Remember my post about my bookish turn-offs? WELL.
It’s time to get positive with some bookish turn-ons!
When it comes to bookish turn-ons, I only need to see a hint of my favourite things* and the book sky rockets into Favourite Territory Zone. Even a book with elements I don’t like (a love-triangle, for instance) will still win mega points if it includes fabulous parentals, or copious amounts of cake.
So let’s get started!**
* If possible, avoid breaking into renditions of the Sound of Music. If not possible…GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES WITH BLUE SATIN SASHES! HUZZAH!
** Also, if you want to write a post about your own bookish-turn-ons (or offs), go for it! Steal like an artist.
1. Friendships
There are 3 kinds of friendships I adore and I’m happy to read any of them!
- Friendships that turn into romance.
- Friendships between 2+ girls (or 2+ boys) where they’ve been buds forever and always have each other’s backs.
- Friendships between a girl and guy that is sibling-ish and doesn’t end up in romance.
I think friendships in general tend to be overshadowed (in YA, at least, which is what I eat) in order to have spunky romance. Don’t get me wrong! I am not a romance hater. But friendship with family values will always win for me.
- I loved the friendship (turning slowly into romance) of Emily and Frank in Since You’ve Been Gone.
- I loved the friendship of Adam, Gansey, Ronan and Noah in The Raven Boys.
- I have intense delight over the friendships in Elizabeth Wein’s books: both Maddie and Verity and Rosie and Roza.
- I loved the friendship (hateship?) of Maggie and Gus in Disruption. No romance.
I’m not opposed to shipping BFF as couples, but I think good ol’ fashioned friendships get smushed into “couples” too much. I don’t want to see them ALL fall in love. I want to see them be buddies. Mates. FRIENDS.
2. Books that agree there is a world outside of America.
Sometimes I think (with American books particularly) they forget there are hundreds of other countries out there. I enjoy a book set in America (or Australia or England) just as much as the next bookworm, but seriously: what about the rest of the world?!
I want to read more books set in Africa! Europe! Asia! Russia! Antartica!* Sure it takes more research, but I wish more authors were up for this challenge. Or, at least, I wish books set in countries like America would acknowledge there are other places out there.
- I adored Daughter of Smoke and Bone for being set in Prague!
- I LOVED The Girl From the Well for venturing into Japan.
- I squeaked (quietly) when Rose Under Fire was mostly in Germany but with Polish characters.
* Yeah, okay, maybe not. Unless there’s a penguin uprising or something.
3. Realistically diverse characters
Maybe I’m being fussy…but the world is pretty multicultural these days. (I know Australia is.) I feel like the only diverse things that happen are characters with red curly hair.* And enough with the best-friend being Asian. Why isn’t the main character Asian?!
I think YA is doing really well with this, but more! More! Keep it coming!
- Michael Grant’s books nail this, because his books are always a multicultural well of diversity.
- Also so impressed with Fish Out of Water for including Indian and Japanese culture.
- The Starbound has a spectacular cast, including China and Ireland.
* Only, apparently, 2% of the world is supposed to be redheads. They’re all in YA books. What even.
4. Disorders and peculiarities
What about allergies? Odd quirks? Disabilities and deformities? What about phobias and mental illness? These are real issues that a lot of people experience, so why aren’t they in more books?! Especially in spec-fic. Contemporaries get into this grittiness and I admire them for it…but spec-fic has no excuse.
Sure, maybe in the medieval days there was less mental illness than we have now. Or was there? Those freaky kings with thirsts for destruction* had to have had issues. And what about people born blind or deaf or with undiagnosed bipolar or autism or megalomania**?
I LOVE READING THIS IN FANTASY BOOKS.
- I loved how Angelfall explored characters with disabilities and schizophrenia.
- I liked how Gone had characters of ALL different kinds and shapes and minds, everything from bipolar to autism.
- I like how the Percy Jackson series many characters have ADHD and dyslexia.
* I think Sauron, at least, had problems okay?
** Disorder where one has delusions of grandeur? I’m diagnosing Sauron with this.
5. Crimey things
Um, I’m being totally honest right now: I’m not a criminal! I’m just really fascinated by crime books and shows! I love to see cases solved and people outwitted. I love complexly delicious plots. I love geniuses.
If these are done right? The book is so getting a high-rating.
- Thank you Holly Black for writing The Curseworker Trilogy (best paranormal crimes ever) and if you don’t trust me, just as Deborah. I successfully got her hooked too.
- Also Heist Society by Ally Carter
- Also How To Lead a Life Of Crime which (as the title says) is very useful on crimey tips.
6. HUMOUR
This is pretty much a given. If you know me (unless it’s your first time reading the blog, in which case, HELLO! WELCOME!) you’ll know I adore laughing. I love books that make me cackle maniacally.
- Rangers Apprentice will always win big points for making me snort out loud.
- I snickered copiously throughout The Mortal Instruments.
- Skulduggery Pleasant just wins the world for humour.
7. Food, Oliver, FOOD.
Food is important. Food is life. I do love it when a book takes a second to describe what characters are eating. Not only is it delicious, it allows me to judge the characters based off their food preferences. Only a person of great fortitude can do curry. (I cannot.)
And it’s so incredibly weird but…most books skip food! NO ONE EATS! Especially fantasies. What about low-blood sugar dumps? What about no-energy? It frustrates me no end.
- Anna and the French Kiss described french food and it was glorious and also torture.
- Divergent wins because DAUNTLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE.
- They ate a lot in Sinner which was delicious, especially the green eggs (kiwi fruit).
8. Freakishly fantastic families.
Besides the awesome alliteration up there (I hope you admired it…at least for 1.2 seconds), I really have a soft spot for fabulous families. Nothing hits my feels harder than siblings fighting to survive in a raging apocalyptic world. (I’m not really fussy on the setting. They can be fighting to find mayonnaise in the store for all I care. Just so long as they fight their battles together.)
Family is an incredibly complex thing. You’re stuck with a bunch of weirdos that you have to like or lump, because they’re part of who you are. (I always cry harder when a sibling dies in a book, than when a love-interest does.)
- I love the Lightwoods in City of Bones and how they’re ALL Shadowhunters, kicking butt together.
- And let’s not forget Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire who go through 13 books of unfortunate and ludicrous events to keep each other alive and semi-sane.
Cait hasn’t been blogging because she’s been sick. She’s only read one book this week. THE HORROR. (It was also Golden Son, which was stressful and so totally unokay with that horrible cliffhanger. Leave me alone to sob.) She did watch The Giver movie while she languished and is pleased to announce it’s absolutely fantastic! Currently she’s reading The Last Time We Say Goodbye which is as depressing as it sounds.
Omg yes yes YES!! I love friendship and humor above all. Friendships that are friendships period, and slow-burn friendship-romance. I’m also into family dysfunction, nothing makes me cry more than good ol’ family drama. Also also, I think more and more contemporary YA are including snippets of what the characters are eating nowadays. But that may just be me. Fantastic post! As usual.
Oh I agree, food is becoming MORE of a thing, but still I think it's common for everyone to either starve or not be hungry. I'm hungry just reading it. -_-
Ooh, I remember your bookish turn-offs the other day. That was a really fun post–and so’s this one! I AGREE WITH YOU SO MUCH ON BOOKS SET OUTSIDE Europe/America/Oceania. I mean, I identify 999% more when I read about an Asian character in America, but I identify like 99999999% more when it’s actually IN Asia. And I so desperately want more books set in Africa, especially the more urban slices. OH! And I want more books in the Middle East where the plot isn’t centred around white people getting there and kicking ass.
I must confess, though, that I don’t write a lot of family into my books. Or when it is, it’s incredibly twisted. From my current WIP, I have a pair of parents who sold their child into military service, a dude who killed his pregnant bastard daughter, a very unhappy couple, and a mother who uses her son as leverage for herself. Erm. Which is weird, because my family is amazing.
I just might do that bookish turn-on/turn-off post someday. Hmm.
I WANT TO READ ABOUT ALL THE PLACES. It's kind of a good way to learn as well, and I loooove learning while I read. XDHa! Don't we explore things in writing because we're curious about them, right?! I usually have crazy families in my books (and my family is very normal). My favourite is probably a grandmother (gun dealer), grandfather (evil genius) and a granddaughter and her cousin (tech genius) and IT'S FUN TO WRITE THEIR DYSFUNCTION. XD
I’ve done a couple of posts like this too! It’s good to balance these things out 😛
Also, I am soooo excited to read the Raven Cycle. I’m ordering the Raven Boys tonight from TBD so hopefully it will get here soon 🙂
YAY FOR BEING POSITIVE. *nods* I'm pretty sure everyone has done posts like these right?! Shhh…I'm reusing old ideas. I'm so brain dead right now. ;-)AFJDKLASD THE RAVEN CYCLE. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND OUR FLAILS. (I hope. No pressure, but there might be glares if you hate it. OKAY! I KID! I KID!)
I’m the same as you!!! I LOVE FRIENDSHIP STORIES!!!!! (which is why I’m writing one, with 10 and 11 years olds, that awkward age that no one seems to write about because kids are transforming from child to teen and they are having issues and changing and wow I just needed to write about it and there’s the cutest friendship and it can still be so heartbreaking or adorable to have friends!
And I love family issues as well. I always try and look out for awesome things with family because it can be funny or heartreaking. (and omg I just have to add that I LOVE ASOEU!!!!)
And I have to add a good mystery to the crime part of your post, because MYSTERY!!!!! Mystery is awesome! Especially The Raven Cycle mystery. 😀
Cool post by the way! I know I always love plot twists in books too, because then it’s like, NOT PREDICTABLE!!!! (I’ve gotten so good at reading that I can predict a lot of books, sometimes it sucks being a lit/media/english/drama student because you break everything down and then find patterns and yeah, basically I love mystery and brain thinky books!
Oh oh that sounds so adorable and wonderful! I really don't know much about MG, although I do have a friendship story I want to write between a girl who likes to stab things and a boy who's a witch and it's MG and it's cuuute. But. Eh. Time. xD I never get round to these things.THERE IS JUST ONLY WONDERFUL GOLDNESS TO BE TALKED ABOUT CONCERNING THE RAVEN CYCLE. MAGGIE STIEFVATER WINS ALL THE PRIZES! Although Blue only eats, like, yogurt. But still. It's food. I won't complain.
I love fictional friendships between a guy and a girl that doesn’t end up romantic!Those type of friendships are beautiful and I admire them deeply.I myself have a great guy friend,and we’re so close without any hint of attraction.We actually joke about it.In fact that other day,he asked me,”hey,do you ever think that people may ship us as a non canon couple?”He’s totally a keeper:)
I want more diversity in my books too.Being an Asian-and a Sri Lankan on top of that-I’d love to see interracial characters and romance.
And yes to places other than America!Sometimes I wonder,in dystopian and post apocalyptic novels,what happens to all the other continents?Do they just stop existing?
Exactly! It's like the rest of the world just stops existing in those dystopians… -_- Or else the rest of the world is sitting there being functional and saying, “looool look at America going berserk again.” hehe. 😉
Oh my God, Maddie and Verity . . . BREAK MY HEART ALL OVER AGAIN, WHY DON’T YOU? I can’t with those two . . . I read that while on HOLIDAY and I started CRYING BY THE POOL. I looked like a psychopath.
YES, YES, LET'S ALL EMBRACE THESE REKINDLED FEELS OF HORROR ABOUT MADDE AND VERITY. Their like a GHOST FRIEND SHIP. And it's still unokay.Pfft, psychopaths don't cry. You probably looked like a deranged mountain goat. *nods* Isn't that a pretty picture, yes yes?
OMGGGG YOU LOVE HOW TO LEAD A LIFE OF CRIME, TOOOO?! I loved that book! SEriously, I read it shortly after it came out and just fell in love with it and the main character, tooo! And YES TO FRIENDSHIPS. I love friendships. I want a book to make me want to ship two people who aren’t in love with each other (yet). I mean, isn’t that how fandoms happen (or some of them anyway? Haha). They are far more meaningful to me than a superficial or rushed one! And yes to parentals and diverse characters. I’ve yet to read a legit Filipina heroine worrying over legit Filipino issues in a possibly post-apocalyptic world. Haha.
YAAAAAAY!!! I'M SO GLAD YOU LOVED IT! Like, no on I know has even read it and it's freakishly fantastic! HUZZAH! I seriously like friendships that turn into romance (that's like me with every tv series) but awk! I like it when it's possible to be friends with people and NOT love them. It'd cut down so many love-triangles. -_-
Yes to all of these! I love books with strong friendships that just make you go ‘awwww!’
A book that can make me literally laugh out loud definitely gets a tick, as it can really lighten your mood and make a story that much more fun to read. Thanks for sharing Cait 🙂
LAUGHTER IS THE WINNER. It just is. Even if a book has like plot holes to Mars, I will STILL rate it high if it made me chuckle. XD
I totally and utterly agree with all of this. #3 and #4 specifically are precisely why I’m doing my Diverse Books Project on Youtube this year (although I’m not convinced anyone’s actually watching my videos. OH WELL…)!
Omg, I should watch your videos! I SHALL SUPPORT YOU! (Except I can't comment on Youtube because youtube hates me and is forcing me to get google+ and I'm trying not to be bullied. ;( Which really makes no sense to anyone but me, I know, I know.)
I was reading all the top ten tuesdays and thinking “there scould be a list of wonderful things about books” CAIT YOU FULFILLED MY DREAMS AGAIN XD.
I love books where evil is complex, where violence doesn’t work, and with families. Quirky and amazing families ftw. there are so few books set in Africa, but I really loved Chanda’s Secrets by Allan stratton which was. But speculative fiction is ALMOST ALWAYS the US. Surely they can be more imaginative than that ( I really want to write a dystopia in Dehli. Just saying) And why is 99 % of historical fiction in ww2 or mediveal Europe? There should be historical fiction about Sri Lanka and Aksum and Malacca and polynesia (not that I don’t love some ww2 stories….can you tell I take world history at school?)
I JUST READ YOUR MIND. x) I love complex evil too. Omg, that should've been a point al of its own on my list. I LOVE EVIL. Um. okay that sounded bad. But same as I love sad sad books. I just like anything well done, to be honest. (I shall look up Chanda's Secrets now.) YOU SHOULD SO TOTALLY WRITE THAT BOOK. The world needs it. Truuuust me. I want to write set in other countries but I don't want to do it wrong because I don't live there. I wouldn't want to mis-write it, right?! I need to travel, gosh darnit.
Friendship, yes! I love childhood friend romances but also sibling-friendship. Also family is so so necessary. Humour is life.
I like some form of magic in there. If it’s a contemporary, I like a little snippet of something that could maybe, possibly be magical but is left totally ambiguous because, let’s be honest, NOTHING can be set in the real real world, so we might as well have something that’s just a little strange in there. 😉 I also love sarcasm and awesome narration (usually amounts to the same thing as sarcasm 😉 ).
Humour is like the delicious chocolate of life. I could eat/read it all day. ooh, magical ambiguity is fascinating! I haven't even read a lot of that! I like books that end where the author is basically cackling “and all the ghosts and magic were JUST IN YOUR HEAD! HAHA” and it's painful and beautiful all at once. x)
*hands tissues* I are sick too, honey. We cans be sick together.
(except when I’m sick I read more and you read less? Tuesday I read two whole books. [okay one was 74 pages but it still counts cuz the other was… 322])
(also since I know you’ve been interested in reading more middle grade books, I can suggest several since that’s what I’m reading. Comes from shelving in the kids section of the library and realizing how many awesome books are in there, even if you’ve ‘outgrown’ them.)
NOOOOOOO. IT'S A DISEASE ALL OVER THE WORLD! Okay. It's totally just the flu and I'm fine now, so I hope you get fine too soon. 🙁 Gosh, I never read when I'm sick. It makes me dizzy. I watch copious amounts of TV. And then I never watch tv for weeks after because I'm so sick of it. ;-)SUGGEST AWAY. I'm trying not to borrow books atm, but I have a LIST (it's an awesome list) on my wall and I'm like physically writing books down I want to read so I go get them at some point and they don't get lost in my endless goodreads tbr.
I love friendships and food and families! (Although, sometimes I don’t like reading about food because then it makes me hungry…and jealous.)
Anyway, you should totally try The City of a Thousand Dolls if you haven’t already. It features disabilities, and is set in a sort of Asian fantasy world. And try Purple Hibiscus if you want a Historical Fiction set in Africa (specifically Nigeria).
Get well soon, Cait!
Oh true. It is horrifically hard to read about food when you're actually physically hungry. I'm writing a book set in a coffee shop and GOSH. I've never craved coffee so much.Ohhh, I haven't tried that one yet but I HAVE heard of it! I shall look it up and see if my library has it. x)
SO MUCH YES FOR THE FIRST ONE. Books about friendship are my favorite, especially when it’s a group of friends, like The Raven Boys. THEY ARE MY BABIES I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Friendships give me the warm fuzzies, because while I’m an avid shipper sometimes it’s hard for me to find YA couples that I like and aren’t annoyed by. xD BUT CAIT I READ SPLINTERED AND I LIKED IT AND JEB IS MY MOST FAVORITEST. I’m also with you on 4…as someone who has some, ahem, quirks myself, I’m always wishing there were more characters like that…OCD specifically. REAL OCD, not the funny kind – it’s something that I struggle with, one of the things that really makes things a struggle sometimes, and I wish we saw more characters like that. *shrugs*
The first thing I thought of when you said ‘funny books’ was Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, which…I don’t think you’ve read??? BUT YOU NEED TO READ IT. YOU WOULD LIKE IT I PROMISE IT IS DRAMATIC AND HILARIOUS AND SUPERVILLAIN-Y. And David is actual perfection as a MC.
THE RAVEN BOYS JUST WINS ALL THE AWARD OF THE WORLD BY THIS POINT. Particularly since they eat food. Although it's mostly yogurt on Blue's part, but, um, it still counts. What. Jeb?NO NO I CANNOT REALLY TALK TO YOU ANYMORE, AIMEE. BUT MAYBE YOU'LL COME ROUND. MAYBE THERE'S HOPE FOR YOU. It's Morpheus. Although….that does leave more Morpheus for me…I've only read one book that touched on OCD and I think it handled it awfully and basically made it sound like it was totally curable and not “real” and IT MADE ME SO MAD. -_- I hate it when things like that are trivialised as well.I WANT TO READ STEELHEART. My library made it adult so I have to pay for it though. 🙁 So I'm waiting until I know I have time to read it so I don't waste my monies. x)
Yes, yes, yes, I agree with you on EVERYTHING! Also, if you’re looking for a book set in Antarctica, you should check out The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean, a Printz Award winner. Excellent book; I’ve read it twice.
OH! And it's not about rebelling penguins? *goes to google*
Friendships! Oh, yes. I think you’re right with the friendships too often turning to romance. Just why? You don’t have to like everyone THAT much. (I don’t anyways. . .) 😉
You know, I never noticed, but you’re right. Not many fantasy or speculative fiction has mental illnesses/ disorders/etc. And I’m sure they were rampant in at least Medieval days. I mean, they knew very little about proper sanitation. There was a lot of warfare/ gory torture so that would’ve caused some lost limbs and eyes. And they didn’t know how to treat stuff like that back then. Half the time if you had some mental disorder or something they probably thought you were demon possessed or something. I will have to take note of this.
(Yeah, Sauron had to have issues. Seriously.)
I love humorous books. If you tell me it’s funny, it goes in the TBR pile. But I also love books that are thought provoking. They make you look at life in a different way, but they still know how to lighten the mood from time to time with a joke.
Stories are life. And life is a balance of everything, friendship, romance, fears, hopes, funny times, sickness, embarrassment, death, joy, etc. I like books that have a good intermingling of it all.
Apparently everyone in books just luuuurve each other too much to be friends (!?) hehe. Not that I'm angry at romance, I just get more feels for friendships and families, I guess.EXACTLY! Where are these illnesses and disabilities?! I guess any real deep sicknesses (like cancer and things) would've just made the people die earlier, but still. I'm sure they would've thought demon possession too…which is definitely why healers were “witches”, right? I just wish it was explored more. It'd make those books more relatable. (*nods* We can all agree Sauron needed counselling. And, perhaps, incinerating.)
I agreeeee! Phbbths romances can be really annoying
RAVEN BOYS
BARTEMAEUS IS FUNNIER THAN SKULLDUGGERY, JUST SAYIN
WHAT?! REALLY? I didn't even know you'd read Skulduggery. xD Did you read them all? I've only read 4 so far. XD
I LOVE a little bit of culture in books. Like how Cinder was set in New Beijing, and the Prince Charming was a Chinese emperor… yeah. That was awesome.
You know what else I really like? Sloooow romances. I’m re-reading Fangirl at the moment (it always inspires me to write), and I love how slowly the relationship is presented. Not hate to love, but indifference to acceptance to unacknowledged lust to love. THAT’s how you do a romance. None of this ‘I love two boys at once’ nonsense.
Beth x
YES! Cinder wins copious awards for that! Cinder is actually Asian too (the author said so for sure on her blog) and Scarlet is French! IT'S GLORIOUS.Ohhh, Fangirl is like the best book in the universe. I related to Cath so so much.
Firstly I’M SORRY YOU ARE SICK. D: I was sick recently and just NO. Bleh. I hope you get better!!! *hugs and gives you tea and blankets*
2: I prefer books set in England etc. over America. Because I LIVE in America, so it’s naturally boring. 😉 I did just read THE SKIN MAP by Stephen R. Lawhead where there’s traveling in alternate worlds and stuff, and like half of it was set in Prague and Egypt which was cool. 😀 Oh, and speaking of Egypt, there’s this really awesome book MARA DAUGHTER OF THE NILE by Eloise Jarvis McGraw that’s basically like secret-agent-spies in ancient Egypt. Like… unique, much? It’s pretty awesome. XD
4: To be fair, Sauron was a supernatural higher being gone to the dark side. I’m sure that’s not exactly parallel to normal people. XD
5: I LOVE CRIMEY THINGS TOOOO. I am watching Leverage and it is the coolest thing!!! *flail* …….OH MY GOODNESS. I WAS MENTIONED IN A CAIT POST. O____________O MY. LIFE. IS. MADE. AAAAAAAAHHH *RUNS AROUND SCREAMING AND FLAILING HAPPILY FOREVER* (And yes, you successfully got me hooked verrrry much on the Curseworker books. Hooked is kinda an understatement…) I NEED TO READ HEIST SOCIETY.
Awesome post! Mayhap I’ll need to figure out a list of favorite things in books… >:D
SICK IS NOT FUN. *throws tantrum* Heh, but I'm better mostly now. HA! I totally get that! Most books I read are American so I'm ready for something new. 😉 I love English books and Australian books. I'm googling The Skin Map. That sounds scary. OMG I LOVE ELOIS JARVIS MCGRAW. I LOVE MARA! I WAS ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE AWESOMENESS OF SHEFTU WITH MY SISTER YESTERDAY! Have you read The Golden Goblet?! LURVE. So you mean Sauron wouldn't be fixed with counselling. 🙁 Boo. There goes my plans of crushing Morder. (You know, if Frodo hadn't of.)I HAVE A SEVERE CRUSH ON ELIOT OKAY? I love that show. I'm nearly finished S4.
OH NOES I APPEAR TO NOT GET EMAILS WHEN YOU REPLY TO MY COMMENTS ANYMORE WHAT IS THIS DISASTER?? O.O
OH MY GOODNESS THAT’S AWESOME!!!! SHEFTU IS AMAZING AND THE BEST EVER. 😀 😀 😀 I actually have The Golden Goblet but haven’t read it yet… I must do that!
YOUR SEVERE CRUSH ON ELIOT IS NOTHING TO MINE. XD I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. AND I’M ALMOST DONE THE SECOND SEASON ALREADY AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT SHOW TO DEATH. THANKS SO MUCH FOR DRAGGING ME INTO IT. XD
BIG CHECKMARK TO THE FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY AND HUMOUR. ACTUALLY TO EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID. I also really love complex villains. Villains who aren’t totally villainy but…gah. I’m incoherent at the moment because I’m reading Vicious and it’s twisted my insides into knots and I’m a mess. Which reminds me: Cait, you should most definitely read Vicious.
HUZZAH!! I should've put complex villains on my list too, omg, I can't believe I forgot them. (I knew it was weird that I couldn't get to 10. xD) I love good villains. WELL. You know what I mean. Villains who make sense. I waaant to read Vicious but my library doesn't have it. 🙁 Sadness, right?
The idea of America as the centre of the universe has always kind of bugged me. When I read books like The Hunger Games, it’s supposedly this post-apocalyptic/dystopian future version of North America. Okay, but… what’s going on in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania? Did they also get sucked into some global conflict? Or are they sitting safely on the other side of the oceans, splicing into Panem’s video feed, and laughing over the insanity of what’s going on there?
Disorders and peculiarities are a plus for me… if they’re done right. One of the best surprises in my reading last year was a little book called Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber; the narrator, Ruby Jean, had Down syndrome. As for Angelfall, I didn’t really like the portrayal of Penryn and Paige’s mother; it came across as a bit too stereotypical (and unbelievable) for my taste. The book gets points for Paige being in a wheelchair, though; you don’t very often see that, even with secondary characters.
And it’s true, isn’t it? Characters often seem to neglect to eat. Or, if they do it, they eat the same thing over and over (I still have this impression of Bella Swan eating nothing but eggs and meat; I’m sure she ate more than that, but if that’s what I remember, it must’ve been mentioned a few times). Also, nobody ever goes to the bathroom on a fantasy quest. Maybe that’s because they don’t eat!
All these dystopians could at least give us a hint that there's another world….after all Cinder did it perfectly well!! And any other book set in ANY other country will mention the rest of the world. It's only America who forgets about us. -_- (Or maybe I'm just being pedantic because I'm not American so always notice?!) heheOh I completely agree. When people do mental illness badly I just want to cry. I particularly hate it when disorders are “fixed” by getting a boy/girlfriend. It is so not okay. I'm going to look up Free As a Bird!
I agree 100% with all of these!! And I love when you do posts like these because they help me improve my writing! I take these things and I see if I have them in my stories! My NaNo novel is set in America, but the characters go to Argentina and meet a lot of the governmental leaders in South America (ok, they don’t meet them, but they’re in the same room and they talk to one of them). My MC, Gwen, also immitates an Italian accentXD And she has best friends that don’t become love interests! And they eat! Mostly canned chili, but they eat! And in book 2 Gwen is going to be hit with a major case of anxiety (like, the kind bad enough that you see the psychiatrist weekly and get medicine for if the world wasn’t facing governmental collapse). See, I take these lists and if I’m not doing at least half of it, I fix itXD It helps me keep it interesting and differentXD
Oh, and I totally got an awesome idea for a story set in Antarctica (that doesn’t involve a penguin uprising;P)!! It’s pretty cool!XD
Aw, YAY! I'm glad you liked the post. 😉 I try and do this with my writing to…like adding in diversity particulalry and zoning in on things I love. (a.k.a food. Gosh I'm writing a book set in a coffee shop and you better believe there's a lot of food.) YAY FOR EATING. What. No penguin uprising? BUT I'M DISAPPOINTED. XDXD When I was 12 I wrote a book set in Antartica. lol I think they arrived on the plane and then I quit because I didn't know what to do next. 😉
Great post, Cait! Definitely agree with you for #3 & #4. Characters are just so much more interesting if they have quirks, and I just love seeing non-white main characters. YA fiction could definitely use more diversity. I also agree with #8, I adore sweet sibling bonds.
And yes, I totally agree that the Curseworkers trilogy was AMAZING!!! 🙂
~Haley
PS. I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. If you’re interested, check it out:
Sibling bonds are soooo amazing. It always hits me hard when it's a sibling giving their all for another sibling, instead of lovers. I DON'T KNOW WHY! I Just got a lot more emotional. xDafjdlakfds Holly Black is my hero.Ooh! Thank you! I shall!
The Squires Tale is a good series that is hilarious. I haven’t finished it (our library doesn’t have all the books) but the books that I have read have made me laugh out loud at parts.
OH! I'm looking them up!
I love seeing friendship and family emphasized in YA because I really don’t see enough of that in YA books, and I think that’s the most important thing that teens should focus on. I’m not a fan of friendships that turn into romances, though, because the point of me liking friendship in YA is so that it can draw away from the romance. Food is awesome in books because food is just awesome in general. Unfortunately, I often put my characters through foodless adventures. Oops. 🙂 I kind of wish books were filled with full color pictures of food on every other page because food is really pretty.
It IS! I mean, I know a lot of people don't have “perfect” families…but books don't have to be about “perfect” families either. They just need to show us how IMPORTANT it is. Because it is, it so is. And I get a lot more emotional about books about families. XDFood in general is definitely awesome. BAD YOU, THOUGH. Starving your characters! Actually…I used to have my beta readers tell me to feed my characters. Whoops. XD
I love peculiarities and disorders, like you mentioned. Anything psychological really fascinates me in literature.
I never thought about this before this post, but now I realize that I don’t really care for friendships in books. In fact, I think I’d rather feel like I am the person connecting with the narrator, not somebody else. I don’t want them to share that intimacy with somebody else. Basically I’m just a selfish reader. =)
My top book turn-on: female characters written by male authors. They’re always so spunky and fierce. I’m thinking I’ll write a post about this soon.
It fascinates me too! And I also like when it's done really really right, because then I learn. I like to learn. *nods* And it always sticks better when I learn in story form.Ooh selfish reader. ;-)I've read a lot of spunky/fierce female characters by female characters too, though. xD So I guess it depends on the writer, not just their gender?
I would love if the rest of the world knew that America is a continent not only a country ;_;
Oh my gosh! The world doesn't know that?
THAT ADDAMS FAMILY GIF <3333 I love those movies. Anyways, I AGREE 100% on all of these! LOL at the curly red hair thing. It's so true! I'm currently reading My Heart and Other Black Holes, and the main character is turkish! I'm liking it so far 🙂
I so agree about friendships, especially the boy-girl no romance kind (okay, basically just Harry and Hermione, but still). And also friendships that turn into romance. I feel like the romance is so much more solid if they’ve been friends FOREVER before (like in Percy Jackson!). Have you read the Artemis Fowl series? They are very interesting and definitely crimey! I will forever be amazed that the author was able to come up with such things.
FOOD. YES. ALL THE TIME.
YES to friendship. That is such a huge one for me. I loved Roar’s friendship with Perry, and his distinct friendship with Aria outside of Perry in Under the Never Sky. I also really enjoyed all the friendships in David Estes’ Dweller/Country series.
Also, I definitely agree with the other countries thing! Even if the book is SET in the US, can we at least get an update on the rest of the world? Especially when something big (like an apocalypse or some other catastrophe) happened, and there is not a single mention of ANY other country, it drives me mad! I promise, if I ever write more than one chapter of a book, I will at least check in with the rest of the world.
And absolutely, 100% with the disorders/disabilities thing. It drives me mad that everyone is “perfect”. In my aforementioned fake book, they won’t be. Promise. (In all honesty, I DO have some ideas about that in particular, because it has always annoyed me too!)
Humor, yes please! I LOVE when a book can be tough and serious, and full of feels, but still have a sense of humor about it. That’s kind of my favorite. Love this lisT!
This is so great. I did a post like this a couple months ago, though not as clearly detailed. 🙂 Some things that I love in fiction are dysfunctional families, unrequited love (I don’t see this one nearly enough so if you know of any suggestions….), friendship where you just know the characters would do anything for each other, diverse characters, sarcasm/snarky/banter, all of these I love and can’t live without. And then friendships like in I’ll Meet You There that turn into love without the characters already being best friends or even friends at the beginning but it all happens so naturally. I like that. And then many many others as well.
I see you sneaking in the word “megalomania” right there at the end. Just so you know, I’m taking all the credit for your linguistical knowledge. Ehehehehe.
If the book Rose Under Fire would make me cry 100% and sob more than ever before I would read it. You know, having grown up in Germany and being half Polish and all that. BUT. I live alone so I can’t afford drowning in my own tears or choking on my feels, so I guess this book will have to wait until I am a real grown up ready to face darker matters.
I still remember every single scene from The Pianist or Schindler’s List that made me cry. I guess WWII is simply a topic I cannot read or hear about, it just gives me the creeps. I hate it when my grandma starts telling stories. And yet I feel like I have a responsibility to record every one of her words and write her memoir. *shudders*
Gosh! I agree with just about all these.
Friendships are awesome in books. It’s hard to find perfect ones though. Why can’t girls and boys just be friends? I’m not against romances, but I do like it when boy+girl doesn’t automatically mean romance. Just beautiful friendships that aren’t romances makes me love books!
You’re so right about people not noticing the rest of the world. What happened to those other countries? America seems to be the centre of the book world now. Even authors who aren’t American write there because it’s so easy. Why can’t people accept the rest of the world and at least notice that there is a WORLD! Maybe that’s why I love fantasy worlds so much, because isn’t those problems so much!
Anyway, just wanted to tell you I nominated you for an award, don’t feel pressured to do it, but your blog is awesome so I couldn’t resist nominating you:) http://almostcompletelymad.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/does-anyone-else-have-trouble-with.html
Fascinating topic Cait, I love how these topics show how different we all are! I do love diversity whether it is other races, personalities, disabilities or mental illness, it really gives us a lot more depth. Total YES for guys/girls who are platonic friends and a world outside of the US! Great post lovely.
I completely agree with the friendship thing. I don’t understand why everyone needs to fall in love. Or you know, that one best friend a main character has who gets dumped unceremoniously as soon as the main character falls in insta-love. Bugger off, have an awesome best friend (and other friends for that matter) who actually contribute to the story! Same for families – I love the playful banter between families. Add more!
And humour. Humour is probably the most important thing to me in stories. If you can make me laugh, you and I are good.
YES to Crime!!! I love crime! Not like actually crime but crime in books. If I were to do one of these, which I might do (hey you said we could), all of the things I like would be crime, mystery, thriller, and anything psychological. That’s why I like Ally Carter and Jennifer Lynn Barnes so much!! Great list, totally agree with everything on here, especially humor and crime!
YES! I need friendships, amazingly awesome friendships. I loved the Under the Never Sky series so much because of the awesome friendship between Aria and Roar. HUMOUR! I need humour in my books. I love a book that has me laughing out loud, looking like I’m crazy whilst on public transport.
Oh I agree with most of these! As I live in the Netherlands readign about America is a different country for me, but on the other hand I would love to read books that take place closer to home. And friendships and family can be done well in books and I lvoe that, but on the other hand family problems can be fun to read about as well.
I have a soft spot for slow building romances or friends-to-lovers romances. Beside that I love books that deal with topics I have no knowlegde abotu myself, like certain sports or someone who works in a hotel.
As far as recommendations go:
– Anywhere by J Meyers – it’s about a girl backpacking in europe
– Removed by SJ Pajonas – lots of japanese and half japanese main characters
– Debt Collector series by Susan Kaye Quinn – gritty world with some crime
– David Estes his books – dystopia and humor
I’m such a sucker for well done friendships and family relationships (though most especially sibling ones), like the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer and THE RAVEN BOYS! Humor is good, all the humor. That kind of banter, especially between love interests, is awesome. And oh, I love reading about disorders and peculiarities; mental illness books especially because as a psychology major, it interests me so much. And some of them handle it all REALLY well, like All the Bright Places. 🙂
Love these, Cait!
Hi, remember me? I used to comment on your blog sometimes but then I disappeared and was a terrible commenter for a while but don’t worry because I have returned.
I am with you on a lot of these! I especially like boy/girl friendships that are not leading up to a romance like Noah and Grace in All Fall Down. I hate it when every boy and girl pairing has to have romantic feelings for each other. It makes no sense! Opposite genders can be friends without wanting to kiss and stuff.
I also like disorders and mental illnesses. I particularly like things like bipolar, OCD, schizophrenia etc. and I love it when it’s the main character who suffers and not just a random side character.
As for curly redheads (of which I am one, as is Elsa) I think they should be in EVERY BOOK EVER because clearly we are going to take over the world at some point in the future.
YES to all of these! I love reading about friendships, it’s so refreshing sometimes in between all of the romantic stuff that’s going on in books. And humour and crimey things? YES PLEASE. Also food. Because food is indeed life. And also disorders, because that is important!
…Like I said, yes to all of these. :’)
Number 4! I ADORE unique and quirky characters 🙂
Also, number 2. It is nice to see story set outside America now and than.
Great post idea, btw!
Friendships are AMAZING when done properly 🙂 I just read a contemporary romance where the main character actually ends up being great friends with the guys’ best friends and it was so beautiful. Also, totally agree that crimey stuff and humour in books is a turn-on (love Heist Society!). Romance-wise, I can’t help but fall for the brother/cousin/whatever’s best friend or the boy next door 🙂 Great list!
Awesome list! I love books set in Paris AND books that revolve around food. I don’t read too much romance, but I do love Laura Florand’s Amour et Chocolat series. They are set in Paris and they have owners of chocolate shops as the characters. Man, those books can make me crave chocolate even more than I usually do.
I must check out that book set in Prague. I have always wanted to go there.
Yeessh! 😀 Especially friendships!
I totally agree with books that are actually set outside of America or acknowledge countries outside of America! My favourites are any set in Japan, i.e. Memoirs of a Geisha, The Otori Series, The Last Concubine.
Also friendships are really important in books for me as well, I love the relationship between Chuck and Thomas in the Maze Runner (sad times).
Angelica x
YES! Another mention of Ranger’s Apprentice aka my lifeblood. Also, Daughter of Smoke and Bone made me wish my school offered Czech as a foreign language for AGES (by which I mean I still do. I blame Laini Taylor).
Friendship is a huge book turn on for me! It’s why I love The Darkest Minds so much, and why I’m really enjoying City of Heavenly Fire so far (there are a lot of cool friendship scenes in the beginning, and I’m expecting more!). I’m not saying there can’t be any romance ever, but I hate when it overshadows everything else, so I’m always really happy with friendship-y kind of books. Disorders, diversity and books set in countries other than the US are definitely also positive points. I love it when characters make good choices instead of drowning in their drama, but also when they’re flawed and have great character development.
Friendships are the best! I love wonderful friendships, especially when there’s all the feels and banter everywhere. I will love banter forever. It’s as wonderful as the friendship between us. *aggressive winking*
And I’m in the Philippines, so I’m absolutely delighted when I even see a mention of a Filipino in books. And I’ll always love food. OMNOMNOM.
Yes to all of those bookish turn-ons! I agree with all of them (especially food. What are books without food?). I think a complete turn-on for me that works without fail is when books talk about books. It’s just so meta. (My head just goes kaput with all the fangirling).
Funny, even in Countries where English isn’t the official language you realize, that America, America and America are very dominant throughout media 😀
But on the other hand I think I know a lot of good YA Stuff that doesn’t even have an English issue. I know Polish, Dutch and Russian books with a German translation and no English issue… so maybe it also has a lot to do with, which books you read. Because, it’s natural, that authors set their books rather in places they know, but sometimes you just need to translated to find a whole new world discovered (Like, for me a book set in Australia is something really exciting…)
I totally agree about the peculiarities. Nowadays the weaknessesof heroes are in the end again overshadowed by the strenghts. I sometimes I have a feeling, that they don’t even struggle enough and there should be more characters with all kinds of problems. Like, they should lose their arms, noses and be totally ugly, why not? I think there aren’t enough characters like the hunchback of notre dame in YA
Ooh, the Giver movie! I need to see that one, especiall as the book has been read like a good bookworm. Oh, and as for the post, loved it! It’s always good to focus on what you love in what you read! I am all for friendships and disorders/peculiars. I love when the writing style is done well too. Like metaphors. Like Markus Zusak metaphors if we want to get precise.