Top Ten Tuesday: August 5, 2014 – Top Ten Books I’d Give to Readers Who Don’t Read Mysteries

TTT

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s topic: Top Ten Books I’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read X

I changed this week’s topic juuuuuust a bit. I wanted to focus on mysteries since I feel like that’s not a genre that is highlighted as much in YA and I used to be into mysteries hardcore a few years ago so I pretty much read them non-stop! I wouldn’t really say that someone has NEVER read mysteries so I altered the topic just a bit to fit for people who aren’t usually mystery readers but can be if they have the right books!

omgones

Dangerous Girls — Abigal Haas
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) — Stieg Larsson
Shadowlands (Shadowlands #1) – Kate Brian

OMG mysteries are some of my favorite kinds. I just love reading and honestly not know what is going on until THE VERY END. I love being totally surprised and I feel like it’s really hard to drop hints to the reader but at the same time, not give the whole story away. These three had some of my favorite OMG moments, but of course, DANGEROUS GIRLS takes the cake on this one!


cozy_mysteries

The Square Root of Murder (Sophie Knowles #1) — Ada Madison
Delicious and Suspicious (Memphis BBQ #1) – Riley Adams
Town in a Blueberry Jam (Candy Holliday #1) – B.B. Haywood

Cozy mysteries are by definition fun and cutesy. My cozy mystery recommendations are actually almost never rated five stars because they’re not really meant to blow you away with plot and crazy mysteries. I mean, the mysteries DO keep me hooked, but it’s nothing like the OMG ones. I used to be obsessed with cozies because they were just so much fun to read as well as quick and easy! They’re almost always a series and usually with fun themes: food, crafting, even a math theme like THE SQUARE ROOT OF MURDER. They’re essentially every day people caught up in a murder mystery and somehow they’re always the ones who are solving the cases! Light, fun, and will always hold a little piece of my heart!


adult_contemp_mystery

Size 12 Is Not Fat (Heather Wells #1) – Meg Cabot
The Pact (Rachel Benjamin #1) – Jennifer Sturman

I’d say these two books are in the realm of cozy mysteries in the sense that they’re light and fun, but they focus more on the contemporary realm of things whereas cozies are often themed based on a person’s profession or hobbies. These are just more everyday gals solving mysteries so I feel like they’re adult contemporary with a mystery twist. These two books really got me back into reading back in the day and the series are just so much fun! I’m so glad Meg Cabot is still writing Heather Wells books because they will always be one of my favorite series!


funny_mysteries

The Spellman Files (The Spellmans #1) – Lisa Lutz
One for the Money (Stephanie Plum #1) –  Janet Evanovich

I love funny mysteries. I picked up THE SPELLMAN FILES on a whim and ONE FOR THE MONEY because I had heard so much about the series and fell in love with both of them. The main characters are just so much fun. They both have some crazy family members (both in very different ways), unique circumstances, and have a knack for getting into trouble and putting their foot in their mouth. I enjoy both of these series a lot!


I still love mysteries and I’m so excited that YA mysteries are starting to become more of a thing so I can combine my love for both YA and mysteries in one book! If you’re usually a mystery reader, these are the ones I’d start with and if you need a rec, let me know! I’ll do what I can to help!

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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19 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: August 5, 2014 – Top Ten Books I’d Give to Readers Who Don’t Read Mysteries

  1. Kayla @ The Thousand Lives

    I don’t read mysteries AT ALL, but I read Dragon Tattoo years ago and actually liked that one, so maybe Dangerous Girls would be a good fit for me 😉 All the rest I don’t even recognize, I’m so out of the loop with the genre!

    Reply
  2. Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook

    I used to be a huge mystery reader, too! Not so much anymore though. I love Stephanie Plum, though! That series – I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so much. You should look into I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga. It’s a YA mystery, and whoa is it good. Not funny or lighthearted, but page-turning.

    Also, have you read the Flavia de Luce mysteries? They’re fantastic as well, and set in 1950 rural England.

    Reply
  3. Courtney @ Courtney Reads A Lot

    I need to read more mysteries, and all of these look so good. The only one I actually have read in this list is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which I agree was amazing and shocking and just so good overall! I’ll have to check out some of these other ones, especially Dangerous Girls which I’ve heard plenty of good things about. Great picks, Brittany! 😀

    Reply
  4. Becky LeJeune

    I adore a good mystery! It’s still one of my favorite genres and I’m also really glad to see more popping up in YA these days. I’m quite enjoying Kara Taylor’s series in particular.

    Reply
  5. Melissa @ Bookmark Dragon

    Ooh, I love mysteries as well, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t read a single book on your list!! Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll definitely be looking into these! The latest mystery I’ve read is The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling. Have you read it?

    Reply
  6. Ginger @ GReads!

    I’m not much of a mystery reader, but I’m always open to trying new things. I recently read Dangerous Girls and loved it. Would love to find more like that. Your “cozy mysteries” have piqued my interest, too. Are they middle grade? Might be good things to check out for future students.

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Nope, they’re actually for adults! 🙂 Just fun and a bit more silly. Usually the cozies are more light-hearted mysteries versus creepy or gory, etc.
      It’s hard! There really aren’t THAT many amazing YA mysteries out there so it’s really hard to give something comparable to DG! It looks like there are a lot coming out soon though!

      Reply
  7. Amanda

    Love your funny mysteries. Stephanie and Lula make me laugh til I cry in almost every book. I bought the first Spellman book forever ago but haven’t read it. I really need to try that.

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      I think if you like Stephanie Plum you will enjoy The Spellmans! They’re different but still have a similar feel. So much fun! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Amanda @ Book Badger

    Could not agree more with you there Brittany! Definitely recommend Dangerous Girls [And BOYS!] and I’d even go as far as to say We Were Liars is a good mystery that had me OMG’ing and then hysterically crying, which is never good, but is very good at the same time. Think I’ll be looking up Shadowlands though, the cover was always beautiful, but I was always unaware of what it was about, so thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Yes, Dangerous Boys too! I almost included We Were Liars but it wasn’t really a knock out for me so that didn’t feel right to add it if I wasn’t 100% behind it. I know so many people loved it though! Hope you enjoy Shadowlands if you give it a try!

      Reply
  9. Rebecca @ The Library Canary

    I am not usually a mystery fan, but I am kind of interested in Shadow Lands and Dangerous Girls. I’ve heard great things about both! As for the cozy mysteries… don’t know if I can get myself to read them. I think it’s because my Grandma loves mysteries and I associate them with her. Lol.

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Hahaha I can totally see cozy mysteries being grandma books! They’re definitely on the lighter side. Dangerous Girls is SO good. It’s just so different and thrilling. I hope you pick that one up!!! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Tanya Patrice (@tanyapatricexo)

    I don’t think I’ve read a lot of YA mysteries – but I’ve been getting into Adult mysteries more and more lately, and I have to say – love it! Really super cool list and I look forward to checking out the books I haven’t read yet.

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      I read LOTS of adult mysteries before I picked up YA so I tend to know more of those, but I feel like there aren’t a ton of YA mysteries.. yet! Looks like some new ones are coming out soon! 🙂

      Reply

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