Nice quick post – Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish (with thanks to MegaMad4Books for the intro).  This week, 10 books you’ve been forced to read.  I’ve chosen 10 books that I’ve been ‘encouraged’ to read – or were ‘must reads’ from friends and bloggers plus a couple of book club choices.  In no particular order and with acknowledgements where I could remember! (the first three were no/nos but the rest were all great!):

1. General Dann, Mara’s Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog, by Doris Lessing – read this for my book club – I really didn’t like this although I can see that the author has many well loved books out there – this just obviously wasn’t the best choice, for me at least.
2. 50 Shades of Grey, EL James – one of my very good friends (gave me a copy of this to read and twisted my arm to make me read it) – No.  Not for me – and it probably wins the award for most annoying book in the universe (although opinion seems to be divided), not to mention the only book I’ve wanted to throw against a wall.  Review here in case you feel like reading something negative.
3. My Soul to Take, Rachel Vincent – I actually made myself read this one (result of hype) but it wasn’t for me – which I realise goes greatly against popular opinion but sometimes that’s just the way it crumbles.
4. I am Legend, Richard Matheson – this is a fantastic book, nothing like the film by the way and my very brilliant friend Jenny at Wondrous Reads put me onto this (she absolutely made me!) as it’s one of her all time favourites (along with the Book Thief)
5. Positronic Man, Isaac Asimov – Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings got me into Asimov with his Foundation readalong.  Seriously I don’t think I would have picked this up otherwise.  A great example of book bloggers aiding and abetting my book education!
6. The Troupe, Robert Bennett – a ‘must read’ recommendation by Andrea at Little Red Reviewer – I really enjoyed this and have read all of RB’s other books as a result (except for American Elsewhere – which I will read!!) – LRR – you have a lot to answer for (massive TRB!!)
7. Assassin’s Apprentice, Robin Hobb – read this as part of my Worlds Without End Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge and adored it.  How come nobody told me about Robin Hobb before!  Plus I love this challenge and site – go them it out.
8. Miserere by Teresa Frohock – same challenge as above and another great book that I would have missed out on.
9. The Hobbit by JR Tolkien – which I really do love, but, first read this at school and hearing this read by a bunch of 14 year old, highly embarrassed 14 year old boys and girls was a bit like torture taken to a whole new level.  I had to reread in later life.
10. Lord of the Flies, Williams Golding – ditto the above comment.  A school book – I’ve never revisited this although I realise I probably should.

That’s all – for now.

Okay, it may seem like I’ve just posted a Top Ten Tuesday – but it was late.  I’ve had a rather unorganised period, ahem, so now trying to be, or appear to be, organised.  In which case I will keep this short and sweet!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish – they have some pretty interesting topics so you might want to stop on by and check them out.  Plus I always give a high five to Mega Mad 4 Books whose lovely blog enticed me over there in the first place.

This week – Top 10 Best and Worst Series Enders

Best first :

1. Lord of the Rings, JRTolkien – no comments necessary methinks.
2. The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence (Prince, King and Emperor of Thorns) (Thanks to the Little Red Reviewer for putting me onto this!)
3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan (including the Dark and Hollow Places and the Dead Tossed Waves) – I loved this, zombie apocalypse and the ending was spot on.
4. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov – such a clever series and so intriguing. (respect to Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting a readalong for this which made it really interesting and without which I probably wouldn’t have picked it up!)
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I loved this whole series and thought the ending was amazing plus Lisbeth is such a great character.

Worst :

1. The Hunger Games series, by Suzanne Collins – loved the first book, liked the second, disappointed with the third.
2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyers – yes, I read these!  Breaking Dawn was a bit surreal for me personally.
3. Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse – this is a great series and I’ve really enjoyed it – but I thought the ending was slightly meh!
4. River Marked by Patricia Briggs. Okay, a bit of a cheat because this isn’t the end of a series but it is the last book I read in the series and it went off track I thought.  Might try the next one just to see if it was a fluke.
5. Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare – again, I liked the first but thought the second was totally flat and I probably won’t finish this series.

Two things did this post reveal:  (1) I found it easier to come up with series endings that I enjoyed than disliked and (2) I’m astounded at how many series I’ve actually started and not finished yet – I think I have some sort of hang up about finishing a series!  I NEED HELP!!