Best Books You Accidentally Read

[Kristina Simon]

MG wrote: "I recently read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which I loved. I had seen the cover of the book and had ignored it before but it was the Bookmarks task that made me actually read the r..."

Good to know. I have that one on my TBR list ;o).

[Jensownzoo]

Spring 2010
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
At Home in France by Ann Barry (a wonderful memoir about a summer house in France)
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (really loved this one)

Summer 2010
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

And then I took a pause from challenges to address some other life-issues. Looking forward to starting this Summer's challenge, though.

[Lindsey]

Summer 2011
The Happiness Project
An Abundance of Katherines

Fall 2010
Wildwood Dancing (earned a place on my favorites shelf)

Summer 2010
The Genius
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

[mstan]

Most of the time, I try to fit books I already want to read into the tasks, so I don't have many 'accidentally read' books from Summer 2011...

1. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
2. Bossypants (I never used to be a fan!)

[Chris]

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it a couple of days ago. I just loved it. I originally picked it because I was looking for a cover with a chair on it. Then I slotted it into a task that needed a musical instrument. In the end, I actually used it for a historical fiction task. But I wouldn't have read it at all if not for the challenge.

[Alli]

Last year I had to read The Glass Castle for English and I couldn't put it down. I finished it way before everyone else and my teacher didn't like that too much.

[Kathy G.]

I picked a book completely at random a couple of years ago and it was so good. Everyone I have recommended it to has loved it.

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

[April]

Allison wrote: "Last year I had to read The Glass Castle for English and I couldn't put it down. I finished it way before everyone else and my teacher didn't like that too much."

Teachers can be so dumb. S/he should have then recommended another one like it while finishing the book with the class.

[mussolet]

I stumbled upon Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard while trying to avoid 50 Shades for the "50 Shades of Whoa" task. And it has managed to earn a place on my bedside shelf :).

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

For this challenge(Winter 12/13)
Breathe
The Christmas Hope
Christmas At Harrington's
Thumped
The Raven Boys-awesome book

[Aleksandra]

Her Fearful Symmetry had too many "creepy" review so I didn't know if I manage but I loved it.

[Lindsey]

Winter 2012-2013 Best Accidental Reads
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
A Tangle of Knots
I am the Messenger
Liar & Spy

[Deborah]

Most of my books were from my TBR, naturally:) But to fill tasks like basing a book in the state of Washington...

My favorite finds for Summer 2013
The Shop on Blossom Street
A Nun in the Closet
If I Stay

The upcoming Fall challenge is making me go even more outside my TBR list:)

[Elizabeth]

- I loved it!

[Deana]

Just discovered this thread! It's true, many of the books I pick up for this challenge that were -not- already on my TBR end up "poopy". But sometimes I get a good one!

So far since I joined the challenge in winter 2011 I haven't had any "accidental" 5* books. But I've had two that made the 4* list (the second one just barely, though... maybe more of a 3.5)

The Stolen Child
Parallel Lies

[KyleB]

First Night of Summer
Gruesome yet riveting. Ended up being one of my favorites for the year! Tip: Grab a tissue for this one.

[Anna- Maria]

Came across Zack Love's Sex in the Title when he was doing an author takeover on a blog page.He's smart and funny and charming and this convinced me to buy his book. And i'm happy i did so because i must say - and i don't say this often - this book exceeded all my expectations! Definitely a 5 ★★★★★read!

[Anne (Booklady)]

Accidentally came across and I squealed in delight as I read it. I really did. =) I gave it 5 Stars.

Thanks Ms. Anderson for Winter 2013-14 "clue" that asked for ARGH in title!

[Tanya]

I just finished reading Flowers for Algernon for this seasons' 50 pt challenge. The only reason I picked it was because it was on the list of 'accepted' books in the help thread.

I can't even put into words how much I loved this book.

[Deborah]

This winter's challenge had me reading and which I don't think I would have otherwise picked up. I enjoyed them immensely.

[Andy]

Solely for a challenge, but I can't remember which ones :




and one for this challenge that I would have put off because it is long, but as it turns out it reads fast and is well worth it:

[♞ Pat]

The Third Hill North of Town

Three Day Road

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

[Deana]

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
I guess it wasn't accidental, because it had been on my list for a while due to recommendations from friends, but it just didn't seem that interesting to me. But I definitely would have kept putting it off if it weren't for this challenge.

I finally got around to it this season, and it was AMAZING! I'm sad I put it off so long.

[Devi]

Do go through my book review blog at www.shvoong.com/writers/dnair
and my personal blog at www.nairdevis.wordpress.com

[Bill]

My Antonio, I agree with Jennifer

[Nicola]

Cry, the Beloved Country - I accidently bought it at a book stall. I meant to buy A Room with a View but I guess that they were side by side and I didn't actually look when I picked it up. Anyway I bought the wrong book and didn't notice until I got home. I'd never heard of it but decided that fate wanted me to read it, and so I did.

Marvellous book!

[Ceelee]

Circle of Influence by Annette Dashofy. Great mystery! I used it in the category "Geometry" in the current challenge. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. When I finished there was a link to purchase the second book in the series and I took advantage of that! I am now a fan of hers on Goodreads and happy to find out she is working on a third book on the series!

[Chelsea]

Mine would be Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. Got the third book for my birthday by accident, ended up loving the whole series!

[Chelsea]

Mine would be Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. Got the third book for my birthday by accident, ended up loving the whole series!

[Lára]

Chelsea wrote: "Mine would be Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. Got the third book for my birthday by accident, ended up loving the whole series!"

Agree with that one. Hex Hall was simply hilarious to me. Definitely best book I accidentally read.

[Chelsea]

Lára wrote: "Chelsea wrote: "Mine would be Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. Got the third book for my birthday by accident, ended up loving the whole series!"

Agree with that one. Hex Hall was simply hilarious to m..."

I thought I was the only one!!

[Stephanie]

First Night of Summer

I had this book for awhile before I even read it and now it has become one of my favorites. Can't wait for his next!
This was an emotionally-charged, gut-wrenching thriller that kept you guessing what will happen next till the very end. Have your tissues ready. This tragic story while it can be disturbing has very touching parts for a thriller novel.

[Sally]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. My daughter, who worked at a book store at the time, brought it home to me because I read a lot of fantasy. I stuck it on a shelf and opened it a couple of years later to read a page or two so as to decide if to keep it or cull it. It is now one of my all time favorite books. And it's sequel, The Wise Man's Fear, is one if my favorite books. And book three will I am sure be amazing!

Number two would be The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon K. Penman. I pulled it out of a lost and found one day long ago when I found myself with time to kill.

[Deborah]

For this spring challenge I'm glad to have read:
Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

Neither would have been picked up without this challenge:)

[Deborah]

For the summer challenge I had only one book that I "accidentally" picked up to fulfill a task that I'm glad to have discovered.
for the 50 point challenge. There are others that I picked up, but this is the only one that really drew me in.

[Trish]

Most of my "accidents" where when I was reading the Hugo nominations. All of The Goblin Emperor, The Dark Between the Stars, and The Stars Came Back were surprise four-stars for me.

[Deborah]

The Postman Always Rings Twice
Chosen for the Spring 2016 task 20.7 - Shorter is Sweeter: Pamela3265's Task: When Books Went to War

Very quick read with 116 pages, but so much goes on in such a short span.

[Deborah]

Summer of 2016 to fill task 25.9 The Moon Is Down

[Trish]

More hugo accidents again this year, of which the best ones were The Martian and Seveneves

[Andy]

Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown plain brown wrapper (no pun intended) but what marvelous characters and insight into human ehavior.

[Marie-Anne]

I usually fit books from my very long to-read list into the tasks, rather than the other way around. Sometimes I pick up a book purely because it fits a task. The 5 most memorable so far are:
1) || 2) || 3) || 4) || 5)

[Brooke]

I have an enormous TBR, so I mostly pull from that (and on the occasions where I can't, it's usually for types of books I'm unlikely to enjoy anyway), but I've chanced upon a few gems. Last challenge, I ended up reading Doomsday Book on a whim because it was available on Overdrive at the right time, and ended up loving it so much I found a task to fit in the next book in the series, To say nothing of the dog. I've also been forced into a lot of interesting nonfiction I'd otherwise not have picked up, such as How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe, and anything by Sam Kean.
Oh! And Louise Erdrich's The Round House, which I never would have read on my own and is absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

My top ones were
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
The Orphan's Tale
The Bear and the Nightingale

[Marie (UK)]

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Between the World and Me

The latter should be required reading for those of us who think there is no racial discrimination anymore

[Marie (UK)]

Trumpet

[Andy]

The End of the Affair
The Mountain Story
Honolulu
The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa

[Shanna_redwind]

Beat the Reaper. There's more profanity than I usually like, and the character is more morally ambiguous than my taste, but there was something about this book that just struck a chord with me.

[Deborah]

Radiance picked for Fall 2017 task 30.8, but ended up in the 50 point task for no B-O-X. I now have the next two on my TBR list.

[Trish]

Well, it probably doesn't get much more accidental than "It's three days to the end of the Fall 2017 challenge; I only have 10.8 (the Booker prize task) left to finish the Nickels and Dimes; and I've realised there's no way I'm going to read the first book I thought of as I just can't get into it (if anyone's interested, that was The Finkler Question).

What's the shortest Booker Prize winner I can find, that sounds even vaguely interesting?"

The answer is The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I went into it with no preconceptions (other than "it's short") , and discovered a gem. Tightly written, a mere 150 pages, and yet between the story of a failed love affair at uni in the first section, and the final pages of the second, it turns your preconceptions of the two characters involved completely on their head.

[steph (librarianish)]

Re-reading Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades for the Tor.com task this fall was really satisfying. I always look at the description of this series and think it won't appeal to me, but the writing is SO GOOD that I forget I'm reading about soldiers!