"Top Ten Tuesdays" is a weekly countdown meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
This week, the theme revolves around what words or topics make us instantly want to reach out and grab a book (not necessarily BUY, but definitely make you want to read the first chapter). So, without further ado, here are ten literary topics that are sure to ensnare my attention!
1. The Great Depression / The Roaring 20s / Turn of the Century / WWII
I am nothing if not a history buff, and historical fiction is thus one of my favorite genres, with most of my favorite time periods falling between the 1890s and 1945. Except for, of course, when they feature...
(I'd recommend: Jillian Larkin's The Flappers series.)
2. Historical Royalty
Yes, I like princesses. Who doesn't? If a work - either of fiction or nonfiction - features someone like Catherine the Great or Marie Antoinette, the Romanovs or the Tudors, you can be sure I'll give it a cursory glance.
(I'd recommend: Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.)
3. Fairy tale Royalty
Let's just continue down the princess path while we're here, okay? I like fairy tales, too. Fractured, modern, re-telling, re-imagining... I don't care, sign me up!
(I'd recommend: Bridget Zinn's Poison! (Literally can't say enough about this book...))
4. Hollywood Royalty
Alright, now I'm just being obvious, but I'm still crazy about those books from my middle school, formative years, that featured young Beverly Hills starlets doing crazy things, whether it was try to blend in and go to school like a normal person, or juggle love interests on far-off movie sets. (I'll forever blame The Clique series as the gateway drug to this kind of fiction). Now, similarly in the vein of the young and wealthy...
(I'd recommend: Zoey Dean's The A List series.)
5. Boarding Schools
From Harry Potter to I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You, going to live in a far-away school and learn about the coolest stuff from the coolest people still sounds like the greatest idea, even though I'm now basically doing that in college. :)
(I'd recommend: E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.)
6. Tortall (by Tamora Pierce)
I'm qualifying this as an acceptable topic, because as soon as I see that a new Tamora Pierce Tortall-centric novel is headed towards the shelves, I buy it.
(I'd recommend: all of the Tortall books!!!)
7. Dragons
Shut up! I developed a serious addiction to Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern at a young age... now it's just transferred to the likes of Dany in Game of Thrones.
(I'd recommend: but really, if you haven't read Game of Thrones yet...)
8. Sci Fi "Masterpieces"
A couple of years ago, my Dad - after hearing about how much I enjoyed Ender's Game in my freshman English class, handed me what he called "the Trifecta" of science fiction: Nueromancer, Dune, and Foundation. Out of the three, I only fell in love with one, but I still have a solid appreciation for any sci fi epic.
(I'd recommend: any of the books listed above, which are all prolific in the genre for GOOD REASON.)
9. Books about Books
Or Librarians. Or Bookstores. Or Literature. I mean, I'd say something cute about how I just can't get enough of books, but I feel I'd be being obvious.
(I'd recommend: Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, because I obviously still belong in the 5th grade.)
10. Comedy Autobiographies
Not autobiographies marketed as funny (though it's okay if they are). I want the growing-up stories of the likes of Steve Martin, Chelsea Handler, and Mindy Kaling, which are often times humorous, yes, but more usually triumphant tales of overcoming obstacles. Nothing better than someone who can find comedy in adversity, especially when the adversity is their own life.
(I'd recommend: Steve Martin's Born Standing Up.)
Well, that's it for me! What are your Top Ten?
I have to agree with you with historical royalty. Fab list!
ReplyDeleteI've seen boarding school settings on lots of lists today and I totally agree! I find them fascinating, too :)
ReplyDeleteWhat Will Make Me Pick Up a Book
ReplyDelete1- Short Horror Stories: Quick scary, thrilling or laughable reads. Try the Stephen King collections.
2- Detective series: Began with Encyclopedia Brown, entered the Agatha Christie stage, moved on to Travis McGee and others. John D McDonald was the forefather so give Travis a chance.
3- Set in the Northwest: Still like Seattle settings, but the city has gotten a little full of itself. If set in Tacoma I will give it a read.
4- Energy Solutions: Maybe it is non-fiction, but it is still escapism to me cause I doubt I will ever build that solar powered, rain filtering, trash compacting solution. Still, read “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”.
5- Origami: Give me a model and I will fold it.
6- Trendy economic books: Call me a slave to the news cycle, but if everyone is freaking out about a flat world economy driven by a creative community, I will likely feel compelled to read it. Try Freakanomics and Collapse.
7- Books for kids: If there is a kid to read them to, I will want to read it. Mine are now too old, but I can babysit and someday I may have grandkids.
8- Near future science based Sci Fi: Michael Crichton is my go to author for this, with the Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park and Coma being three great ones.
9- Cyber Punk: William Gibson inspired from Burning Chrome through Mona Lisa Overdrive.
10- Detailed historic work written like a novel: Tom Wolfee did it with The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
Boarding schools topped my list. I just love them. Books about books (or bookstores or libraries) are almost always good and I love comedy autobiographies, too, especially on cd for my commute. Great list!
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT
I agree with boarding schools( most definitely), dragons, historical eras, and sci-fi! Ok, maybe about this whole list I agree with. Most any type of book I will pick up( except non-fiction). Amazing-sauce list! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of your choices and I had many of the same ones on my TTT. However, I've always been hesitant about dragons. But I've heard so many good things about Game of Thrones that I feel like I should give it a shot. I guess we will see...
ReplyDeleteCheck out my TTT here: http://bookblogzilla.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/top-ten-tuesday-2/
I'm surprised by how many people put boarding schools on their lists - my parents wanted to send me to a private (boarding) school when I was a kid and I fought tooth and nail because I'd heard the kids in private school were so incredibly mean (worse than public school) LOL! So I guess that's why I've never been that interested in books sets there - I think I still have fears! :-)
ReplyDelete