Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book

By: Cait Marie

Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in 2018. This week’s prompt is about book turn-offs, and I couldn’t think of many, so I’m going to use last week’s prompt instead to talk about things that immediately make me want to read a book.

1. A pretty cover
   • They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I definitely do. Always. There have been many books I’ve bought and/or read based solely on the cover.
2. Written by an auto-buy author
   • If it’s an author I already love, I’m all in. I’m fully committed to reading their new releases and entire backlist.
3. Enemies-to-lovers trope
   • The tension is always the best. That’s it.
4. Brother’s best friend trope
   • The forbidden element mixed with usually a fierce protectiveness is honestly just… perfection. This should probably be higher on the list.
5. Grumpy x sunshine trope
   • Nothing makes me happier than seeing a grumpy character slowly let in the bubbly, sunshine character when they push away everyone else.
6. Physical disability rep
   • To be clear, I don’t want the book to be about the disability. I just want it to be a part of the character’s life. As someone who’s been in a wheelchair my whole life, this is an important one. It’s rare to read books with characters who have similar physical disabilities. In the few I have read, too often it’s the main focus, as opposed to just another piece of who they are.
7. “Touch her and die” vibes
   • Again with the protectiveness. I love it. (But not in a controlling way. There’s a fine line.)
8. Reverse gender trope expectations
   • For example, if the last one was switched to, “touch him and die.” Anything where you’d typically expect gender stereotypes and it’s flipped, such as having a fierce, badass woman and a cinnamon roll man, where she’s the protective one.
9. Found family trope
   • This should probably be higher on the list. I love when a book or series is really well developed, especially where the side characters are concerned. Having strong friendships in a story really makes all the difference to me.
10. Upper YA or NA fantasy
    • In general, if it’s in this genre, odds are I’ll at least add it to my mental or Goodreads TBR. If it’s this genre and fits any of the above… absolutely.

What are some reasons you’ll immediately want to read a book? Do you have any recommendations for me based on these? Let me know in the comments!