Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book
Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read a Book. This was a pretty easy topic for me this week because there are some key things that if I read them in a book’s blurb, that book is totally going on my TBR no matter what. I’m definitely a sucker for certain settings and for certain time periods, but there are also certain topics that are guaranteed to attract my interest. And if more than one of these can be found in the same book, hold me back because that baby is going straight to the top of my TBR pile!
Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book
BOOKS THAT ARE SET IN MY FAVORITE CITIES & COUNTRIES
My favorite places in the world are New York City, Paris, and Italy. These settings are pure magic for me, each in their own way, so I’m drawn like a moth to a flame to pretty much any books set in these locations. Doesn’t matter if they’re contemporary stories or historical fiction, it’s all about location, location, location for me.
1. NEW YORK CITY
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2. PARIS, FRANCE
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3. ITALY
BOOKS THAT ARE SET IN CERTAIN TIME PERIODS
Another huge draw for me are books that fall within certain time periods. If a book is set during World War II, I’m definitely going to read it and same goes for books set during the Jazz Age and during the 1960’s. As you can imagine, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale became a must-read for me as soon as I heard that it was set in Paris during World War II.
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4. THE 1920’S
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5. WORLD WAR II ERA
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6. THE 1960’S
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BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON CERTAIN TOPICS
7. FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS
Fairytale retellings are a fairly new interest for me, but I have to say that they have become quite an obsession because they’re always such fun and creative reads. I love the idea of putting a unique spin on a familiar tale.
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8. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Some of my favorite books are those that deal with families and their day-to-day lives. I love books that explore the parent-child bond, sibling rivalries – basically, you name it, I’m interested if it relates to family.
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9. MENTAL ILLNESS
When I was in college, I double major in English Lit and Psychology, so I think books that explore mental illness appeal to that part of my personality. I like that there are more and more books that focus on mental illness, seeking to educate people on a more personal level that is so much more accessible than a dry psychology textbook could ever hope to be.
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10. INTROVERTS
As an introvert, it’s a guarantee that I will read ANY book that has a main character who is considered an introvert. Those are the literary characters that I relate to most in the world so there’s no way I’m passing up a book where I know the character will be totally relatable.
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Love, love, love how you broke this down!! Agree with all your settings for sure. WWII books and family relationships are books I love and gravitate to as well. Great list!!
Thanks! Yes, I’m such a sucker for books about family relationships and really even just friends who are so close they seem like family.
I completely agree with you on every setting. I love all your favorite places and times. Interesting.
Thanks!
Your list is fantastic! I absolutely love books set in NYC! I read a lot of books about mental illness too. Great list!
Thanks! Right? NYC is such a diverse city that it seems like there are endless story ideas that can be set there.
I love this list Suzanne — especially your choices of countries! Paris, France is on the top of mine, definitely! lol
Thanks! Isn’t Paris the best? Just thinking about it makes me want to find more books to read that are set there.
Setting is definitely a huge draw for me too. And I’m also interested in mental illness, but usually in a less modern way.
http://mwgerard.com/top-ten-tuesday-things-that-make-me-want-to-read-a-book/
I’m such a sucker for a great setting. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I love reading books about mental illness. I’m in my 1st year of university studying psychology so that might explain it, but I just love learning about people lives who live with mental illness and such! Great picks!
It fascinates me too so maybe it is a psych major thing. For me, there’s just something about reading a more personalized account that makes it hit home that much harder how these illnesses impact people. I never got that same level of depth from textbooks or case studies.
Oh yes, I am definitely a fan of the introverts and mental illness books. I can’t help but grab them as soon as I see that in the synopsis. I’m pretty addicted to fairytale retellings too. There are so many of them out there but I can’t get enough! Great list
I love the fairytale retellings so much. They are my newest addiction and, like you, I seriously cannot get enough of them.
I agree with so many of these! I love Paris as a setting, and I will read practically anything set during WWII. The 20s is a fun era, too! I absolutely love stories about families, as well.
I’m definitely the same way with the WWII books. My son is doing an independent study on D-Day right now and I even keep grabbing the books he’s using for research because that time period interests me so much.
I definitely agree that certain settings or time periods also make me immediately interested in picking up a book! I love Italy especially 🙂 And of course, I can’t say no to retellings, books about mental illnesses or books with introvert main characters either!
I love Italy so much. I would love to live there someday, so books are definitely my way of “traveling” there in the meantime. 🙂
NYC and PAris always get my attention too. And Italy, for that matter! They’re such great settings. I like reading a book set in Europe anyway. I agree w/ you about the mental illness (I want to read that book) and introverts too- Fangirl was awesome. Need more books like it. 🙂
We definitely need more books like Fangirl!
Great list! I agree with so many of these! Especially the 20’s, WWII and introverts.
Thanks!
Great list! I actually live very near and work in NYC, so I’ve never *quite* gotten the magic of it, but I do love hearing other people talk about my home! I also love Paris and wish I could read more books that take place there. I also love fairytale retellings, so I’m glad they’re getting really popular. (:
Thanks! I think my fascination with NYC is because I grew up in a tiny town surrounded by the same people every day and where all forms of entertainment, culture, etc. were about an hour’s drive away. I love that everything is basically at your fingertips and that it’s so easy to meet people from all over the world there.
I desperately want to read more books set in the 1920’S. One of my favorite authors was supposed to write a book set in that time but I don’t think she’s working on it anymore. 🙁
There aren’t nearly enough books set in that time period for my liking. I’d love to see a lot more.
I love how you’ve organized this list! I completely agree with books set in the 1920’s- it was such a fascinating time with so many things going on. I also love fairy tale retellings, and I never noticed how many books set in Italy I’ve read until I just now thought about it! LOve your picks!
Thanks! Glad to see someone else loves books set in the 20’s. Thought I might be alone in that so yay!
Books set outside the US, we need more of those!
Definitely!
I agree with a lot of these! I really like books set in certain cities/countries – like England and France! I also really like WWII era reads.
I love to read books set in England as well, especially those set in London.
I like how you categorised them. It made me realise that when I see a book from a fav era or set in a fav city, I have more tendency of picking it up. I don’t have any favourites in time periods though. But the English countryside always makes me want to read the book.
Thanks! I love the English countryside as well. Such a beautiful setting.
What a gorgeous post, I love how you organized it. I also totally agree with nearly all of them (and your examples!), especially 6-10.
Here’s my TTT: https://www.whatshesread.com/single-post/2017/04/18/Top-10-Tuesday-Things-That-Make-A-Book-Irresistible
Thanks Ashley!
I love how you’ve organized this post! It’s always interesting reading books set in certain countries (France and Italy are definitely two of my favorites as well). Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3
Thanks and yes, I’ll read pretty much anything in any genre that is set in Italy or in Paris.
We have a favorite city in common! I actually wrote in my own TTT list this week about my love for books set in NYC! a favorite of mine that I read recently was Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. love love LOVE that book!
Oh wonderful! Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk is on my TBR so I’m thrilled to hear that you loved it.
Love your list! The only two I’ve read on here are ACOTAR and Fangirl, and I loved them both! I definitely agree with you on some of these. Family relationships and mental illnesses are draws fro me as well!
Thanks! Yes, I love the family relationship books so much. They’re almost always so relatable. I just finished reading The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green and it’s such a wonderful explorations of a mother’s relationship with her 3 daughters and their relationships with one another.