Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To "X" Person




Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week bloggers post a top ten list related to a specific theme. This week's theme is the Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To "X" Person. My "person" is someone looking to read more science fiction and fantasy and prefers a female POV. I have several female friends who don't think that the SF&F genre don't have anything to offer them. :( All links lead to GoodReads. 
 

1. Among Others by Jo Walton
This book is probably the most controversial SF&F book on here, because some argue that it is not SF&F. I listed it, because this book really can be interpreted as just general fiction and not SF&F, if someone is really uncomfortable with SF&F. One warning, the POV character mentions lots of book titles; however, you don't need to be familiar with the books to enjoy the book. 


2. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
This book has two different POV characters, one male and one female. Outside of a bit of time travel, this book is pretty quiet on the SF&F front. Someone could read this book as a combination of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. 


3. Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris

This book is straight-up fantasy, because it contains vampires. I included this book, because even people who are not SF&F fans can tolerate vampires. There are sexy times too!



4. In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker

This book is probably the one that a newbie SF&F fan would run from, but I still want to recommend it. I have never read anything like it. This book has time travel, a little romance, and botany. You see, you probably haven't read anything like it. 



5. Soulless by Gail Carriger

This book is straight-up fantasy with some steampunk thrown in for fun. Like Dead until Dark, this book has vampires and werewolves, which I feel that a general fiction audience can typically tolerate even if they are not game to jump into SF&F.



6. A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan 

This book might work for someone who loves memoirs, because it is written as so. The twist is that in this book's world, there are dragons.



7. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

This is another book that can work for people who want to put their toe in the SF&F world. Even people who do not read SF&F are familiar with The Wizard of Oz, this fantastical world usually feels comfortable for people.


8. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I added this book for people who like to read YA. Although this book is quite fantastical, The Golden Compass's world is fairly similar to our own, so it can be a comfortable read for someone who doesn't normally read SF&F. My one caveat about this book and trilogy is that the story has a negative view on Christianity.



9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I added this book for the YA readers, for those who enjoy reading books and movies together, and for those who like a lot of action in their books. This book and series are action-packed and quite thrilling. 


10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book is for those who like haunting, adult books. Although this is a SF book and the SF elements are necessary for the plot, the heart of this book is the main character and her relationship with her true friends. 

18 comments:

Anonymous said...
November 19, 2013 at 12:42 AM

Women in sci-fi and fantasy? Definitely a great list, and you have some fabulous choices!

I'd check out Mira Grant's work as well :)

Chanzie said...
November 19, 2013 at 2:35 AM

Great list Pamela :) I will keep some of these in mind! I really need to get to the Sookie Stackhouse novels sometime :)

Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.

Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm said...
November 19, 2013 at 1:02 PM

Great list! His Dark Materials and The Hunger Games also made my list, they are amazing series! My TTT.

Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer said...
November 19, 2013 at 2:53 PM

Nice choices, my top books to recommend are the Graveyard Series by Amanda Stevens, Shatter Me series, the Passage, and Mira Grant Newsflesh series.

Doris @ OABR said...
November 19, 2013 at 4:23 PM

Great list. Everyone should read The Hunger Games <33

Our TTT

Doris @ OABR

Tara @ The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh! said...
November 19, 2013 at 6:57 PM

For some reason I really wanted to read Doomsday Book at some point in the past, and I completely forgot about it until I saw this post! Thanks for reminding me about it.

Also, I'm pretty sure I need to read Never Let Me Go. Yes. This is a thing that needs to happen!

Tabitha (Pabkins) said...
November 19, 2013 at 8:17 PM

See...I'm weird I didn't love The Golden Compass books. They were just ok to me.

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:01 PM

I completely forgot about Mira Grant, which is embarrassing since I was so excited to find a copy of Parasite out a few days ahead of publication day at my local B&N!

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:02 PM

I am up to book five or so, and they are still a lot of fun. I like them a lot more than the TV show, so if you didn't like the show, you might still like the books.

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:05 PM

They are both pretty fantastic. I read The Golden Compass years ago, and I just got around to reading books 2 and 3. I am sad that I waited so long.

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:06 PM

I have been hearing great things about the Shatter Me series. I need to check it out. Mira Grant didn't cross my mind for some reason! This is frustrating, because I was trying to think of my SF novels!

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:07 PM

I totally agree. The Hunger Games series is one of the few series that I got my husband to read (and that he read in just a few weeks)!

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:09 PM

Doomsday Book and Never Let Me Go are both so amazing. I am pretty sure that I teared up reading both of these. I normally don't get that emotionally wrapped up in books, but these two books do it for me (and they were both worth it).

Unknown said...
November 19, 2013 at 11:16 PM

His Dark Materials is not my favorite series ever. The negative view on Christianity got a bit too heavy handed for me towards the end. With that said, I find that this is a series that new to fantasy readers who want YA really enjoy, so I always try to remember to recommend it (when appropriate).

Kimberly @ Turning the Pages said...
November 20, 2013 at 2:03 AM

Nice list! I've only read 3 from your list but the others look great Pamela.

Thanks for stopping by my Top 10 Tuesday Post
-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

Vilia said...
November 20, 2013 at 6:52 AM

You have some good looking books there. Gail Carriger is such a great choice because she doesn't go that far with her steampunk but wraps it up in a bit of Victorian and paranormal stuff.

Unknown said...
November 20, 2013 at 11:40 PM

Thanks! I did try to pick books that weren't too out there for folks. I know people who are SF&F fans, but they could handle steampunk and vampires. :)

Unknown said...
November 20, 2013 at 11:41 PM

Yea for reading SF&F! :)

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