Top Ten Tuesday – Underrated/Hidden Gem Books I’ve Read In The Past Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a monthly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and you can find all the info and upcoming prompts Here.

This week’s prompts is: Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books I’ve Read In The Past Year Or So (up to you if you want it to be those published in the past year or so or just ANY underrated book you’ve read recently)

So these will just be books that I loved that I haven’t seen talked about much on the blogging and booktube community!

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1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

 

I have seen this book a couple times mentioned on blogs since I read it, but before I saw it on Audible I had never seen it before on blogs or anything. I honestly only purchased this book on Audible because it is narrated by Wil Wheaton! But I loved this book and I also thought that Wil was a perfect voice for this book! Highly Recommend the audiobook of this book!

Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved — that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

2. You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan

I received this book in a The YA Chronicles Subscription box early in the year! I really enjoyed this book but besides from in unboxings I haven’t really seen this talked about!

Goodreads Synopsis:

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You Know Me Well is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

3. Where the Outback Drovers Ride: Stories, Poems & Yards From the Bush

I have NEVER seen this mentioned on anything, which I get. This book is true short stories written by Bruce Simpson and also poems that he wrote throughout his life.. This is an amazing book about the real Australian history, not just war and the big events that everyone knows about, this book is the true stories of the west. And I loved it! Defiantly recommend to anyone! Australians because not everyone knows what the struggles were like in the west and also non-Australians as a bit of an eye opener I guess..

Goodreads Synopsis:

Bruce Simpson, bushman, storyteller and poet, is the authentic voice of the outback drover; a living legend who recollects life in the bush on horseback, in a time before the sound of motors replaced the music of horse bells. His stories and yarns encompass a range of characters and the trials and tribulations faced by drovers running mobs of cattle along outback stock routes, in what were often extremely tough and uncompromising conditions. Bruce’s stories and poems offer a window into a way of life that is now a great part of our cultural heritage. WHERE tHE OUtBACK DROVERS RIDE is liberally illustrated with original photographs from Bruce’s droving days and contains maps showing the routes taken by the early drovers.

4. Traitor’s Gate by Michael Ridpath

Another Historical Fiction book that I haven’t seen talked about much. I really enjoyed this book, it is based in Nazi Germany leading up to the day that Hitler actually officially declared war.. It’s so interesting!

Goodreads synopsis:

Conrad de Lancey has seen enough of evil: the shadow of fear on the faces of innocents; the roar of tanks through empty streets; the sudden lull before the slaughter begins. Franco’s bloody insurrection taught this Englishman all about hell.

Arriving in his mother’s country, the now Nazi Germany, Conrad is sick at heart. Even Berlin – infamous haven of decadence and vice – salutes fascism. Himmler’s black-shirted troops rule the city, and every German arm bears a Swastika. But does every German heart belong to Hitler?

When Conrad is arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion of spying, he is rescued by Theo, an old friend from university, now a lieutenant of the Wehrmacht. Together they are drawn into a world of danger and deceit, of plots, paranoia and intrigue where the brave few are united by a single ambition: to free the fatherland from the Führer.

5. The Watersong Quartet by Amanda Hocking

I never really see any of Amanda Hocking’s books on here, so that is why 3 of her series’s are going to be on here! Because I loved them so much! I really want to read more of her series, but I just haven’t got to any of them yet! Let me know if you have read any more of her books and when you thought?!

Wake Goodreads Synopsis:

Fall under the spell of Wake—the first book in an achingly beautiful new series by celebrated author Amanda Hocking—and lose yourself to the Watersong.

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They’re the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone’s attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

6. The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

Switched Goodreads Synopsis:

Switched – the first book in the Trylle Trilogy…

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn’t until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed – a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy’s not sure she wants to be a part of it.

7. The Kanin Chronicles by Amanda Hocking

Frostfire Goodreads Synopsis:

Bryn Aven is an outcast among the Kanin, the most powerful of the troll tribes.

Set apart by her heritage and her past, Bryn is a tracker who’s determined to become a respected part of her world. She has just one goal: become a member of the elite King’s Guard to protect the royal family. She’s not going to let anything stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss Ridley Dresden.

But all her plans for the future are put on hold when Konstantin– a fallen hero she once loved – begins kidnapping changelings. Bryn is sent in to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process?

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And that is it, I don’t have anymore books that are underrated that I read in the last couple years! So, that is all then!