Top Ten Tuesday (74)

Top Ten Words/Topics That Make Me Pick Up a Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday’s on their site!

Friends, I had no trouble AT ALL coming up with this list. Sometimes, I have to confess, this is not the case. Sometimes I really struggle to think of 10 things, and even though I know ten is just a guideline, I always feel like something isn’t right with my list if I can’t think of the MINIMUM number of items for it. So when we have a topic like this one–my 10 auto-read topics or phrases–where I can BARELY contain myself, I get REALLY excited. If you’re ever thinking of getting me a bookish gift and don’t know where to start, consult this list and you’ll be golden.

Scotland

BOOM. First thing I put on this list. If it’s set in Scotland, had Scottish people in it, has anything VAGUELY Scottish about it, I’m instantly interested. Bonus points for Scottish gingers. SO MANY BONUS POINTS.

Maine

I’ve never even been to Maine, friends, but it very much seems like a place that is my speed. When I think of beaches that attract me, I rarely think of tropical places. I think of the rockier beaches and the pine trees that make up my mental picture of Maine. Also, the preppy people–I don’t know, guys. I guess I have a thing for boat shoes (but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO MADRAS OR CRITTER PANTS).

Witches

LOVE me some spell-workers! Pretty much any kind, although if we’re talking historical witches–like, historical paranormals–DUUUUDE. THAT is my cup of tea. Something about the long-past setting makes the magic seem creepier and more organic to me.

Military

Goodness gracious, I love me some men in uniform! Although, to be honest, I’d LOVE to read a book about WOMEN in uniform. Where’s that at? But I am endlessly drawn to books with any kind of military angle: veterans, active duty, siblings in the military, someone who died while serving, stories at the front, ANYTHING. It all really appeals to me.

Beaches

Ahhh, give me a good summer read that takes place in a quiet beach town with salty locals, boys with tans, bonfires in the sand, and some swooning and I am a very happy girl. I CRAVE these books, especially once the weather gets warmer.

New Jersey

If I see or hear of a book that takes place in New Jersey, or an author who’s FROM New Jersey, I instantly feel a thread tying me to it (or them). I love being able to have some hometown pride when I read, or even better, recognize places in books as locations I’ve visited or know (this happens ALL OVER THE PLACE in Kieran Scott’s He’s So/She’s So series). It makes me feel connected to the story in a way that other books do not.

Baking

Or, to be honest, any kind of food at all. But I’ll always drift towards a book that has anything to do with dessert. I love baking, and I love reading a book that gets my baking juices flowing.

Weather

This is almost totally thanks to Twister, a movie that I still watch constantly while recalling when my friends and I saw it for the first time and HONESTLY, seriously planned to become stormchasers. The power of nature is a drug to me, guys. A DRUG. I’ll never turn it down.

Rebellion

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the secret, sneaky, dangerous vibe when there’s a revolution going on. Give me an underground, some disgruntled group of people, some GRIEVANCES that cannot be borne, and it’s basically ON.

Road Trip

YAY! Road trips are the best, amirite? Never been on one myself that would be anything like what I imagine when I hear the words “road trip,” but I’m going on one this summer with my sister and I’m STOKED. The instant I hear the words “road trip,” my ears prick up. I will always read road trip books. The potential for adventure on the open road is just the best feeling.

Pioneers

Also cowboys, but HOLLA, PIONEERS! Two things are responsible for my insta-read feelings towards pioneers: the Little House on the Prairie series and THIS COMPUTER GAME. I love it, even when I die of dysentery and my kids are bitten by snakes and we run out of food. I think of pioneers are pretty idealistic, ballsy folks. Gamblers. I’m only one of those three things, friends, so I’m always amazed by people who would leave everything they knew and travel to the unknown just to start new and hopefully better.

Colonial America

My favorite historical time period, no contest. None. You tell me about a historical fiction book that takes place any time leading up to the American Revolution, during it, or after it into the early 19th century and I am going to start drooling. More YAs in this time period, por favor!

Characters or Authors Who Share My Name

I know, I know. This is pretty self-important. But I feel this really weird pride when I see a book written by someone who shares my name, or when I read about a character who shares my name. I don’t know about you guys, but I truly only knew one other Amy when I was growing up, so it’s not this super-common name that I would be sick of hearing, so if I’m wandering a bookstore and an “Amy” pops out at me, I’m definitely picking it up to see what’s what.