Ten Underrated Books That I’ve Read In The Past Year Or So

T op Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, it's all about underrated or hidden gems that we've read within the last year or so.

Some of these are pretty popular among book bloggers, but I am surprised how these books are not on the bestseller lists in India where I live.

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - It's one of my favorite books from last year, and I can't believe it's not super popular.

   It's about a magical circus open only at night, it offers a new take on magic and love, and it's beautifully written. Plus, the plot and characters pull you in and beg you to read the entire book in one sitting.

2. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare - I admit to loving all of Cassandra Clare's books, but this one is my particular favorite. These books get slammed by most reviewers, but I like the campy romances, the fantasy, and the quick wit and banter between all the characters.
3. The Ghost Runner by Parker Bilal - This is one of the books in the Makana PI series, and I love that this is a crime series set in modern-day Egypt. It's also pretty well-written, and I immediately wanted to get my hands on the other books in the series, only to find out that they are hardly stocked anywhere where I live, and nobody seems to have even heard of these books.
4. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz - Another crime thriller series that is under the radar and hardly ever features on book blogs. However, it's pretty popular with the general readership I think, as it seems going out of circulation in my local library. It's one of those instances where book blogger tastes and book reader tastes don't align.
5. The Sidney Chambers series by James Runcie - I loved these short stories, featuring Sidney Chambers a priest who loves to investigate mysteries. These are the perfect cozy mysteries to while away a winter evening.

6. Drood by Dan Simmons - This is another underrated gem of a book. Vast and sprawling, it tells the tale of the friendship between Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Highly recommend this book for fans of these two writers, and for anyone looking for a spooky retelling of their lives.
7. The Thousand Names by Django Wexler - This book was something of a novelty for me, as I don't read such military-oriented fantasy books, but I loved the Napoleonic references, and I am always a bit surprised that this book didn't make more waves than it did.
8. The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling - I saw plenty of reviews panning this book, but I loved this glimpse into small-town and small-minded England. Unbearably poignant.
9. Bucket List of a Traveloholic by Sarika Pandit - A light-hearted easy-reading travelogue that wasn't packaged attractively enough, or marketed well enough. It's perfect for armchair travelers, or people looking for inspiration for their next vacation.
10. The Mother-in-Law Cure by Farha Z.Hasan - I was utterly charmed by this dark Cinderella-style fantasy story. It was the perfect read, and always I am surprised that nobody seems to know about this book but me. It feels like a very pleasurable secret though to know and love a book that nobody seems to have heard about.

So this is my list of top underrated books I read in the last couple of years. Which books did you read recently that you think were quite underrated?