Listmaniac: Hidden Gems

So, today's listmaniac is about those books that I love that just never got any popular, or at least not popular on a large scale like, say, John Green's books or Sarah Dessen, or Meg Cabot or Lisa Kleypas - authors like that. 

That's not to say that you haven't heard me talk about these books before, because I probably have pimped them... and often, but still, I tried to dig into the obscure recesses of my reading lists. So, here we go, in no particular order. 

Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Storhm 

Why Do I Love This Book? It's funny, plain and simple. Libby, the protagonist, loves history and she thinks it will be super awesome to spend the summer working at a reenactment museum in Maine, even if she has to hide her bright pink cell phone within her "era appropriate undergarments", and she often crashes with a local reporter trying to figure out if the museum is haunted. 

And there might or might not be a ghost lost in the museum. And Libby's best friend is really funny. 

Best Time to Read? In summer, it's non-beachy summery read. 

The Bard Academy Books by Cara Lockwood. 

Why Do I Love This Book? Because it takes the authors (and some characters) of many literary classics and puts them as teachers in a reform school set in an island called Shipwreck Island; where everything and anything that has ever happened in a book can happen for real. 

It's a smart book too, without talking down to readers, it trust them to have enough general culture to get the jokes and the personalities of the many authors and characters that populate the island, along with the students. 

Plus: boarding school theme!

Best Time to Read? During the fall, it's a great back to school book. 

Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Why Do I Love This Book? Well, this one is a bit personal. I went to a seventh day adventist school for many, many years (just because it was really close to my Grandma's place), and I identified with a lot of the stuff Mena went through having to navigate her faith and deeply held beliefs with the word around her; and how cruel organized religion can be on people who don't agree with it. 

It was a very interesting book about faith and science and it had some very funny characters and a cute, age appropriate romance and PUPPIES!! Lots of puppies!

Best Time to Read? Another back to school book. 

The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume by Lisa Rumsey Harris

Why Do I Love This Book? It's different, and it's pretty different to what I usually read. Treasure Blume in the inheritor of a family curse that makes anyone over the age of six and under the age of sixty dislike her when they first met her, like really dislike her (and be really rude to her). 

Which is why she loves her job as a First Grade teacher since her young students just take her in. Other people grow to like her but very few people care to get to know her beyond the first impression. There is a dash of romance, but for me it's all over the other types of love that people get to have in their lives. 

Best time to Read? Anytime really, but it's also kind of a cozy book, so maybe when the weather turns cold. 

Persuade Me by Juliet Archer

Why Do I Love This Book? Because it's a modern tale retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion and it actually gets it pretty right. And Persuasion is one story that I love, this whole idea of giving love a second chance, even if there was some hurt involved. 

Plus, in this version, Wentworth is a marine biologist which is speaks to many of my wheelhouses as a hidrobiologist. Other than that, it's a very sweet story and I like Anna and Rick and reading their story gives me warm fuzzies. 

Best time to Read? I would say this is more of a holiday book, definitely wintery, anyway since it's when the book takes place (late fall, early winter). 


Well, that's me! Please let me know if you got some hidden gem you want to share! I'm alway looking for out of the box books ;)