My Reading Wishlist – Ten Things I Really Want to See More of in Books

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Things On Our Reading Wishlist  (things you want to see more of in books — tropes, a time period, a specific type of character, an issue tackled, a certain plot, etc. All those things that make you think I WANT MORE OF THIS IN BOOKS!). This was a tough topic for me because pretty much any book I read and enjoy, I want more just like it.  After giving it some thought though, I finally narrowed my reading wishlist down to these ten items.  

Ten Things I Really Want to see More of in Books

 

1. BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON FRIENDSHIP – I’m all about bromances and sisterhoods, so bring on the friendship novels!

2. STANDALONE BOOKS – I love a good series as much as the next person, but I have so many half-finished series sitting in my TBR right now that I’d love an influx of standalone novels so that it’s just one book and done.

3.  BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON FAMILIES AND WHAT THEY GO THROUGH – I’d love more of these stories because they’re almost always relatable and compelling.

4. BOOKS SET OUTSIDE THE U.S. – As much as I adore books set in my favorite city,  NYC, I also love books that take me to places I’ve never been to before so I’d love to see more books set outside the U.S. If I had to make a wishlist of specific countries I’d love to see more of in my books, I’d pick Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, India, and China.

5.  BOOKS THAT FEATURE MORALLY AMBIGUOUS MAIN CHARACTERS OR ANTI-HEROES –  Aren’t these just some of the most fascinating characters to follow through a story?

 6. LESS LOVE TRIANGLES – Enough said.

7. REALISTIC ROMANCES – I’d love to see more romances that mirror relationships you see in everyday life.

8. RETELLINGS THAT ARE BASED ON LESSER KNOWN FAIRYTALES AND FOLKLORE – One of the best books I’ve read in the last few months is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, which is based on Russian folklore. The folklore was totally new to me and it just made for such a unique and beautiful read. I’d love to read more books like this one.

9. BOOKS WITH BADASS FEMALE CHARACTERS WHO DON’T NEED TO BE SAVED OR ROMANCED – Actually how about badass female characters who save men in distress?

10.  BOOKS WHERE THE PROTAGONISTS ARE ARTISTS – I read several great books this past year where the main characters were either painters, writers, musicians, or actors and I just love that added layer of creativity that threads its way through the storyline.

* * * * *

Question:  What are some of your biggest reading wishlist items? Do we have any in common?

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46 replies
  1. Jamie
    Jamie says:

    Nora Roberts writes a lot of stuff set in Ireland. Several of her trilogies. Which, are super quick, fluffy, fun reads.
    I enjoy teen fiction also – but I am super over the idea that a teenager is going to save the world and also do it all for the love of some boy or girl. It is incredibly unrealistic.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Hey Jamie! I’m sitting here thinking and I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything by Nora Roberts. I’m going to have to check her out. 🙂

      • Lisa
        Lisa says:

        I was hesitant to read Nora Roberts at first but now one of my favourite trilogies is written by her.

        • Suzanne
          Suzanne says:

          Oh wow, two recs for Nora Roberts. My sister really likes her stuff too so I’m going to have to read something by her.

  3. verushka
    verushka says:

    Awesome list of countries at number 4! Not that I am biased or anything lol Number 3 and number 9 as well! I am definitely in need of more complicated famailies especially in YA and yeah. Why can’t a badass female character just be a badass female character?

  4. Cait @ Paper Fury
    Cait @ Paper Fury says:

    OMG THIS LIST. YES YES TO ALL OF IT. *flails wildly* I want to see WAY more friendship-based books for sure too…and also epic siblings?!? They are just the BEST and I’ll always pick up a book that’s about siblings. ❤️ Plus I’m all for books that aren’t US-centric. 😂 It bothers me that there’s like barely any fantasy set in Australia??! Whyyyyy. I need it!! 😂

  5. Lori
    Lori says:

    I love your list! More books with morally ambiguous characters would be amazing. Great choices!

  6. Angela
    Angela says:

    Definitely agree with more books on friendships and families – for some reason I gravitate more towards them over books about romances, maybe because I’ve read too many unrealistic romance books! So yes, there also needs to be more books about realistic romances (I’ve recently discovered Taylor Jenkins Reid, and the romantic relationships in her books are definitely something I can relate to).

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Someone else recently recommended Taylor Jenkins Reid to me. I’m going to have to check her out because I would definitely love to read about relationships that I can actually relate to.

  8. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads says:

    Yes, yes, yes! Bring on all the great friendship stories! And morally ambiguous characters and realistic romances! And I also totally relate to the series-overload – a few great standalones would be highly appreciated 🙂

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Right? I really do adore reading series but I always take forever to get through them. I actually counted recently and I have 10 or 11 books from different series sitting on my floor waiting to be read.

  11. Hamlette
    Hamlette says:

    We have several in common on our lists this week, especially #s 7 and 9. And many that are on your list could have been on my list too, but I did have to narrow it to ten 😮

    • Hamlette
      Hamlette says:

      Oh, and for retellings of lesser-known fairy tales, have you read “Sweet Remembrance” by Emily Ann Putzke? It’s a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl” set in a Jewish Ghetto in WWII. I love it a lot — been recommending it all over!

  12. Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog
    Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog says:

    I am all for books that focus on friendships, real relationships and more on families. I so much prefer stand alones and would love more of them as opposed to series – especially in YA. Great list!

  14. Greg
    Greg says:

    Families and friendships… definitely. Would love to see more of those. And outside the US as well- wish I would have used that one. I’d like to see more books set in Canada, Australia/NZ and China as well.

  18. Resh Susan
    Resh Susan says:

    I love books about writers and artists too. It is so fascinating. Yes, love triangles are pretty boring now. But we have so many of them, right?

  19. Brandy
    Brandy says:

    Great list! As a romance writer/reader, I especially like the idea of a kick-ass heroine who saves the hero. Hmm… I will have to add that to my writing idea file. Thanks for sharing!

  20. Jordan
    Jordan says:

    So much ‘yes’ to friendships! I also love some morally ambiguous characters, and I am dying for some more retellings of lesser known works! This is a fantastic list, I hope we actually do get to see more of all of these things. 🙂

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