Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is “Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (you can extend it to 5 if you need to)”. I feel like I’ve posted about my favorites a lot already — and I’m not sure that my all-time favorite books would come from the past 3 – 5 years — but anyway…
Here are the books (or series) from the past 5 years that have made a lasting impression! I’m trying to throw in a few besides the ones I always rave about… we’ll see how well I do.
In no particular order (well, except for #1, which is always my #1):
1) The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon: Considering how much these books have come to rule my life, it’s funny when I stop to realize that I didn’t read Outlander for the first time until the fall of 2010!
My Outlander shelf!
2) The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (and the Alpha & Omega books too): Another series that was pretty much love at first read for me.
3) The Shining and Doctor Sleep by Stephen King: I re-read The Shining for the first time in decades right before the release of Doctor Sleep, and reading the two books back-to-back was such a fantastically creepy reading experience.
And now for some stand-alones that I find myself recommending all the time:
4) I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
5) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
6) The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
7) The Winter Sea and The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley. Really, just about any book by Susanna Kearsley — yet another author who quickly became a favorite during the last five years.
8) Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. Can’t wait for the third book!
9) The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes — an author who was new to me just a couple of years ago, but whose books I’ve been devouring! The Ship of Brides is one of my favorites.
10) And finally, I just have to include the graphic novels I’ve fallen for in the last 3 – 5 years, especially the world of Fables by Bill Willingham and Y: The Last Man and Saga by Brian K. Vaughan.
What are your favorite books from the last 3 – 5 years? Please share your links!
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
Our book club is to choose a graphic novel for March. It looks like you’ve got some great possibilities. Thanks for these and everything on your list.
I tweaked the prompt a bit. Here’s my TTT!
The ones here are my favorites, but there are some great stand-alone options too. (I really enjoyed Sailor Twain – worth checking out!). I hope your book club has fun!
So happy to see I Shall Be Near To You on your list. It’s on mine as well – one of the few books I want to own in hardcover and just look at from time to time. 🙂
Definitely! And I’m thinking I might give the audiobook a try too!
Great list! I will say that even though I love Jojo Moyes I was not able to finish Ship of Brides. It was just kind of boring to me. I loved Me Before You though. I Shall Be Near To You is on my TBR for sure. 🙂
Oh, too bad about Ship of Brides! I thought it got really good by the end, but I can see that it might not appeal to everyone. I think I’ve read five (maybe six?) of her books in the last few years. 🙂
Can’t wait for the third book by Hilary Mantel either! It seems the television show + all those articles I recently read about the third novel has just amped up my excitement for it xD Great list, Lisa! 🙂
My TTT
I’m so curious about the TV show. I wonder if it will feel as special as the books — such a big part of their appeal for me was the language used by the author. Can’t wait for #3!
Many of these are on my must-read list! Outlander, for sure (I love your Outlander shelf, btw!). I have Wolf Hall waiting for me already and I’m dying to get my hands on The Golem and the Jinni. Susanna Kearsley is amazing, I must agree 🙂
Ha, that’s actually an old picture of my Outlander shelf — I think now I’d have a few more editions to add! 🙂 I really love Susanna Kearsley’s books, and I love how Sourcebooks has been reissuing her older books with the pretty new covers. Can’t wait for her new book in April!
Ooohh I didn’t even know she had a new book coming out, one more to look forward to!
It sounds so good!
I’m doing an Outlander readalong in a couple of weeks and am so excited to start the series. I just finished Code Name Verity last night and I’m still in pain.
Oh, how exciting about the readalong! If you want another place to share your thoughts, check out Outlander Book Club (i have a link in my sidebar) — we have great discussions going on! Code Name Verity is just so beautiful and heartbreaking. I did a reread recently via audiobook, and it got kind of embarrassing because I was basically blubbering in public.
Your Outlander shelf is most impressive. 😀 I have got to give The Mercy Thompson series another chance. I listened to the first one on audio and was just meh about it… I think it was the narrator. Plus, I was new to audiobooks. Worth another shot. I Shall Be Near To You was fantastic and I STILL need to get my hands on The Golem and the Jinni. Fantastic list!!
Ha ha, thanks! I really love the Mercy books (am doing an audiobook listen right now, and I’m having such fun revisiting all the books and characters). You might like them better in paper form — they’re quick but compelling reads.
I’m glad that you have been devouring Jojo Moyes. She really is an incredible writer! 🙂 I really enjoyed Code Name Verity as well.
I still would like to track down Jojo Moyes’s first few books and see how they hold up! So far, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by her.
I love your Outlander shelf! I’m in the middle of reading Dragonfly in Amber and just want to read everything that has anything to do with this series! How is the Outlandish Companion? I’ve debated buying it. Here’s my TTT: https://thewornbookmark.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/top-ten-books-i-read-in-the-last-3-years/
Yay, another Outlander fan! I’m a moderator over at Outlander Book Club, so if you’re looking for people to talk Outlander with, that’s a great place to check out. 🙂 I’d say yes to the Outlandish Companion — it’s a great reference to have as you work your way through the series. A revised edition is coming out at the end of this month! Just be cautious if you pick up a copy, because it covers the first 4 books in the series, so you may see spoilers. (A 2nd volume covering the next 4 books is due out in the fall.) Anyway, enjoy Dragonfly in Amber! Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the info! Maybe I’ll wait until the revised edition comes out and hopefully I’ll be farther along in the series! I will definitely have to check out the Outlander Book Club! 🙂
This is the depressing part where I admit that I haven’t read any of these and really need to get to it.
Thanks for sharing!
Ha, that’s why I love these top 10 lists! I’m always discovering new books thanks to other people’s lists. 🙂
Ack, I have several of these on my list and I just need to, you know. Get round to them!
That’s always the problem with the TTT lists — I always see so many books that I need to read!
I haven’t read any of the novels on your list yet, but several are on my TBR (I actually own The Golem and the Jinni, so that is a priority this year). I’m also hoping to read the Outlander series eventually. It sounds really good and everyone seems to love it, but the length of the series intimidates me.
I keep meaning to read something by Stephen King as well – any suggestions on where to start?
Oh, Stephen King — depends whether you want to get a taste for his early horror novels or some of his later, grander works. You can’t go wrong with The Shining (don’t judge it by the movie — the book is so much better!) More recently, I really loved 11/22/63 and Under The Dome. The Stand is considered one of his masterpieces, but I read it so long ago that I barely remember it.
In terms of Outlander, I’d say read the first book. Either it’ll be your cup of tea, or it won’t! Even though it’s a big series, if you end up interested enough, you can definitely do it in small bites!
Oh, and The Golem & The Jinni is lovely! I hope you enjoy it!
I want to start reading more Stephen King books. The first book I read was the Green Mile which I like but then i tried a couple I didn’t care for and the read Bag of Bones a few years ago, renewing my wanting to read his books again, now that I am a bit older (I was in middle school when I first started reading his books). Code Name Verity is one I have on my goodrads to-read list. I hope this year is filled with more amazing books for you to discover!
Here’s My TTT
Thank you! I hope you find lots of great books to love this year, too! I’d say keep trying with Stephen King! There are so many great choices — you’re bound to find something you like. 🙂