Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and Bookish. Each week the bloggers at The Broke and The Bookish put out a topic, and discuss their top ten options for said topic. This week it’s all about the Top Ten books you nearly put down–but didn’t.

07-Ghost by Yuki Ameiya and Yukino Ichihara. Thousands of years ago, two powerful countries existed in a delicate balance of power. Each received a magical Eye to watch over it. Each thought they were invincible… until one fell. The destinies of both now depend on only one thing… a boy named Teito. I did actually put this down, but I’ve started back up with it, so I decided to put it on this list. I nearly put this manga down because I started reading it when it was first published in the states, and the publishing company it was originally licensed by folded– meaning I’d probably never get to read the rest of it. Viz picked up nearly a year later and it still took a very long time to get the volumes out so I was still hesitant to pick it up. I ended up lifting the volumes from a friend and I’m almost current.

The House of Night series by Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast. House of Night is a thrilling, New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy series. The books follow 16-year-old Zoey Redbird as she is “Marked” by a vampyre tracker and begins to undergo the “Change” into an actual vampyre. She has to leave her family in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and move into the House of Night, a boarding school for other fledgling vampyres like her. I started reading this out of sheer curiosity. This series was everywhere–and people were talking about it. So I picked up the first book and chugged my way through it, heartily eye-rolling every time I saw the word ‘vampyre”. And to be completely frank the only reason I’m still reading this series is I can’t look away from the train wreck.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern. The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance. I started this book a few times and walked away from it, and came back to it, and put it down— and I finally settled down and read through it. The narrative style was really hard for me to get into, but I’m glad I read it. I enjoyed the book overall.

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who’s passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she’s providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living – but she’s used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother Tolliver as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she’s become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it’s always urgent – even if the dead can wait forever. I really liked this series, but I almost put it down because of one aspect of the relationship between two of the characters. I’m glad I stuck with it, because I really enjoyed it.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill A classic ghost story: the chilling tale of a menacing specter haunting a small English town. Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford–a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway–to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow’s house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of mysterious sounds and images–a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child’s scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black. I’m a huge sissy when it comes to horror movies. I knew I wasn’t going to see the movie, but I wanted to read the book (for some reason print horror I can handle.) This book messed me up so badly, I almost put it down and went to volunteer to pet kittens. But I read it and didn’t sleep for a week.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. It took me a very long time to read this. I kept putting it off and picking up other books, despite it being on my TBR list for practically years.

Cal Leandros Books by Rob Thurman. Welcome to New York City – a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Most humans are oblivious to the preternatural nightlife around them, but Cal Leandros is only half human.

His father’s dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares – and his entire otherworldly elf race are after Cal. His half brother, Niko, gave up college to keep them on the run for four years, but now the Grendel monsters are back. And Cal is about to learn why they want him. He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal’s life… I nearly gave up on these because I felt that they were way too similar to Supernatural (the television show). But I’ve stuck with them, and while I’m really far behind on the series, they’re really enjoyable.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Orphaned, penniless, Jacob Jankowski jumps a freight train in the dark, and in that instant, transforms his future.

By morning, he’s landed a job with the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. By nightfall, he’s in love.

In an America made colourless by prohibition and the Depression, the circus is a refuge of sequins and sensuality. But behind the glamour lies a darker world, where both animals and men are dispensable. Where falling in love is the most dangerous act of all… Historical fiction really isn’t my thing, but my mom literally tossed this book at me and told me to read it. So I did, and it took a couple of tries to get through it. But I did, and ended up really loving it.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? I nearly put this down because of how slowly it moved in the beginning. I’m really glad I didn’t though, as it’s one of my favorite books.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list. I nearly gave this up when it came to Clay’s story. It made me so.angry, but I continued to read anyway.

That’s my Top Ten Tuesday post. Go ahead and link yours in the comments below.