Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday: Books Outside My Comfort Zone

Dini @ dinipandareads38 Comments

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Books I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone

If you can’t tell from my blog’s headline, romance and fantasy are definitely my comfort zone, although I find myself settling quite comfortably with historical and literary fiction, as well as mysteries and thrillers. The only types of books I try to stay away from are the paranormal/ supernatural featuring angry ghosts, hauntings, possessions, specters, etc. 🫣 That said, I have dabbled in a few and though they’ve terrified me and caused many sleepless nights, I surprisingly enjoyed them! So here are some of the titles that I’ve enjoyed over the years (the top 4 were read this year and two of them are in my Top 5 or at least 10 of the year)!

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

The Deep by Alma Katsu
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

What type of books are outside of your comfort zone? Would any of these also be outside of your comfort zone? Do you often read outside of your comfort zone?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

38 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Books Outside My Comfort Zone”

  1. I like paranormal, but I don’t think I like the specifics you mentioned; I think it is because they lean more towards horror. That said, and for a genre that you try and stay away from, having some of these in your top reads of the year says a lot, I am impressed!

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    • I do enjoy books with paranormal elements like witches, vampires, werewolves, and the like. However, it is really the paranormal horror that I tend to stay away from. I’m as surprised and impressed as you that some of these made my favourites list this year too! 🤭

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    • That one really got to me but I absolutely loved it! It sent me down a Reddit rabbit hole reading about different theories and discussions people had about the book. It was so good but undoubtedly disturbing, haha. I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try 🙂

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  6. I’ve heard of a couple of these including ‘Salt and Sorrows’ and We Used to Live Here, but haven’t read any. I don’t like the idea of “creepy” or scary fiction so I tend to stay away from genres that lend themselves to that type of story. 🙂

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  7. I added Buffalo Hunter Hunter to my list of TBR because of you and Charlotte. haha. I don’t know if I will actually get to it anytime soon, but I’m so curious! Great list of books Dini!!

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    • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is so good! I didn’t expect to feel this way about it when I picked it up but I guess there was something my brain knew because it’s been pinging me to read it ever since I heard it was coming out (even though it was technically outside my comfort zone)! I loved it so much. I hope you enjoy Keeper of Night whenever you get around to it 🙂

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  15. That’s a great list, Dini! Buffalo Hunter Hunter is absolutely an all time favourite of mine, and I also loved Keeper of the Night, though I do think Baker’s adult horror’s are much better than her YA.Strange Pictures has me intrigued, so I’ll have to check that one out.

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    • Yes I’m so excited to try more of Stephen Graham Jones’ books now because of how much I wound up loving TBHH. Thinking about it still gives me chills in the best way! Good to know about Baker’s adult horror. I’ve got Bat Eater on my TBR and I’m keen to check it out asap, but I do remember already being properly creeped out reading Keeper of Night so I’m treading lightly into her horror 🤣 Strange Pictures was definitely more horror mystery lite and was surprisingly very enjoyable (even though it took a bit to get into)! I hope you enjoy it if you check it out 🙂

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