January 17: Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read X

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It was created because of their love of lists, and I myself love lists as well. Everyone is welcome to join in, and don't worry if you can't think of 10 - just do as many as you can. And of course, be sure to link back to TBATB (and leave me a link here too!) on your post!

The Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone who Doesn't Read Steampunk/Dystopian Novels.

Oh this is a fun question. I ALWAYS get people trying to get book recommendations from me. The problem is, unless they are book bloggers themselves and actually know what kinds of books I read, they get kind of weirded out by what I tell them to read. I really enjoy thinking back to when Twilight was little more than a time of the late afternoon/early evening. I actually ordered a 1st edition Twilight out of my Scholastic book order...seriously...scholastic book order. I was in love from page one and I immediately read it like, 3 times in a row. But I found something odd...at the time...people didn't WANT to read vampire books *gasp*. I distinctly remember my friend Anna laughing and saying, "Seriously? There is no WAY I'd be caught reading this" and giving it back...well HA Anna...what now???

Anyways...the point of my ramblings is that my friends and family rarely, if EVER, initially like my book recs. I read almost exclusively Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Dystopian novels...and variations of the above such as Paranormal Romance, Steampunk, etc. So if someone who doesn't read these types of books picks up a book that I told them was awesome and realize it's about a fairy princess hooking up with 6 bodyguards who are also fairies...they tend to call me up asking WTF? But I truly think about the books that I hype. If I told you to read it, I think that you will like it! I'm not trying to get you to read the same freaky stuff that I read...I want to give you books that I enjoy that seem like you will love...SO READ THEM ALREADY! Here are 2 Steampunk books and 1 Dystopian that I highly reccomend...

1. The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger
If you are new to Steampunk, and you like paranormal or urban fantasy books, I feel like this is a great starter for those looking to try something a little Steamier (ha..sorry...bad pun...) The Parasol Protectorate has fabulous characters, a very good plot, and really interesting takes on supernaturals and Steampunk itself. It's also more of a comedy of manners than anything and you will be laughing out loud as you watch the characters traipse about Europe in their undergarments while they try to maintain high manners and dignity.

2. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
The Iron Duke is for the seasoned Steampunk reader. It is a lot more complex than the Parasol Protectorate series, but it's complexity is what makes it so absolutely fantastic. However, I wouldn't recommend it for someone whose never read Steampunk. There's a lot to grasp, and if you aren't used to the gadgetry, the bizzare, and the mechanics...you will probably very easily get lost. But don't let that discourage you, The Iron Duke is in my top 3 books that I read last year, and it's literally one of the best Steampunk I've read ever. There are just so many interlocking and inter-weaving plot lines and the characters are absolutely fascinating. There's romance, adventure, intrigue...plus sexy man-candy...everything that a reader wants. ID is Keeper Shelf material...for sure.

3.The Hunger Games
Hands Down. The BEST Dystopian is the Hunger Games. I recommend it to every single person I know. There is no person on this earth who shouldn't love and appreciate the awesomeness of the Games. It's terrifying. It's badass. It is THE best Young Adult book of all time. Katniss is an extremely strong character who ISN'T trying to fall in love. Romance is more a matter of circumstance and isn't the focus of everything which is AWESOME, because so many YA books seem to be obsessed with hooking up our heroine and getting her to her "happily ever after" with her prince than on the heroine defeating evil. The next two books were also good, but nothing, even the sequels, compare to the awesomeness of The Hunger Games

Yeah, I know...so it's only three.I'm slacking lately...I know...I'm sorry my lovely followers...I'll make it up to you soon. I promise *winks*