SFF: The 5 Books You Wouldn't Have Read If Not For Blogging

Sunday Fun Five #72:

#60: The 5 Literary Characters Who Should Run For President

#61: The 5 Authors You Wouldn't Mind Having as Your Teacher

#62: The 5 Comfort Reads You Depend on For Difficult Days

#63: The 5 Reasons You Need More Than One Patronus

#64: The 5 Supernatural Creatures/Beings You Prefer Reading About

#65: The 5 Books You Read in 2016 That Were More Addictive Than Pumpkin Pie Spice-d Things

#66: The 5 Times You Found the Right Book at the Right Time (Or Did It Find You?)
#67: The 5 New-To-You Authors of 2016 You Wish You'd Read Sooner
#68: The 5 Characters You Won't Soon Forget That You Read About in 2016
#69: The 5 Books You're Excited to Read in 2017
#70: The 5 Vintage Sci-fi Books You Recommend (For Vintage Sci-fi Month!)
#71: The 5 Excuses for Buying New Books You Use on Yourself
#72: The 5 Books You Wouldn't Have Read If Not For Blogging
For the 9th of April: #73: The 5 Things That Keep You Book Blogging

A Countdown of

The 5 Books You Wouldn't Have Read If Not For Blogging

Since I've had a less than fun time healthwise lately, I decided to restart SFF on a new question. If I hadn't started blogging almost three years ago, there would be a huge gap in my favorite books category, as I've had plenty of blogger recommendations that ended up paying off for me. Since my memory of who recommended what isn't the best, I'll just be mentioning the books.

5. Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
While I had seen parts of the movie, I hadn't been sure I wanted to read the book. This one was a real mood lifter for me and a joy to read- it's perfect for those who like fantasy on the lighter end of things.

4.  Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1) by Ilona Andrews
I wasn't too impressed with urban fantasy until I came across Ilona Andrews' works, starting with Magic Bites. Ilona Andrews (a husband and wife writing team) are now amongst my favorite authors.

3. Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop
From the cover, I'd assumed I wouldn't like it- it looks more like a mystery than a character-centric fantasy, but Written in Red is one of my favorite books now. I'm actually considering a reread of it soon.

2. Thorn by Intisar Khanani 
Normally, I tend to stay away from Young Adult books- I had my fill back when I was a young adult, and most hadn't terribly impressed me. However, because this was self-published YA fantasy, and I tend to like self-pubbed books over traditionally published ones in static genres (historical romance, etc.), I made an exception and found a new author to stalk.

1. Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) by Robin Hobb
Even though this had a George R.R. Martin recommendation, I was wary about reading it given some of the reviews. However, when fellow book bloggers I trusted recommended it to me, I decided to give it a shot (and frankly didn't expect to like it even then). The last two books in this trilogy were some of my favorites of 2016.

Which books have you found through blogging?