Books I Enjoyed, But Never Talk About

I have noticed that there are certain books that I talked about constantly and am always recommending (Raybearer, anyone!?), but there are so many books I have read and loved that I simply never find the opportunity to talk about. That is why I love this week’s TTT topic so much. I love that I have an excuse to highlight these wonderful books.

I read The Thursday Murder Club at the beginning of December 2021 and I never posted a wrap up for December, so I don’t think I ever mentioned that I had read this! This book is very British and, for that reason, I think some of the humour was lost on me, but I still really enjoyed this. It was a good time and I was more invested in the characters than the mystery. I will definitely be reading the sequel!

They Never Learn was my favourite thriller of last year, but I just never talk about it! I feel like it is so hyped and I don’t have too much to add other than that I completely agree and that I highly recommend the audiobook. It definitely gives female Dexter vibes and I loved every second of it!

I talk about Kazuo Ishiguro all of the time, like constantly, but I find that I rarely mentioned The Remains of the Day, despite how much I loved it. I think that is because I don’t think it is the book of his that I would recommend to someone looking to get into his work and that it is a very quiet story. I have a hard time even knowing how to pitch that book to someone when on the surface it is a simple story about a butler reflecting on his life.

Claire Fuller is one of my favourite authors, but I don’t talk about her books as much as I should. Bitter Orange was my favourite book the year that I read it, so I did talk about it quite a bit at that time, but Unsettled Ground came out last year and I was so moved by it. I don’t know why I never think to mention it!

I used to talk about Greek myth retellings a lot, but I don’t as much these days, despite how much I love them and how many are on my radar. A Thousand Ships is arguably my favourite of the ones that I read, so I really should talk about it more than I do. Natalie Haynes is an author whose backlist I want to explore, so, hopefully, you will see me reviewing her books in the near future.

Pumpkin instantly became one of my favourite YA contemporary novels and it is definitely my favourite book in the Dumplin‘ series. The problem is that it is the third book in a series, which makes it difficult to talk about. That said, I do think that you could read it as a standalone and still appreciate it as much as I did!

The Good Sister is a mystery that I read on a whim and really loved. I cannot remember ever being so attached to characters within a mystery. That said, I don’t think that this is a book everyone would love, especially if you are expecting a page-turner. It is really more of a character study! I just never find myself getting the chance to recommend it because it isn’t like other thrillers/mysteries I have read.

I have moved away from reading a lot of WWII fiction, but I did receive an ARC of The Paris Library and wanted to give it a chance. I ended up loving the storytelling and seeing a side of the war I had never read about before. I just don’t talk about historical fiction much these days, which you will see from the last two books on this list as well.

I was surprised to see that The Exiles has over 35,000 ratings on Goodreads because it feels as though no one talks about it online! That is a shame because it is up there as one of my favourite historical fiction novels and I really should talk about it more than I do. There were some truly shocking moments in this book and I appreciated all the research that Christina Baker Kline did when writing this book.

I read Hum If You Don’t Know the Words for a buddy read on Bookstagram and we were lucky enough to have the author join us. Bianca Marais was incredible and she gave us so much insight into why this book is so personal to her. I don’t know why I don’t talk about it more!

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