Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is 10 things that will make me instantly want to read a book.  While there are bunches of different things that will make me want to read a book I'm sticking with plot points for this list.  These are the 10 things that if I see mentioned about a book can pretty much guarantee it's going to end up on my TBR.

1.  Setting - This book takes place in Ireland you say?  A town I'm familiar with or want to go to?  A setting that grabs my attention will have me pressing that 1 click button faster than just about anything else.

2.  A catastrophe that pushes the main character into a situation where they have to figure out what they really want to do - Lose your job?  Someone dies and you have to go take care of their house?  Long time boyfriend breaks up with you by text?  I'm so on board with this!  I love when a character has to take a break from their regular life for whatever reason (except for death of a child - not a fan of that one) and it forces them to realize what they really want.

3.  Restoring an old house - Anything involving restoring an old house is basically going to be on my TBR.  Something about all the old house talk makes me giddy and I don't care if the characters are solving a murder, falling in love with their contractor, making peace with their relationship with their mother, or anything else.

4.  Solving an old mystery - While restoring the old house did you find a packet of letters?  A journal?  A matchbook with a phone number?  A photograph?  Anything that makes you want to find the real story or a person involved?  I am along for the ride!

5.  A ghost - I can't resist a ghost story!  Basically if you take a haunted old house in Ireland that the main character has inherited after a losing their job and then they find a packet of old letters it's pretty much going to be my book of the year.

6. A journey style memoir - A trip around the world?  Going to cooking school?  Tackling a project - any project?  I can't resist a memoir with a set start and end goal and they're frequently some of my favorite reads.

7.  An ensemble cast - I love an ensemble cast in any kind of book.  Anytime a group of people band together to accomplish anything I very rarely can resist.  These can be a little hit or miss as often an ensemble cast has different POVs and while those can be amazing in the right hands they can also be pretty awful if done incorrectly.

8.  Books about books or with bookish characters - This includes fiction or nonfiction but if books play an important role I'll be picking that book up.  I love books where the characters are readers.  It adds an extra element of kinship.

9.  A Grandmother/Grandchild relationship - it may be because my own relationship with my grandmother is very special that I'm always drawn to books where that relationship is so important.

10. A Treasure Hunt - I love a good treasure hunt or puzzle type story!  This is something that spans so many genres - mystery, middle grade, science fiction - just about anything you can think of and I love them all!  If the plot sounds like the main characters are going to be spending their time racing around solving riddles for a greater goal you can count me in!.

What makes you instantly want to read a book?

22 comments:

  1. Great list!! Certain settings definitely get me and I love books about books and bookish characters!

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  2. I enjoy journey-style memoirs, too, and of course books about books!

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  3. I'm with you on "restoring an old house" and "a ghost." And it's even better when they are combined! Restoring an old house that also has a resident ghost. Yes please! I also love in romances where the hero rescues the heroine. I'm such a sucker for that kind of thing.

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  4. Settings and catastrophes/ life changes, definitely! And a good mystery never hurts. :) Same with a treasure hunt. And books about readers or bookstores in the story usually get my attention too!

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  5. Definitely love books about books!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/top-ten-tuesday-103/

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  6. Super list! #8 especially--but all are good.

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  7. What a great list! Quite a few of those would be on mine too.

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  8. Awesome list! We've definitely got similar taste in books. I love it!

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  9. I agree with you on the setting, solving a mystery and a ghost. I come across books with those themes and I am one happy buyer.

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  10. Oh, these are great choices! Setting can pull me into reading a book, and I'm drawn to treasure hunts, books about books/libraries/bookstores/bookish characters, and old mysteries too.

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  11. Great list! I love a good ghost story and treasure hunts are always fun.

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  12. I enjoyed your answers, very unique and interesting.

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  13. Ohh I love a good ensemble cast book!

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  14. A character who learns and grows, who makes mistakes and a touch of humour draw me in and may make for a good read. I like a book that educates me, be it about country, place, profession. Wrap it up in a mystery without swearing or blood and gore and voila - I have found my book species. :)

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  15. I definitely want to read more grandparent centric books! This is a great list!

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  16. I LOVE a good ghost story, the scarier the better. I still haven't found a really good one but I am still looking. :)

    Great list!

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  17. Great list! I love Ireland as a setting as well :)

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  18. This is another great list, Katherine. A ghost is bound to draw me in as well. And solving old murders. I'm reading one with an old murder right now. :-) Thanks for sharing, Katherine!

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  19. I LOVE 3 and 4! They are two of my favorites. I'd say setting is also a big one for me sometimes.

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  20. Restoring an old house, ghosts, and book related stories are some of my favorites, too. I love grandmother/granddaughter stories, but I don't know if it is because of my grandmother, or because I have been having a grandparent itch. Ha ha. Thanks for sharing your list. :)

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  21. Bookish characters, treasure hunts and renovations. My favorites :D

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