 ratings
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950

by
4.15 avg rating — 3,862 ratings
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953

by
3.83 avg rating — 6,132 ratings
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954

by
3.99 avg rating — 231,389 ratings
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954

by
4.37 avg rating — 716 ratings
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956

by
3.65 avg rating — 80,540 ratings
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957

by
3.67 avg rating — 2,819,208 ratings
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958

by
3.94 avg rating — 380,325 ratings
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959

by
4.15 avg rating — 926 ratings
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960

by
3.82 avg rating — 12,751 ratings
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961

by
4.34 avg rating — 2,105 ratings
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962

by
3.83 avg rating — 168,816 ratings
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963

by
4.42 avg rating — 186 ratings
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964

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,270,606 ratings
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965

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 30,079 ratings
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966

by
4.33 avg rating — 419,732 ratings
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967

by
4.38 avg rating — 1,007 ratings
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967

by
4.43 avg rating — 1,061 ratings
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969

by
3.91 avg rating — 268,387 ratings
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970

by
4.19 avg rating — 496,050 ratings
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971

by
3.61 avg rating — 7,672 ratings
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972

by
3.96 avg rating — 516 ratings
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973

by
4.14 avg rating — 175,669 ratings
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974

by
4.37 avg rating — 3,512,582 ratings
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975

by
4.30 avg rating — 2,379 ratings
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976

by
4.06 avg rating — 635,842 ratings
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977

by
3.66 avg rating — 104,485 ratings
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978

by
3.84 avg rating — 218,244 ratings
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979

by
4.29 avg rating — 4,964 ratings
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979

by
3.41 avg rating — 5,332 ratings
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981

by
4.15 avg rating — 58,939 ratings
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982

by
3.90 avg rating — 583,440 ratings
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983

by
3.92 avg rating — 28,903 ratings
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984

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,958,313 ratings
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984

by
3.94 avg rating — 774,285 ratings
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986

by
4.51 avg rating — 4,541 ratings
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987

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,341,752 ratings
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987

by
4.48 avg rating — 83,224 ratings
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989

by
4.01 avg rating — 120,595 ratings
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989

by
4.35 avg rating — 1,243 ratings
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989

by
3.97 avg rating — 92,321 ratings
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992

by
4.25 avg rating — 73,297 ratings
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993

by
3.92 avg rating — 290,703 ratings
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994

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,039,604 ratings
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995

by
4.02 avg rating — 109,018 ratings
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996

by
4.06 avg rating — 109,364 ratings
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996

by
4.26 avg rating — 53,766 ratings
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998

by
4.06 avg rating — 127,161 ratings
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999

by
4.36 avg rating — 12,236 ratings
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1000

by
4.07 avg rating — 121,568 ratings
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14,472 books · 16,056 voters · list created July 29th, 2008 by Rob (votes) .
669 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Rob 232 books
23 friends
Robert 433 books
14 friends
Lauren 1833 books
317 friends
Corina 4105 books
246 friends
ExistenGuy 123 books
0 friends
Aaron 2822 books
290 friends
Rae-Nani 3440 books
155 friends
Matt 416 books
222 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-39 of 39 (39 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Ale and Vicki (new)

Ale and Vicki Why Twilight? That was a let down..


message 2: by X (new)

X The Hunger Games. I thought it looked dumb when I read the description, but once I started the book I couldn't put it down...


message 3: by Alenka (new)

Alenka Unk Aurora wrote: "The Hunger Games. I thought it looked dumb when I read the description, but once I started the book I couldn't put it down..."

Same here.


message 4: by Breanne (new)

Breanne The Tiger series definitely fit in this list :)


message 5: by Danna (new)

Danna I have to admit, not many books exceeded my expectations. In fact, I was very dissapointed of a great amount of the books considered to be "amazing", such as The Time Traveler's Wife, The Shadow of the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Twilight and Eat, Pray, Love - all of them really really bad, in my opinion ><


message 6: by Valerie (new)

Valerie Bempong Ale and Vicki wrote: "Why Twilight? That was a let down.."

Despair not! That simply means expectations were piss poor to begin with. :)


message 7: by Jen (new)

Jen Ale and Vicki wrote: "Why Twilight? That was a let down.."

This was the first book I read since high school, and it just drew me in and reminded me how much I love and miss reading. For that reason it will always be one of my favorites.


message 8: by Grace (new)

Grace Hamilton I must admit I do love a good romance and Twilight is certainly one, the thing I do like however is not the vampire or werewolf aspect but the differences I discover on each reading. The movies tie in very well with the written word and I personally have never been disappointed by either. The supernatural just makes the story different but the ability to make a FF of the characters shows how the general writing public adores the presentation of those personalities.


message 9: by [deleted user] (new)

Great list! Awesome books!


message 10: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Mar 30, 2013 05:59AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Several titles in this list made me wonder whether some voters also voted on books that lived up to their expectations, instead of just voting for books that exceeded their expectations...

And yes, I only voted for books that exceeded my expectations, not the ones that lived up to it :-) Some authors I expect exceptional books from, like Jane Austen, George Eliot, Margarat Atwood, Thomas Hardy, and so on, and I've have never been disappointed so far. But their books do not exceed my expectations, as I already expected a lot of them before I started.

@Hercina
You are not the only one with doubts about this list :-)


message 11: by Grace (new)

Grace Alenka wrote: "Aurora wrote: "The Hunger Games. I thought it looked dumb when I read the description, but once I started the book I couldn't put it down..."

Same here."


I'd have to say I was the opposite. I heard so many great things about the Hunger Games and then I was really disappointed by the development of the plot and the characters. I feel like the story had a great concept but that the characters ruined it for me.


message 12: by Ashley (new)

Ashley hi everybody


message 13: by Cherryl (new)

Cherryl Chow I don't understand why this page shows that I've read 0 books on this list when I've read quite a few. I've voted on the books I've read.


message 14: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 08, 2015 09:56AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Cherryl wrote: "I don't understand why this page shows that I've read 0 books on this list when I've read quite a few. I've voted on the books I've read."

Did all the books you voted for show up as 'read' in this Listopia?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Were the ones you read in the top 100 of the list? I don't think it reports numbers for lower down.


message 16: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Aug 15, 2015 06:15AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) With some modern authors, like Tim Winton or Richard Flanagan, I've come to expect an excellent read, based upon previous experiences :-) I truly hope I won't be let down (haven't been so far) :-)


message 17: by Selina (new)

Selina Maruura Ale and Vicki wrote: "Why Twilight? That was a let down.."

SHUCKING YES


message 18: by Donna (last edited May 11, 2018 03:59PM) (new)

Donna Davis It works! It works! The system found and removed 1 duplicate.

This is an interesting concept for a list. I found myself trying to decide how to order my votes--by how much I liked the book, or by how surprised I was? (I went with the surprise factor.) Then I began looking for common threads. I noticed that a relatively small number of my choices were books I'd purchased for myself. I guess I am a conservative shopper. I was more likely to be surprised and delighted by books I was required to read when I was in school, and by review copies I received for free. Fiction surprised me more often than nonfiction.

Great idea, Rob.


message 20: by ~☆~Autumn (last edited Jun 01, 2018 06:19PM) (new)

~☆~Autumn Grace wrote: "I must admit I do love a good romance and Twilight is certainly one, the thing I do like however is not the vampire or werewolf aspect but the differences I discover on each reading. The movies tie..."

Thanks Grace as it made me happy to read what you wrote. I read so many bad reviews of Twilight on goodreads that I almost didn't read it. I was amazed how much I liked so I don't trust goodreads reviews anymore.


message 21: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis *sound of plane engine dying; crash, explosion, flames*

The duplicate link is broken.

The list is broken; long live the list.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Well, with creeping on 5000 books, I'm kind of not surprised. Alas.


message 23: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Well, with creeping on 5000 books, I'm kind of not surprised. Alas."

Yeah, I guess it's a category that is doomed to outgrow itself, since it can never be edited down. Hadn't thought of it.


message 24: by Greg (new)

Greg I read Hunger Games #1 cause it's been, or still is, at the top of a number of lists, including best novel ever. So I read it. It wasn't absolutely awful, like goodreads Best of the Year "Go Set a Watchman" a few years ago, or last year's weird (and for me, completely confusing and pointless) 'Lincoln in the Bardo." But it was better than I expected and I gave it two stars: it was okay. But if I hadn't already seen the exact same story on film (Battle Royale, Japan, same story, same end with two victors) I would have liked it better. I've been studying some Egyptian Heiroglyphics and even some ancient Sumerian texts, and oddly, this very same story shows up in about every civilization and is at least 6,000 years old.


message 25: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Greg wrote: "I read Hunger Games #1 cause it's been, or still is, at the top of a number of lists, including best novel ever. So I read it. It wasn't absolutely awful, like goodreads Best of the Year "Go Set a ..."

I agree with you. I don't understand its popularity. I read it so I could do all the quiz questions.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) vijay govind wrote: "Maze of Deceit"

Don't use this section to promote your own book!


message 27: by Vijay (new)

Vijay Narayan My sincere apologies - I'm a new user on Goodreads and was not aware that I should not talk about my own work. Will try to participate more creatively in general discussions hereafter.

Apologies & regards


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads There are places for it; but this isn't one of them. It may be OK in groups; check if they have an author's section.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) vijay govind wrote: "My sincere apologies - I'm a new user on Goodreads and was not aware that I should not talk about my own work. Will try to participate more creatively in general discussions hereafter.

Apologies ..."


Delete your previous comment if you're sincerely sorry...


message 30: by Vijay (new)

Vijay Narayan Not sure how a previous comment is to be deleted - may I request the admin to kindly do it if possible on my behalf. Else - request that it may be kindly ignored as my inadvertence.

Thanks and best regards


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Vijay Narayan Govind wrote: "Not sure how a previous comment is to be deleted - may I request the admin to kindly do it if possible on my behalf. Else - request that it may be kindly ignored as my inadvertence.

Thanks and be..."


The person who placed a comment is also able to delete it by clicking 'delete' at the bottom of the comment...


message 32: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn Breanne wrote: "The Tiger series definitely fit in this list :)"

Definitely NOT!


message 33: by AshleyS (last edited May 01, 2019 09:14AM) (new)

AshleyS Every list on this site gets taken over by the Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Twilight. I wish there were lists created by experts that other people couldn't add to and screw up (he said, adding The Lord of the Rings)


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) AshleyS wrote: "Every list on this site gets taken over by the Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Twilight. I wish there were lists created by experts that other people couldn't add to and screw up (he said, adding Th..."

Try lists of most horrible books, books one doesn't like, and so on. They won't appear as the first few there 😃


message 35: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl 55 duplicates removed.


message 36: by Pat (new)

Pat Stockey Ðɑηηɑ wrote: "I have to admit, not many books exceeded my expectations. In fact, I was very dissapointed of a great amount of the books considered to be "amazing", such as The Time Traveler's Wife, ..."

Eat Pray Love was a real disappointment. They made a movie of it. Why?


message 37: by Vincent V (new)

Vincent V Ale and Vicki wrote: "Why Twilight? That was a let down.."

The Twilight exceeds any expectations of Meyer's writing.


message 38: by Tim (last edited Jul 02, 2021 07:38AM) (new)

Tim Butcher Apologies to the 100 or so members who voted on this list for my Congo book `Blood River' and to the 80 or so who voted for my WWI book `The Trigger' but they have both recently been removed. And a particular apology to whoever it was that put the books on the list. We authors are rightly not allowed to put our own work on lists nor vote for our books. But we are also powerless when setbacks like this happen. Seeking clarity from GoodReads and sympathy from all book-lovers on the site.


message 39: by Aracelis (new)

Aracelis Salce Jen wrote: "Ale and Vicki wrote: "Why Twilight? That was a let down.."

This was the first book I read since high school, and it just drew me in and reminded me how much I love and miss reading. For that reaso..."


I for sure have to agree with you on this one! It was a page turner for me - the whole series honestly


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