Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Reviewed Books

Today over at The Broke and the Bookish we are talking about books we loved but never reviewed. For me, this would cover a lot of  my all time favorites list of books I read before blogging, so I'll take you through some of those, even though many of them I don't remember a whole lot about except that I loved them!

Top Ten Books I Didn't Review (aka. on this blog as Extreme Mini Reviews)

1. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye: I loved this book, and I always wonder why nobody else ever talks about it. This is one of the first books I read about India and it was fascinating. A sweeping saga sort of book. (You'll see that I seem to love the sweeping sagas!) And the most incredible romance I've ever read I think. It blew me away. I would love to read this one again sometime.

2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: This is one of those books that I loved but everyone else hated. I loved it because it told this heartbreaking story so so well. I felt it, really really felt it. And that shocking ending? I will never forget.

3. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy: I went through a Binchy phase a long time ago and look back with fond memories. This was one of my favorites. A very soap opera sort of book with all kinds of misunderstandings that needed sorting out. Great fun.

4. Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: If you've never read a Wilkie Collins book, this is good one to start with. So much fun! The wittiness of this author is fabulous!

5. Pope Joan by Donna Wolfolk Cross: Anyone else remember when this was making the rounds and the buzz? Wow, an intense book about a girl who pretends to be a guy first in order to save herself and then in order to keep learning in the monasteries. It's an awesome story and another one with an ending that leaves you reeling.

6. The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz: This book is told as if it's non fiction, but I'm still not sure if it really is. But regardless, it's a fascinating tale about a bunch of guys that escape from prison in Siberia and make their long walk over tons of rough land to freedom. It's one of those crazy survival stories that's intensely inspiring.

7. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card: This book, on the surface, is about a genius kid who is recruited to participate in a study where they get to play games every day... intense sometimes violent games. On a deeper level, it's about humanity as a whole, and oh so much more.

8. Chesapeake by James Michner: One of these sweeping sagas I mentioned earlier. This one about the settling of the Chesapeake Bay area, which is a place I'd never given a second thought to before this book. But it was very interesting and I remember hating to see that book come to an end even though it was huge.


9. Sarum by Edward Rutherford: The above sweeping saga reminded me of this one... it's about the Salisbury Plain area in England, including the building of Stonehenge. I loved it.

10. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy: I got so involved in this one when I read it I couldn't think of anything else. Then I watched the PBS movie and it got even worse! Basically, it's a Victorian soap opera, which is really all you need to know.

Well, that's just a few of favorite books I read before reviewing days! You should read them. Really.