Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving. This could refer to books that had covers or summaries that didn't fit with what the book was actually like. For me, this is mostly times I was completely off base in my assumptions about books. This list isn't in any particular order.
1. Looking For Alaska by John Green The title is perfect the way it is, but I first thought that this book was about a young boy who goes on a road trip to Alaska. I didn't think that the title referred to him literally looking for Alaska, but I thought it would be about him searching for what kind of place Alaska truly is. On the way, he would fall in love with a girl who made him feel like drizzle (I'd seen quotes on the Internet.) The real book is much better. You can read my review for the real Looking for Alaska here.
2. Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock It's the cover that's to blame for this book. Even though I'd heard so many good things about this book, the title made it look, well, bad. I was expecting a fluffy book about a spoilt city girl whose family loses all their money and has to move back the family farm, owned by her old fashioned Grandparents. There, the heroine would suffer through gross chores, while falling for the farm's stable boy, who she initially clashes with. Once again, the real book was better. DJ is definitely no spoilt Princess. You can read the review (and find out what the book is really about) here.
3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins While I think Dairy Queen could benefit from a new cover, Anna and the French Kiss is perfect the way it is. However, the cover and the title made me think it would be a cheesy, fluffy teen romance. But Anna was so much more than that! I probably wouldn't have even picked this book up if it weren't for all the praise it recieved (including a glowing review from John Green.) Luckily, I looked past my assumptions and read this book (and later bought it.) You can read my review here.
4. Secrets From the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean I'm not sure how popular these books are outside of Canada, but Stuart McLean hosts a radio show on CBC and some of the stories he tells on that show have been collected into books. This was my first Vinyl Cafe book, and I wasn't expecting light hearted (and often hilarious) stories centring around a family and their friends, family members and neighbours. Based on the cover, I thought this book would be a fun mystery, focusing on a crime (not murder) in a cafe. The culprit would be one of the cafes regular customers. Of course, the Vinyl Cafe is actually the name of Dave's record store.
5. Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Due to my laziness, I skimmed over the title and for a while before I read it I thought this book was about two female friends, Naomi and Elly. It took me a few pages to figure out that Ely was a boy. I actually assumed that Naomi was bisexual at first. It didn't occur to me that I was an idiot who couldn't read. In my defence, Bruce's mom makes the same mistake in the book.
6. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Random Riggs With the ominous looking cover and the 'horror' sticker my library stuck on the book's spine, I was terrified to read this book. I didn't even notice that the girl on the cover was levitating (another case of me missing details and being completely off about what a book is about.) I thought this book was going to be about a teen who, against his will, has to move to a deserted area near an abandoned orphanage. When peculiar things begin to happen to him, he decides to investigate what happened to the children who lived there, only to slowly learn that they were all brutally murdered by Miss Peregrine. He soon begins to wonder if whoever killed these children might come back for him. Once again, the real thing is much better. Review here.
7. Across the Universe by Beth Revis I had no idea that this book was going to be science fiction. A lot of people heard the name and assumed it was related to either The Beatles song of the same name, or to the movie of the same name (based on The Beatles song.) I didn't think that, but glancing at the cover in bookstores (and missing the description on the cover) I thought it was going to be romance novel (set on earth.) I guess I assumed the title either referred to the couple's favourite song, or how their love was so strong it could span across galaxies (or something equally as cheesy.) Alas, I was wrong again. This book is actually about a space ship that is taking a number of frozen passengers to a new planet.
8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling This is probably one of those things that no one should ever confess, but I honestly didn't know that this book was going to be about a boy wizard. In my defence, I was only nine and I had never even heard of Harry Potter. My fourth grade teacher read the book to us, so I never got a good look at the back of the book. The front of the UK cover just shows a boy at a train station with a silly name printed on the train's engine. I knew it was going to be a fantasy book due to the fact a cat turns into a woman in the first chapter, but I didn't know what Hogwarts was or what was going to happen. That was nearly thirteen years ago, and now I don't think it's very likely that anyone will pick up this book without a fairly good idea of what is going to happen.
9. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth When I picked this book up at Barnes & Noble I was expecting something similar to Dairy Queen. Farm girl deals with life in a small town while trying to discover who she really is and where she belongs. When I read the jacket and saw that it was about a girl whose parents have just died, but she's filled with relief because she spent that daying kissing a girl, I was very surprised. Even though the cover doesn't fit (Cameron doesn't actually live on a farm; I don't remember her being near any hay in the book) I do like the cover. You can read more here.
10. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick I definitely thought this book was going to be fantasy. I thought it might even be the next Harry Potter! While there is a feeling of magic and wonder, it is actually historical fiction. I also thought Hugo Cabret was the invention. You can read my review here.