Today’s Top Five Wednesday focuses on books in a favorite genre of mine that don’t get a lot of hype, and that genre is British Contemporary. I’ve been reading adult contemporary books that take place in the UK for the past few years now, but I think I really fell in love with the genre in 2017. My dream is to travel abroad to England and buy all the books and editions that aren’t so easy to get here in the US. While I wrote a Fierce Fangirl Friday post in December about my love for British contemporaries, the following books are hidden gems that supplement my love for the genre.

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan/ anything by Jenny Colgan– One of the best hidden gems (at least here in the US) that I discovered in 2017 was Jenny Colgan’s books, including The Bookshop on the Corner. Why had I not walked down her section of the adult section at the library sooner?? Many of Jenny Colgan’s focus on baking and food, but The Bookshop on the Corner is a bit of an exception, with our main character, opening her own traveling bookshop. There’s so much in this novel that any contemporary lover would enjoy: Scotland, friendship, romance, and of course, BOOKS AND READING.

Something Like Happy by Eva Woods- My go-to elevator pitch for this gem highlights that Something Like Happy has the perfect amount of heart-warming and heart-breaking moments, with our two main characters attempting to complete a 100 happy days project as one of the women suffers from a serious illness.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan- Anyone who loves to follow the British royal family would adore The Royal We. The Royal We follows an American girl’s relationship and engagement to her college sweetheart. What makes it so unique? Rebecca is to marry Britain’s future King and must adjust to life in one of the world’s biggest spotlights.

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher- I think Giovanna Fletcher might be like Jenny Colgan in the sense that she’s probably considered more of a hidden gem in the US than the UK—my county library only has two of her books in their system. Billy and Me follows small village girl Sophie’s romance with an A –list actor. The book was quite cute and satisfying to my contemporary reads heart, and the romance was done right–I’m looking back on my Goodreads review pre-Fangirl Fury, and apparently I called the romance “not gag-worthy”, so take that as another plus?!?!

London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton- I’m changing this list up a bit to include a new-adult read. While London Belongs to Me has received a lot of attention in the Booktube community, I think it’s a bit of a hidden gem (I’m 90% sure that it’s self-published). Anyways, I personally enjoyed London Belongs to Me for taking place in London, as the name suggests, and for its fandom aspects, as our main character loves to read and is a huge Doctor Who fan.

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.

Today’s Top Five Wednesday is all about books that I disliked or were just ‘okay’ to me, but have a few discussion points that I enjoy talking about. Before jumping into the five books below, I’d just to like to say that if you do enjoy or hold the books below near and dear to your heart, by no means I am saying that these books are unworthy of your love. They just were not my cup of tea.

Nemesis by Brendan Reich

THIS BOOK HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE A TRUE LORD OF THE FLIES RETELLING BUT IT WASN’T. Nemesis received a ton of hype on Booktube last spring and one of my friends generously gave me her ARC copy of the book. I’ve mentioned this previously on the blog, but the characters in Nemesis just felt very juvenile and I did not like the direction of the plot of well. Fortunately, I passed my copy to my book-loving best friend, and she is highly anticipating the next book in the series.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Solitaire is my latest literary disappointment mainly because I loved Alice Oseman’s latest book, Radio Silence. For me, Solitaire was very different than what I was expecting, and I experienced a major disconnect with the characters, with some of them being quite frustrating. I’ve seen Solitaire be compared to our generation’s The Catcher in the Rye, which I should have seen as a warning sign, considering the classic is one of my least favorite books ever.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

*HIDES FROM EVERY RAVEN CYCLE FAN EVER*

Definitely an unpopular opinion, but The Raven Boys did not meet the hype for me. I found it to be very slow-moving, I couldn’t connect with this characters, and I really didn’t understand everything with Glendower and the ley line?? I think I’m going to leave this series alone for right now, but maybe I’ll try a reread one day.

Just Friends by Tiffany Pitcock

Just Friends was a struggle for me to get through. I thought the book would be a fun, contemporary read, with its friends-turned-lovers storyline, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style or our two main protagonists. Listen, I have read and loved many contemporary novels with a predictable plot lines and romances, but Just Friends did not bring anything new to the table.

Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman #2) by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman series has been heavily (and in my opinion, rightfully) criticized by the book community for the male dominance and non-consent sexual content in this historical fiction series surrounding the World War II period in Russia. I think this element of the trilogy came out for me in the second book in the novel, Tatiana and Alexander. Alexander treated Tatiana horribly, and I decided not to pick up the third book in the series because of how many reviews discuss how Alexander further abuses Tatiana in the third installment. I know this series is based on a time period where men commonly had more power than women, but why not make Tatiana her own heroine, without a man??

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.

The book blogging community, myself included, often shouts from the rooftops talks about our most unforgettable reads, but Today’s Top Five Wednesday prompts us to do the opposite. Whether I loved them or hated them, today I’ll be discussing five books that I really just don’t remember.. maybe reading a lot does come with one consequence???

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey (Read in 2015)– The 5^th Wave trilogy is just one of those series that I’ll never understand the hype over, especially when it came to The Infinite Sea. Frankly, there was nothing left to remember, let alone forget, as this book just jumped form POV to POV and gave no real resolution or answers to The 5^th Wave.

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick (Read in 2015)– I was very disappointed reading What I Thought Was True because I absolutely adored Huntley Fitzpatrick’s, My Life Next Door. As expected from today’s prompt, I forget almost everything about this one, other than that the main character worked for a catering company???

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (Read in 2016)– It took me about halfway through to get really into this fantasy read because I struggled with a bunch of new terms being thrown at me during the very beginning of the book. When it comes to fantasy reads, I expect a lot of world-building in the beginning, whereas in Truthwitch, our main protagonists jump right into their story/conflict. I think I might’ve picked up Windwitch if I remembered more of the plot details from Truthwitch—if you love intricate/heavily fantasy books, this could be an unforgettable one for you!

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Read in 2016) – Nimona being an forgettable read for me really disappoints me because Noelle Stevenson is a well-respected graphic novelist in the book community. I do really enjoy her artwork and artistic talent, but I really don’t remember the novel’s plot having a lot of substance, or at least something for me to remember!

The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder (Read in 2017)– The Museum of Intangible Things is a book that I unfortunately wish I didn’t pick up and really don’t remember other than having really weird vibes and not the greatest depiction of mental illness. Plus aliens.

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.