Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Me To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Me To Read (for whatever reason).

1. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley: I've talked about this book in a previous Top Ten Tuesday somewhere, and if you read that post you already know that I love this book, even though it was incredibly difficult to read. I actually had to stop reading for a couple of days before I could finish it because it was that painful. Lies We Tell Ourselves is set during the time of segregation in the US, and it made me sick and horribly sad to realize how historically accurate it is. It truly is an amazing, beautifully written novel, despite the awful reality that people actually lived like that. But on a happier, more exciting note, this book releases today! YAY! Go pick up a copy and let it change your life.

2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare: My issue with reading this book was the fact that it was the last book in a series I love. I wanted to know what happened to the characters, but I also didn't want it to end.

3. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare: Like Clockwork Princess, it was the last book in a series I love. Cassie released a book in this series almost every year after I read the first three when I was in the fifth grade (five years ago!), and these books and these characters are such a big part of my life. I was not prepared for it to end. I did end up reading it in nine hours though because I needed to know what happened.

4. Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John: I liked this book, but I also didn't like this book. I liked what the author was trying to teach about faith and such, but overall I just don't think this book was for me. I didn't have that burning need to know how the story played out, and it kind of bored me at times.

5. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas: This series is amazing, and this book might be one of my very favorites of ever. There were a lot of extremely sad things going on in it though. Lots of devastating deaths that hit me right in the heart and made this book difficult to get through at times.

6. Night by Elie Wiesel: This is another book that hurt me with its brutal reality. If you're not familiar with this book, it's a memoir written by a Holocaust survivor about his time in concentration camps. I had such a hard time getting through this book. Sometimes the truth is really awful.

7. Scoring Wilder by R.S. Grey: I didn't even read a hundred pages of this book before I put this book down. I don't know what or why but something about it just didn't work with me. It wasn't bad or anything, I just don't think I liked it enough to continue. Maybe I'll be able to finish it in the future.

8. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan: I loved his Percy Jackson series. Fifth-grade-me was obsessed. I was not digging this series though. Again, I'm not sure what about it didn't work with me, but I just didn't find myself interested in these characters anymore.

9. Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti: Bullying is an awful, awful thing, and in this book, Noelle isn't just bullied by her peers; she's bullied and neglected by her mom as well. It was really hard for me to read at times, but like Susane's other books, it really helped me too.

10. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen: An incredibly heartbreaking but very important topic is addressed in these pages: domestic abuse. I don't really know what else to say. It was just really painful to be put in the mind of an abuse victim. There was so much going on inside her mind, and she was so messed up, physically and emotionally. Really distressing.