This week's theme is...
Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book
Unique Magic Systems
I'm always on the lookout for a good, UNIQUE idea for the magic systems in the fantasies I read. I want to be WOWed with concepts for magic I have never heard before.
Examples: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, White Cat by Holly Black, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Assassins
Examples: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Foreign Settings
Examples: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Court Intrigue
Examples: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Boarding Schools (esp. magical)
Examples: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Parallel Universes/Time Travel
Examples: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Fantasy Settings (esp. if it comes with a map)
Examples: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Good Friendships
Examples: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
Animal Friends
Examples: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Stream of Consciousness WritingExamples: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Agree with you on so many of these! Boarding schools, court intrigue, assassins, etc.
ReplyDeleteBTW...aren't you excited for the new HP covers? I love the first one.
Bahaha, I love how Harry Potter is in almost every list. ;) A lot of this makes me want to pick up a book, too. Basically, anything fantasy or science-fiction attracts me. And if that fantasy book has a map? All the better! (Probably why I adored Shadow and Bone so much.) Also, boarding schools have always intrigued me, thanks to Harry Potter. Hogwarts just made me love the setting of boarding schools so much. AND YES, parallel universes! I haven't read many good books on that, but I've always been fascinated by the idea of different universes existing alongside ours, so I'd leap on any book that has it in its plot! Sounds like we have nearly the same tastes in books, haha.
ReplyDeleteI love that you included examples! I also love unique magic settings, but have only read Harry Potter from your list! The others are on my TBR list, but I haven't come around to them yet. I hope to soon!
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I do love animal friends too!
ReplyDeleteUnique magic systems and fantasy settings - couldn't agree more! I also love boarding school settings. And Harry Potter pretty much goes without saying. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat picks! I also find boarding school settings fascinating. I went to a plain old public school, so boarding school just sounds exotic, you know?
ReplyDeleteLove your blog header!!! Too cute :) I love boarding school books and books with awesome friendships where the romantic relationship doesn't take over are hard to find!!! There needs to be more for sure!!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Assassins! Definitely! I don't think I can resist a book after the mention of assassins. My only concern (as with all new ideas) is that it might eventually become too common. The recent trend suggests that it's possible, at least. I also agree with boarding schools and fantasy settings! Even better when those two are put together. (Harry Potter!) ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat list, Aylee! A lot of these would make my own one, too.
Oooo you've touched on some of my very favorite things as well Aylee! I'm on a parallel universe kick at the moment, I love that it's suddenly becoming the new YA trend. I love having my head messed with, and parallel universes do that so well:) And a huge YES to boarding schools. Never met a boarding school story I didn't want to read:)
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Parallel worlds and time travel are huge on my list (if I had written one). I love Boarding Schools too though I haven't read too many yet. I love animal friends too but I always fear something will happen to them... and a book up there you mentioned I ended up throwing at a certain part. >.< (I'm sure you can guess which) Though it was an awesome series that I love. Great list!
ReplyDeleteAside from the stream of consciousness thing, all of these work great for me too. Oddly enough, I really liked Mind Games, heh.
ReplyDeleteAnything that involves steam is sure to pull me right in, I'm such a huge fan of steampunk lately. Boarding schools are sort of hit or miss. Some I really like (Night School), and some I despise (think Megan Miranda's Hysteria). But I do like the general idea.
Thanks for sharing, Aylee!
Assassins gets me interested EVERY time but so far they haven't lived upto it :(
ReplyDelete"Unique Magic Systems" - agreed! I'm always intrigued by different ideas regarding magic.
ReplyDeleteLove of all your other choices too, especially assassins, fantasy settings (love maps), and animal friends (I'm a sucker for animals in books, I always adore them). Awesome choices!
Yesssss, I love parallel universes and time travel! I definitely need to read more of those. I adored Unravelling!
ReplyDeleteI love a magical element to a story too. Great list.
ReplyDeleteYour court intrigue is kind of like the way I feel about stories about the Salem witch trials. I get excited whenever I catch those words. I don't know why though. Maybe because of Chime but I don't think it was during those times... I rather like sibling bonds more than good friendships and I do love Boarding schools. You can't forget camps! Those are always good. There should be more stories with that theme really.
ReplyDeleteOh Aylee! I love your list <3 We definitely have the same taste when it comes to picking books.
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
All of these except for stream of consciousness writing would make me pick up the book too. No wonder we became blogging buddies! :D
ReplyDeleteSo many of these are my favourites as well. We have similar taste I think!
ReplyDeleteLoving this list! Have you read the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore? It combines magic + assassins, so it really doesn't get much better than that! Also, Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty series is boarding schools and magic!
ReplyDeleteFantasy settings that come with maps? Yes, so much yes! I'm a sucker for any book that has a nice detailed map :) Parallel universes and time travel are great ones, too. Get me all the time!
ReplyDeleteI agree with almost your WHOLE list! Court intrigue, UNIQUE magic systems (YES!), assassins, boarding schools... great list! :)
ReplyDeleteI was totally going to put boarding schools on my list too but changed my mind last minute to include something else! ;p I remember reading The Daring Game when I was quite young and begging my parent's to send me to boarding school after that lol.
ReplyDeleteThose are some great themes. I think that for me is animals, I love books with animals in them. and I also love boarding schools and retellings :D
ReplyDeleteAgreed these all make awesome stories. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, and yes! I agree with all of these and I am a fan of all of the books you mentioned, except for the ones I unfortunately have yet to read. Your list made me think of topics I forgot to mention and I love it! Great picks, Aylee! :D
ReplyDeleteI really do love books with boarding schools. I need to read more, but you have the Harry Potter books and then contemporary stuff too like Looking for Alaska.
ReplyDeletei'm also a big fan of friendships. Having YA be all about romance is really annoying sometimes, so I'd rather have more friendships. Feels more realistic too.
I agree with so much of yours - in fact, we have many topics in common on our lists! I do love parallel universe books like His Dark Materials, although I'm not so much a fan of time travel. I think I could be, but haven't found quite the right book just yet. And yes on magical boarding schools! And stream of consciousness. I'll admit that when I'm feeling lazy it's not something I want to read, but when I'm in the right mood it generally turns out to be fantastic. Loved reading your list, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteSo you included Harry Potter under almost every category in the list and I totally love that you did! Harry Potter is eternal. And I totally haven't read any stream of consciousness writing but now I really want to. Love everything on your list!
ReplyDeleteI'm obsessed with foreign settings, magical systems, assassins, court intrigue & boarding schools are, like, a must. Those automatically make me want to pick up a book!
ReplyDeleteI am dying to read Throne of Glass. Have heard so many things and I see it has two of the themes.
ALL of these are huge "pick me up now" words and phrases. Especially assassins, fantasy settings (yay! with maps!), and parallel universes. Awesome list!
ReplyDeleteBest. Top Ten. Evah!! Oh man, so all of your 10 words/topics are spot on for me (every single one = ♥) and pretty much all the books you mentioned here are either my personal favorites of mine or on my most 'hotly-anticipated-reads' list (I don't actually have a list like that btw...this is all hypothetical >.<)What I mean is that if I haven't read them, I own them and they torture me haha But yeah, loved seeing so much HP, DoS&B, mentions of parallel universes & time-travel -can't help think of Doctor Who though, of course :D but yes to His Dark Materials! Grave Mercy, Shadow and Bone, Blood Red Road & Throne of Glass, E&E and Unravelling are all MUST-READS-ASAP. Thanks for sharing the awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI like this post, it helped me learn a little more about your reading tastes. We have, for sure, a few very common likes: I LOVE Boarding School Books and I'm a total animal lover too. I just didn't know you were. For sure, Plain Kate will be a book you should enjoy. :-) I know you are going to try and reader it later this year, hope you get the chance. Small and I LOVED it!
ReplyDeleteThis was a hard TTT for me (which is probably why I didn't do it). I don't know if I am particularly drawn to anything. I'm sure I am, but I couldn't think of anything. I do like parallel universe/time travel. I think that's pretty cool. And foreign settings. Anywho- great list.
ReplyDeleteYES to all of these! I really can't get enough of unique magical stories, time travel and assassins are so so cool, and every book that comes with a map is an instant favorite of mine!
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