What Is The Book By A Popular Author That Surprised You In A Good Way?

[Marion]

I just posted this question on my blog and I want to share here.

Here's my answer:

I have a question: What is the book by a popular or well-known author that surprised you in a good way?

The Bag of Bones by Stephen King is my answer to this question. For years, I had refused to read Stephen King. I don’t have a good reason why. I was a bookseller for several years in my 20′s and every time a new King novel was released I had decided in my mind not to read it.

A couple of years ago, I asked my readers to choose a novel for me to read and review in order to get me out of my comfort zone. You guessed it….Bag of Bones by Stephen King got the most votes.

Well, I had to hold up my end of the bargain and finally read a Stephen King novel. I must admit it was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised at King’s gifts as a storyteller and creating excellent characters.

Here's my review of Bag of Bones: http://marion-hill.com/book-review-22...

What I have learned from this reading experience is to never prejudge a popular author until I have exactly read their work and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone helps to create a broader reader experience. And that’s what being a life-long reader is all about.

What is that book for you?

Marion

[Isla]

I have to admit I love Stephen King and "The Shining" and "Pet Semetary" scared me half to death. Every now and then I'll pick a book on a whim and last year it was Ransom Riggs' "Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children". I picked it just based on the cover photo and absolutely loved it and enjoyed the sequel that came out this year.

[Justin]

Isla wrote: "I have to admit I love Stephen King and "The Shining" and "Pet Semetary" scared me half to death. Every now and then I'll pick a book on a whim and last year it was Ransom Riggs' "Miss Peregrine's..."

I don't know what it is, but there's something about The Shining I just love. Maybe because I've read it once and seen the movie a half a dozen times but yeah, I enjoy it every time.

[Jackie]

I admit I'd always been a bit of a chick lit snob. I belonged to a couple of book groups who tended to be Booker prize junkies in their novel taste and that attitude rubbed off on me. Then I read 'Anybody Out There?' by Marian Keyes, dubbed 'the queen of chick-lit' and was bowled over by the quality of the writing, her page-turner story technique and the way she interweaves hilarious humour with treatment of really serious themes. It made me realise there's excellent writing and bad writing in any genre and there's never a place for being a 'genre snob'.