Another fill in topic for this week’s top ten tuesday that is as always created by The Broke and the Bookish. Is it just me or are these just hard to have a theme to think up for? I always struggle in any case.
But in this case I decided to go for standalones. Many books these days are a part of a trilogy or a longer series. Heck, even duologies are making an upcoming. But standalones always stay behind a little. There are of course those authors that write more standalones. I’m thinking of Neil Gaiman for instance.
For a book club I’d imagine it be great to read standalone books. If people didn’t like a book of a series it would be hard for them to continue on. And it can be harder to step back into a book club after they have just all read that series you disliked together. Especially if it is a physical book club. So standalones seem to be the way to go. Here are some standalones I really liked.
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- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
As mentioned Neil Gaiman writes a lot of standalone books so many are a great pick. But I especially like this one for the mystery it provides and I quite liked the main character. - Otherbound and On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis
These two books aren’t connected with the exception of their author. I think I have mentioned before that I quite liked these books. Especially On the Edge of Gone with the main character being autistic. - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This book was so heart wrenching. One of the few books that made me cry. - Uprooted by Naomi Novak
One of those rare high fantasy standalones that really worked for me. - Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Surprise! I feel like I mention this book a lot… But good for a Halloween book club pick. - The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
This was an interesting story with a fairytale feel - Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
While this book does have two companions I feel this is more of a standalone. You really don’t need to read the others. It is just a great magical book. - Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Another book with companions but you can all read them seperate from each other. More high fantasy with an interesting magic system.
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What are some of your favorite (fantasy) standalones?
I agree about standalones. I like a good one, and yes I imagine they’d be ideal in a book club. I thought Graceling was part of a tighter series, so it’s good to know it can be read independently, especially since I was looking at it a while back.
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Each book of the graceling realm has a different character that it follows. They are connected but are good to read seperate from what I have gathered. 🙂
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I love seeing The Book Thief on this list. It is one of my favourite books.Made me cry too. Great list.
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The Book Thief is great. 🙂
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I love this list. Graceling was the book that really got me into reading.
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That is great. 🙂
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I love standalones! Graceling is one of my favorites, but I love Fire and Bitterblue too. If I’m being honest, I still hope for a book 4 as well. 🙂 I keep seeing Uprooted everywhere. I really want to read it. It sounds like my kind of book. Great list!
My Top Ten
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Standalones are great. Uprooted is a great fantasy standalone so give it a go. 🙂
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This is such a great list! The Book Thief is my absolute favourite book. It made me cry so hard.
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The Book Thief is so sad. 😦 *weeps*
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I really want to read The Darkest Part of the Forest – I have started to really like Holly Black so will need to pick this up.
Thanks for the post.
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I’m sure you’lll like The Darkest Part of the Forest then!
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Standalones can be so hard to find, especially in Fantasy, so this list is great! The Darkest Part of the Forest and Uprooted are both or my TBR pile.
My TTT.
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I agree. Fantasy standalones are hard to find. I hope you’ll like both of those. 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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I loved both Uprooted and Graceling so much! And The Book Thief was absolutely heart-wrenching!
I love fantasy but it is really hard to find standalones in that genre! I love series,but sometimes a standalone is enough 🙂
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The Book Thief broke my hard at the end. 😦
Series are great but sometimes I need a standalone. To read a book without having to commit to something longer. 🙂
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So many of these are on my tbr – thanks for sharing!
Lauren @ Always Me
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Great. I hope you’ll end up enjoying them.
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Everything seems to be about series and trilogies these days, so it can be a challenge to find great stand alone novels – this is a very helpful list!
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Oh yes, or books you thought were going to be a standalone are being turned into a series.
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What a brilliant list. I’ve read six off here and own a couple of the others – just waiting to her read.
Lynn 😀
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I hope you’ll enjoy those!
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Ooo! I like this topic idea. So many books are part of a series now and sometimes you just need a good standalone.
My TTT.
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Yes! Standalones are needed to just break up the endless streak of series these days.
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Oh, I definitely enjoy a good standalone. Uprooted is such a great book and The Book Thief is beyond amazing. Great list!
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I need a good standalone every now and then. 🙂
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Het is inderdaad ondertussen zo erg geworden dat ik daar al echt over moet nadenken vermits er zoveel boeken in een serie of trilogie worden uitgebracht. Ontworteld van Naomi Novik vermelde je zelf al maar die zou er bij mij ook sowieso tussen staan. Maar ook ‘Life according to Garp’ van John Irving en ‘De vrouw van de tijdreiziger’ van Audrey Niffenegger. Al zijn beide wel boeken die ik lang geleden gelezen heb.
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Ja klopt. Er zijn maar weinig standalones en al helemaal weinig met fantasy. De Vrouw van de Tijdreiziger heb ik ook nog op mijn heel lang lijstje staan om nog eens te lezen/kopen.
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I still have not read The Book Theif. What is wrong with me?! I am going to read Uprooted, and On the Edge Of Gone at some point, too. I have The Ocean At the End Of the Lane to read also. I have read Howl’s, so list is a big winner for me. 🙂
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I need you to read them all~ But especially The Book Thief and On the Edge of Gone. 😀
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