What books have you enjoyed more than you thought you would?

[Cait]

Leedock was surprised to find comfort in Frederik Backman's Anxious People. "Backman's emotional rollercoaster had me laughing out loud with enough force to wake up my sleeping husband but just as frequently had me reaching for a tissue or two." (Cannonball Read 13)

[Raven]

Keeping it just this year (as there are many) Hyperbole and a Half, Rapunzel's Revenge, Underwater Welder, and The Black Panther Party. Each one was for a different reason. Hyperbole and a Half was seriously hyped and I tend not to like "popular books." The same with Rapunzel's Revenge (it got a lot of press for being a "strong female lead" and while nothing is wrong with that, again, I'm not always a fan of popular). And while Underwater Welder was not an OMG LOVED this book, it was a recommendation from a coworker who LOVED it. I was thinking, I like learning about other peoples tastes, but didn't think we'd have any common ground. And finally I was thinking The Black Panther Party would be too "finger pointing" and saying "whites bad; black good" and how misunderstood they were. Yet the author was able to "back up" all his points, comments with facts and not just opinion, but the opinions had solid logic behind them.