Madeline
From what from what I have noticed, the highest Goodreads rating does not mean I will like it. I took a look at the list I keep in Goodreads of the books I have read and sorted it by the highest rated books. And I surprisingly agree with with the list. Some of my favorite books appear on this list. And as a precursor to what’s to come, everybody loves an underdog.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
I was a bit surprised that The Nightingale had the highest Goodreads rating of all the books I have read. Don’t get me wrong, I love this book and I’m very glad to see others did too. I even wrote a blog post about how I need more Kristin Hannah in my life. My findings on Goodreads tends to be that people want to look more cerebral than they are, and it’s the dry and smart books that tend to get high ratings. Not absolute fantastic pieces of Historical Fiction. I’m happy to see my favorite book is also a popular book with others.
Becoming By Michelle Obama
It is not surprising to me that Becoming has one of the highest Goodreads rating. My sentiment about the book is a bit mixed. Unlike most books, there was not much of an arch. That being Said, Michelle Obama is a very likable women. Her rags to riches story is inspiring and her passion for attacking childhood obesity provides more inspiration. It’s a feel good story from a feel good kind of women.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Literally speaking, this was not necessarily my favorite book. But as a way to get a message across through fiction, this book deserves ten out of five stars. I will never pretend I know what it’s like to be a young African American in this country, but this book helped explain it to me in a way I never previously understood.
I also applaud how tangible this book is. There is no need to have a PhD to understand what is going on and why. This book explains it’s message in pure English.
Nevermoor: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
I love the Nevermoor series more and more every time I see it anywhere. No way did I think this book would be higher rated than Harry Potter, but when looking at the highest Goodreads rating, I noticed that this series was higher than the Harry Potter series and I am 100% on board. I am not against Harry Potter, in fact read what I have to say below. But I am always rooting for the underdog. Especially when the underdog is such a great book series such as the Nevermoor series!
Where The Crawdads Sing by Dilea Owens
Speaking of underdogs, Where The Crawdads Sing is all about the underdog. It is about a girl who grew up in the worst of circumstances. Okay, take that circumstance and make it worse. She goes through a lot of shit including some shitty love stories. The story takes your heart up and then slams it down. Then brings it even harder just to throw it down and crush it under the heel of a steel toed boot.
Where The Crawdads Sing was one of those one of a kind books. The story was great. The writing was great. And it was all around great. And that is why Where The Crawdads Sing has one of the highest Goodreads ratings.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
You can’t have themed weddings, tattoos, theme parks, a series of movies, and much more about a book without also being one of the highest Goodreads ratings books. The imagination that Rowling brought to the forefront with this book is incredible. The traveling, the creatures, the culture, the magic, it was all so imaginative. I honestly don’t think I can add much more about this book than the real fans can; however, I can say, J.K. Rowling, you did good!
Educated by Tara Westover
Half way through reading Educated, I thought to myself, people actually live like this? The story is a memoir of the author’s upbringing. She grew up in a conservative and religious house that did not believe or trust the outside world. There was no medicine, no modern technology, and most of all no education. Westover was able to overcome her family’s rejection of education, self teaching herself enough to gain entrance into college where she could escape her current upbringing and later into graduate school and into winning multiple literary awards. The highest Goodreads ratings comes from this underdog uprising into success.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Help was made popular by the movie with Emma Stone, or at least that is how this book got on my radar. Like many other books on this list, it is more than a work for fiction but it also serves a purpose for improving the future by taking about issues in our culture, specifically our historical culture in this case. It illustrates how things were and the necessary change in our culture and history. It’s no wonder a well drawn image of racism in the south in the 1960s was placed with one of the highest Goodreads ratings.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Just like Harry Potter, A Game of Thrones was a huge success gaining a massive following. It’s no surprise it is on this list; however, I have to ask, which came first, the cart of the horse? Just like the rest of America, I loved the television series. That being said, the book was much more difficult to get through. Did people rate this book high because they wanted to look to people as though they were smart or did that many people enjoy it? Or perhaps, the very likely option, I’m just not as strong of a reader as many others on Goodreads.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
Perhaps it’s the historical fiction aspect, but Roots is still very relevant to today. Similar to many other books on this list, it addresses race issues in America throughout history especially focusing on slavery.
The picture this book paints is not what I had in my mind. The whole scene where the main character is being shipped like livestock is disgusting. No, worse than livestock. I think my mouth dried out from my jaw dropping amazement of disgust. The imagery alone gives this book a good reason to have one of the highest Goodreads ratings, but add the nature of the book and it skyrockets to the top.
