The Last Ten Books That Gave Me A Book Hangover

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week, she posts an idea relating to books and encourages other book bloggers to respond with their own top ten lists.

This week’s topic is “the last ten books that gave me a book hangover.” I don’t know if I’ve ever had a proper book hangover, but here are 10 books that I immediately wanted to re-read after finishing.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
After finishing The Night Circus, I first went and told all of my friends that they must give it a read. Then I went and read it all over again because I wasn’t ready to leave Le Cirque des Rêves behind.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
There’s just something about Erin Morgenstern’s writing that is intoxicating – it’s so beautiful that it demands to be reread over and over. I read The Starless Sea slowly, trying to savour all of its vivid details, and started reading it immediately after finishing so that I could catch any details I had previously missed.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
I love books with morally ambiguous characters, and Vicious has that in spades. I kept thinking about the story days after I had read it, and didn’t pick up another book until I had fully sorted out all of my (overwhelmingly positive) thoughts about it.

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
This was so atmospheric and wonderfully creepy, firmly solidifying The Diviners as one of my all-time favourite series. It has set the bar for both 1920s-era and ghost books so high that I have yet to properly read any others outside of this series.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
The friendship between Blue and her boys reduced me to tears at so many points during this book that it took a lot of emotional effort to even consider picking up another book.

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
I don’t tend to read self-help books, but this was one that I had to pick up given how deeply social media permeates every area of my life (the struggles of being a social media marketer!). I took some time after finishing to really digest its advice and establish healthier boundaries with social media.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells
This was such a powerful and heartbreaking story that stuck with me for weeks after I had finished it.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
This was such a charming and imaginative fairytale retelling that made me want to pick up as many middle-grade titles as possible after I had finished.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
As someone who has worked for startup companies and founded two myself, I’m obsessed with reading about the failures of Silicon Valley and the ways in which startups skirt regulations. I had been following Theranos for years before its takedown, and after reading Bad Blood, I immediately went to watch all of the documentaries about it.

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
I read this series when I was younger and liked it well enough, but didn’t remember too much beyond the armoured bears and witches. I recently re-read it as an adult, and loved it – even despite all of the heavy-handed criticisms of religion that I definitely did not pick up on as a child.

Which books gave you a book hangover? Have you read any of the ones on my list? Let me know in the comments below.