Top Ten Tuesday Freebie: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book

Hello loves! Another Tuesday is upon us, and this time it comes with a freedom to choose a topic, oh my! I’ve missed tons of great topics while I was gone, so I spent some wild minutes browsing Jana’s list and found this one – Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book. Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl, and every Tuesday there is a different themed post of top 10 things.

1. The Cover.

I am a girl crow. I like shiny things. Do not judge me. For real, I’ve been burned many times, but I can’t resist a nice cover. It’s not just that I like to collect pretty things (Oh but I do), but if a cover is well done, it can also mean that a lot of effort was put into the book’s marketing, which can further mean that a. The author is rich and likes shiny stuff, or b. The book is actually really good. Is this what they call logic? I agree.

2. Magic.

Give me all the magic!!! I am obviously compensating for the fact we don’t have magic IRL. Like, how do we even live without it? Answer: books. Books with magic is a bonus. Magic schools, academies, libraries, dragons, cats, monsters, hats, I don’t care, I’ll read it. I’ve had some nasty comments regarding my reading preferences, such as “You should read something smart.” or “Ground yourself in reality, fantasy is for kids.” And this is why I love books more than people.

3. Folk tales and myths.

When I was a kid, I was a closeted Indiana Jones, reading encyclopedias about myths and legends, dreaming of becoming an archaeologist and, well, watching marathons of Indy Jones. I never became an archaeologist but I’ve upgraded from encyclopedias to fiction enriched with lore, and let me tell you – it’s beautiful.

4. Murder.

Ahem. I am a true crime junkie and I won’t apologize. I love a good murder mystery, the more complicated the better. Also, true crime novels are my most recent obsession, until now I was just a simple PI, digging stuff online wherever I can and piecing evidence in my head (Also avidly playing Cluedo and Nancy Drew gives great PI skills.). I should mention I don’t really like gore. I prefer a solid mystery, a psychological view into a serial killer’s work (>__>), and novels revolving around a missing person.

5. Retellings and mashups.

Besides myths and legends, the trifecta of my childhood is completed by fairy tales. I could tell you all how obsessed I am with those, but it would take a whole essay. Now, since fairy tales are a thing of old days and I’ve probable read them all twice, the thing that interests me in my olden days is retelling, especially dark ones. I also adore mashups of my favorite things, like fairy tale characters, or ancient gods or famous monsters, like in the last book I reviewed.

6. An author I know and love.

If I bough apples from you and they were damn fine apples, next times I crave apples I’ll come to you. Logic?? Of course, a writer can have his bad or drug days (Looking at you, Mr. King), but if he established a certain tone of writing and I love that tone, I’ll read his next book even if he writes it while on LSD.

7. Witches.

A novel has a witch = I buy the book. Simple. I’ve wrote about witches before, here, but if you’re too lazy to read it I’ll just sum it up in 5 words – magical woman need no man. Give the woman a power, take cover and hide. Seriously now, I could never relate to any of the superheroes, maybe because I was a quiet and shy kid, so I found my heroines elsewhere. I also had a black cat called Emily.

8. Haunted houses.

I’ve explained this in my previous TTT entry, but again, for the lazy ones – I love the horror of something familiar turning against humans. I’ll add that I’m also fascinated by ghosts and that I very much believe in some form of energy that remains trapped in this realm after we die. Combine ghosts and a haunted house and the result is – I will give you my money.

9. Fairies.

Again, I went over this topic several times, but fairies are almost an auto-buy for me. I don’t believe in Fae, but if I’d grown in rural Ireland, today I would be Arthur Conan Doyle incarnated. True fairies are beautiful and mischievous and evil and I adore them. If you do too, I recommend this cool anthology, and this one too. And of course, my most beloved Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

 

10. Quirkiness.

How do I even explain this in human language? Keywords: Fantastical. Crazy. Weird. Obscene. Macabre. Edward Gorey. Lewis Carroll. Catherynne M. Valente. Terry Pratchett. Unique. Mad. Funny. A romp.

 

Nope list:

-Zombies

-Too-much-technology- and-or-aliens-sci-fi

-Politics

-Religion

-Romance

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What makes you guys instantly buy a book? Same things as on my list or something else? Do you also judge a book by its shiny, gilded cover? Do you hoard? I hoard pretty things. Like a crow.