Purely on a whim..
17 May 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 10 books picked up on a whim, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is:
Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim
So, these are books that I sort of idly picked up, not based on recommendations or were just found at book sales when I wasn’t looking with anything particular in mind:
- Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – I actually found this at a second hand book store and just quite liked the cover and blurb – I also figured it might be something my dad would enjoy so I thought ‘why not’!
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – was another book store find – similar to the above. I think it was super cheap so again I thought I’d give it a try.
- Poison Study by Maria Snyder – which I loved and also found similarly to the above.
- Longbourn by Jo Baker – I really did pick this one up in a moment of whimsy because I’ve never liked the idea of authors tackling subjects written by other authors – and look what happened – I loved this!
- Jane Steel by Lindsay Faye – I was sent this book by the publisher and was so intrigued by the concept, plus it has a similar storyline to Jane Eyre which is one of my favourites so I though I’d have a go – I really enjoyed this one.
- All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry. Oddly enough this book was a recommendation but to be honest it was one that I didn’t really fancy having a go of. Fortunately I went for it and I’m so pleased I did. This is a really compelling tale.
- Witch Light by Susan Fletcher. This is one of my favourites. I found this in a ‘3 books for £5 sale in The Works and think I chose it to make up the numbers. As it happens it was an absolute ‘find’ and I’ve read everything by this author since!
- Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – this was another of my The Works ‘specials’ and I was really pleased with it.
- The Rebel Angels by Gillian Philips. This wasn’t a recommendation but I saw an article about the first book – Firebrand and decided to give it a go. I loved this series.
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier – I found this, along with a lot of other favourites, amongst my dad’s books. He never actually told me which books to read I just slowly made my way though them and Rebecca was and still is a firm favourite.
I love Name of the Wind and Lies of Locke Lamora, but I actually got them after hearing a lot about them. Firebrand sounds like something I should look into. Love the premise.
oooh. i love the haunting vibe of some of your picked books, Lynn. 🙂
Some good covers eh!
Lynn 😀
I agree! 😀
Wow you have good taste in impulse buys – some real classics on that list!
Thanks – and also thank goodness for that second hand book shop – I would have never heard of Lynch or Rothfuss otherwise – well, maybe I would at some point, – but who knows!
Lynn 😀
That’s an interesting mix of books! 🙂 I’ve only read three of them. Absolutely love 2 of those three, and still enjoyed the third. Will have to take a closer look at some of these others.
It’s amazing what books you can pick up sometimes. All of these were not planned books at all – I think it’s great that I picked up Lynch and Rothfuss in a secondhand shop and at the time I’d never heard of either of them!
Lynn 😀
You’ve had some excellent serendipitous finds! I just read Jane Steele a few weeks ago (on your recommendation) and it was SO GOOD. I’m very intrigued by Firebrand now!
I love the Rebel Angels – Seth in particular (ahem!)
Lynn 😀
You picked up both The Name the Wind and The Lies of Locke Lamora on whim?! You win 😛
At the time I’d never heard of either of them – they were in a second hand book store and at the time they sounded good and I thought why not – I was reading a much more diverse range of books back then with a lot less fantasy.
Lynn 😀
I also have The Lies of Locke Lamora and a Daphne du Maurier on my whim list; both of which were bought cheap at The Works 😀
The Works is pretty good for impulse buys – even if you know a couple of the books you pick up you’re always tempted to find that third one for the deal!
Lynn 😀
Exactly! And at those prices/deals it’s worth taking a chance 😀
I’ve read a few very good books that I picked up from the Works – I don’t get to visit as often these days so no doubt I’m missing loads of good books! Still my stacks are breathing a sigh of relief.
Lynn 😀
I really enjoyed “Jane Steele” and my older brother has been raving about “The Name of the Wind”. I’ve had a few other people give me recommendations on this one, so I might need to look in to it!
My TTT
Both are really good. I can safely say that you’d have to go a long way and read a lot of books before you read anything that surpasses Name of the Wind. Plus the second book, Wise Man’s Fear is awesome – the only problem is waiting for No.3 to come out! Still, all good things to those that wait.
Lynn 😀
Some cracking books in there, Lynn:). I love Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch and Daphne du Maurier – I’m now tempted by Witch Light…
Oh, I think you would love Witch Light. I loved it – the language is really beautiful, I admit it took me a little while to get into at the start of the book but then I was hooked. Fletcher’s turn of phrase is just so lovely. I’ve picked everything of her’s up since and in fact have a book right now waiting to be read. I strongly recommend it.
Lynn 😀
Thank you for that:) It’s always useful to get a strong recommendation.
Poison Study was a whim purchase for me as well and I loved every second of it.
I know – I was so pleased that I found that one. 😀
A lot of my impulse buys in the past have turned out to become some of my all time favorites. Name of the Wind was a spur of the moment, whim purchase for me too 🙂
I was reading a whole lot less fantasy then – still sort of developing my own likes and dislikes and so I was reading more history/contemporary and some light fantasy. I’d never heard of Lynch or Rothfuss. Those two surprise finds were the best books I’ve ever picked up – both bargains!
So good that Name of the Wind was an impulse buy for you too! I thought I was on my own with that.
Lynn 😀
I have numbers 1 & 2 on my to read list. Good knows when I’ll get to them, but they’re there! 😉
and they’re so good – I hope you manage to find time for them at some point.
Lynn 😀