Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated Books According to My Family

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

1. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (My pick) - Every opportunity I have, I plug this book because I don't think it gets nearly enough attention.  I absolutely love this book and cannot say enough good about it.  There's mystery and scheming and

2. Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (Mom's pick) - My mom loved the character's story in this book.  The family makes handmade leather wedding shoes and one of the granddaughters takes a real interest in their work.  It's a coming of age story that's centered around a young mid-20s, early 30s woman.

3. Thieves Like Us by Stephan Cole (Hunter's pick) - Hunter really enjoys it because of the main character and the plot is enticing.  It's about a group of teenagers that are hired to steal.

4.  Out of Darkness by Keith Terry (Rachel's pick) -  The premise of the book fascinated Rachel and for good reason. It's about a guy who is hired to study The Book of Mormon and assess it's authenticity.  It hearing her talk about this book makes me want to read it.

5. The Spenser Series by Robert B. Parker (Dad's pick) - This is one of my dad's favorite series and even though there was a television series based on these books in the 80's.  There are significant human psyche revelations that you wouldn't expect a detective series to incorporate.

6.  Glaciers by Alexis Smith (Leigh's pick) -  It's a very well written book on the shorter side but incredibly beautiful and poignant.  A character driven book about a couple days in the life of a girl who lives in Portland.

7. The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie by Jacyln Moriarty (Gabby's pick) -  This book is folded into three other books in a set of companion novels.  That's one of the reasons that Gabby likes it.  The series should definitely get more attention that it does.

8.  Jumper by Steven Gould (Lauren's pick) - Even though there is a movie based on this book, Lauren still thinks that it's completely underrated.  The movie is far from doing the book justice and most people don't even realize it's based off of a book.  But she loves it and swears that it is one of the best books she's read.

9.  Guitar Notes by Mary Amato (Also my pick) - I read this book a couple years ago and really enjoyed it, but I haven't heard much about it elsewhere.  I think people who love a good story that involves music would really enjoy this book.

10. Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes (Gramma's pick) - It's a wonderful book.  It was turned into a long running television show in the 40s and 50s and was also a movie.  Even though it got some time in the spotlight, Gramma thinks it should have had more.