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.
2001

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4.06 avg rating — 58,921 ratings
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2001

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4.01 avg rating — 386,345 ratings
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2003

by
4.17 avg rating — 246,275 ratings
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2003

by
3.38 avg rating — 58,651 ratings
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2003

by
4.44 avg rating — 498 ratings
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2006

by
3.96 avg rating — 261,644 ratings
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2007

by
3.88 avg rating — 84,509 ratings
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2008

by
3.92 avg rating — 143,483 ratings
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2008

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 17,336 ratings
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2010

by
4.30 avg rating — 573,209 ratings
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2010

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,378 ratings
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2012

by
4.22 avg rating — 96,123 ratings
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2012

by
4.30 avg rating — 133,758 ratings
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2014

by
4.18 avg rating — 83,343 ratings
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2015

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 350,972 ratings
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2015

by
4.05 avg rating — 625,578 ratings
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2017

by
3.80 avg rating — 167,363 ratings
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2017

by
4.36 avg rating — 93,009 ratings
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2019

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3.72 avg rating — 131,984 ratings
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2019

by
4.01 avg rating — 205,388 ratings
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2021

by
4.37 avg rating — 189 ratings
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2021

by
4.35 avg rating — 187 ratings
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2021

by
3.36 avg rating — 220,958 ratings
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2024

by
4.34 avg rating — 84,809 ratings
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2024

by
4.03 avg rating — 370,561 ratings
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2024

by
3.95 avg rating — 108,048 ratings
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2027

by
4.03 avg rating — 26,524 ratings
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2027

by
4.24 avg rating — 3,024 ratings
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2027

by
4.08 avg rating — 216,251 ratings
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2030

by
4.13 avg rating — 482,609 ratings
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2030

by
4.06 avg rating — 416 ratings
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2030

by
3.79 avg rating — 9,528 ratings
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2030

by
3.96 avg rating — 111,591 ratings
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2034

by
3.89 avg rating — 67,116 ratings
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2034

by
3.71 avg rating — 110,189 ratings
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2036

by
4.11 avg rating — 247,728 ratings
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2036

by
4.02 avg rating — 149,186 ratings
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2038

by
4.29 avg rating — 179,077 ratings
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2038

by
3.93 avg rating — 39,986 ratings
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2040

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3.98 avg rating — 208,170 ratings
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2040

by
3.87 avg rating — 52,929 ratings
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2042

by
3.60 avg rating — 297,685 ratings
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2042

by
4.18 avg rating — 57,293 ratings
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2044

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4.40 avg rating — 3,924,722 ratings
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2045

by
4.14 avg rating — 475,987 ratings
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2045

by
4.14 avg rating — 432,806 ratings
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2045

by
3.93 avg rating — 177,056 ratings
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2048

by
4.39 avg rating — 589,442 ratings
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2049

by
4.19 avg rating — 77,968 ratings
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2049

by
4.17 avg rating — 492 ratings
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2051

by
4.34 avg rating — 164,836 ratings
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2051

by
3.87 avg rating — 34,775 ratings
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2051

by
3.55 avg rating — 128,600 ratings
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2054

by
4.36 avg rating — 138,956 ratings
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2054

by
4.64 avg rating — 3,037,670 ratings
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2054

by
4.21 avg rating — 990 ratings
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2057

by
3.68 avg rating — 10,255 ratings
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2058

by
4.42 avg rating — 312 ratings
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2059

by
4.14 avg rating — 149,328 ratings
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2060

by
4.32 avg rating — 913 ratings
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2060

by
4.26 avg rating — 83,613 ratings
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2062

by
3.94 avg rating — 53,869 ratings
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2062

by
4.31 avg rating — 340 ratings
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2064

by
3.87 avg rating — 65,040 ratings
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2064

by
4.26 avg rating — 53,314 ratings
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2066

by
4.34 avg rating — 184 ratings
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2066

by
4.04 avg rating — 44,681 ratings
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2066

by
4.29 avg rating — 289 ratings
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2066

by
3.90 avg rating — 278,487 ratings
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2070

by
3.80 avg rating — 315,845 ratings
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2070

by
4.32 avg rating — 330 ratings
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2072

by
3.80 avg rating — 189,575 ratings
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2072

by
4.06 avg rating — 180,221 ratings
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2074

by
4.17 avg rating — 214,717 ratings
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2074

by
3.86 avg rating — 55,902 ratings
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2076

by
3.90 avg rating — 118,046 ratings
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2076

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,172 ratings
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2078

by
4.07 avg rating — 634,953 ratings
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2078

by
4.09 avg rating — 60,453 ratings
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2078

by
4.49 avg rating — 639 ratings
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2081

by
3.74 avg rating — 93,731 ratings
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2081

by
4.37 avg rating — 21,945 ratings
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2083

by
3.85 avg rating — 102,172 ratings
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2083

by
4.16 avg rating — 94,430 ratings
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2083

by
4.18 avg rating — 329,642 ratings
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2086

by
3.85 avg rating — 103,124 ratings
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2087

by
4.17 avg rating — 199,265 ratings
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2088

by
4.05 avg rating — 593,342 ratings
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2089

by
4.31 avg rating — 108 ratings
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2089

by
3.77 avg rating — 56,402 ratings
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2091

by
3.86 avg rating — 566,773 ratings
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2092

by
4.05 avg rating — 242,118 ratings
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2093

by
4.31 avg rating — 305 ratings
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2094

by
4.53 avg rating — 347,500 ratings
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2094

by
4.40 avg rating — 55 ratings
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2094

by
3.99 avg rating — 14,577 ratings
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2097

by
4.43 avg rating — 3,661 ratings
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2097

by
4.19 avg rating — 12,762 ratings
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2097

by
4.06 avg rating — 99,125 ratings
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2100

by
4.06 avg rating — 82,022 ratings
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14,492 books · 16,057 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 432 books
14 friends
Lauren 1832 books
316 friends
Corina 4108 books
246 friends
ExistenGuy 123 books
0 friends
Aaron 2822 books
290 friends
Rae-Nani 3453 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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