What wonderful about readers is that we all have different tastes. I mean, the world would be pretty boring if we all liked the same stuff, right? Personally, I like getting recommendations from other people, whether we have the same taste or not. Especially because sometimes those “out of place” recommendations tend to end up being my favorites because I took a chance outside of what I normally read.

One thing I have noticed about the books I end up liking sometimes aren’t “mainstream” books. These are books that sort of flew under the radar over the years, even if they were by well known authors. Sometimes they have high ratings, but just aren’t seen or heard of on bookish social media (maybe once in a while) and other times the books are rated a little bit lower than I would have imagined because I personally enjoyed the book. But again, that’s where our bookish tastes come in.

The books I’m listing here you might have heard of before since they have well-known authors, however they’re not quite as popular. So these are the books I feel need some more attention brought to them. There are a lot more that I could put on this list, but I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Hacking Harvard – Robin Wasserman

I thought this book was clever! The premise is very interesting and I have enjoyed this story more than once. What really gets me though is the narration. It’s such a fun twist to the story that I can’t help but geek out over every time I read this book!

Top 8 – Katie Finn

The first time I read this book was when it came out when I was in high school – the days of the Razr phones. This is a great, clean whodunit mystery novel (that has two follow up novels) where the main character’s social media profile gets hacked while she’s on vacation and ruins nearly every friendship/relationship with her peers.

Send – Patty Blount

Always one for tough subjects, this novel by Ms. Blount was my first one I read by her, and my favorite. A teen spent 5 years in juvie and when he comes out he moves with his family, complete with a new name. But after getting into a fight his first day of senior year, he might ruin everything he’s worked to regain and wonders if he’ll ever escape what he’d done in the past.

Attachments – Rainbow Rowell

Rowell is obviously a well-known author, and her YA books are loved by (mostly) everyone (sorry, I’m not a fan of Eleanor and Park, but that’s for another post). Attachments was the second book I had read of hers, and I loved it even more than Fangirl, to be completely honest. I just feel like this book gets overshadowed by her other works, so I’m here to give it some love!

Private series – Kate Brian

I know there are quite a few bookstagrammers that have read this series before, as we’ve geeked out about it on Instagram. Still, I feel like the series never got the love it deserved when the books were being released. They’re such good mystery reads with fantastic characters that you’ll love and love to hate! Yes, it’s a 14-book series (with two prequels) but it doesn’t feel like it at all while reading them!

The Silence of Six – E.C. Myers

This book must have just been ahead of its time because even I never thought to pick it up when it first came out in 2014. It wasn’t until I saw it in the clearance box at Barnes & Noble that I really checked what the book was about and decided to get it (it was only $5). It was one of the best book purchases I’ve ever made. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed every part of it! The sequel is good as well, but the first book is definitely the best.

The Eye of Minds – James Dashner

Another series that was ousted by a more popular one by its author. While everyone loves The Maze Runner series, I’m here loving the Mortality Doctrine series, which begins with The Eye of Minds. This video-game, sci-fi series had me hooked and so involved with the characters that there was one point where something happened and I actually threw the book (the last one) because I was upset, despite knowing it was coming. If you’ve read Dashner’s other books, but not this one, then what are you waiting for?

So while you have probably seen or heard of some of these books, I just felt like they needed extra love. They’re books that I think don’t get as much attention as they deserve because these are really great books! I can geek out over them all day long.

Have you read any of these books? What are some books you think don’t get the attention they deserve?