Last week, I had a post about
stuff I hate to see in books. I thought I would balance out the negative with a little positive. Basically, when I see these things I go crazy and do the happiest of dances. These are things I want more of RIGHT NOW!!
1. More great friendships between girls (or just good friendships period).
Why do so many books have friendships between girls that involve backstabbing or slut shaming? I want loyalty, support, humor . . . I want AMAZING FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN WOMEN!! It's so rare when it happens, so when it does, I FLAIL MADLY!!
2. More books with LGBT characters, where sexuality is not a big deal - treated the same as being straight
I love so many of the LGBT books that I have read. The problem is that most of them involve a lot of bullying and a lot of drama regarding coming out. Of course I know that this is realistic for some people. But I would love more books where being gay is treated as casually as being straight.
Boy Meets Boy is the only book I have found like that. I need more of that!
3. More books from POV of a villain
God, I love villains. Seriously, they are the BEST!!
Now maybe
The Young Elites shouldn't technically count because she's not viewed as a villain at first. She struggles. But she is getting darker and more villainous and I love it so much. I love all the twistiness of complex villains and I even find myself rooting for them. I know that sounds creepy, but I just don't care.
4. More Greek mythology stuff
Help me out here because I have not read any books based on Greek mythology characters and yet I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!! I need more of that in my life!
5. More books about women who posed as men during the Civil War
I love reading about the Civil War anyway, maybe because I am from the South. Until I read
Liar, Soldier, Temptress, Spy (which was nonfiction), I had NO IDEA this was a thing!! Now I am obsessed and I want MORE!!
6. Food!
Guys, I love food. Seriously. Food of any kinds is the way to my heart. It makes no sense to me when characters go chapters without eating. I can't even go five minutes. And when characters are eating, I love it when the descriptions are so vivid that I am salivating. I LOVE FOOD!!
Bonus points if the food is dessert related!
8. Characters who love books as much as I do
I know there are quite a few books about booklovers out there, but in my mind, there aren't nearly enough. Dude, reading is my obsession and I think it's only fair that others should be as obsessed as me.
9. Books told in unusual formats
Illuminae had emails and secret documents and letters and it was awesome.
Because You'll Never Meet Me was told through letters. I just love books that don't do a traditional narrative. And I admire the hell out of these authors because they did it so well. Now I need to find a book told in list form. Or maybe write one. Whatever. I just love lists.
10. Fairytale Retellings
I had no idea how magical these were until I read
Cinder (and the rest of
The Lunar Chronicles series). I adore the fantasy and I love new twists on old stories.
11. Zombies
Why is
Warm Bodies the only zombie book I have read?? I don't know, but I will be reading more. Give me zombies!
So what things would you love to see more of in books?
Warm Bodies is one of the few books I've read about zombies and I loved it and I need more books like that definitely :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've read a book with a villain's POV, but I would definitely want to try and read one. I guess I'll love it, since villains are awesome :)
Zhana, wasn't Warm Bodies great?!? I just need the sequel already! If you love villains, you should read YOU for sure. It was so twisted, but so good. I need more of that!
DeleteYou NEED to read Kate L. Mary's zombie series now that it's finished, Cynthia. Go. Do it. Now. :-)
DeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Nicole, YES!! I have had the first one on my Kindle for a while, but I wasn't in a hurry to read it because I didn't want to start another unfinished series. Now that I know it's done, I will be reading that one SOON!!!
DeleteOh my, you have a lot of zombie books to catch up on lol! I went through a zombie phase a couple years ago and read a lot of them-Warm Bodies is still one of my favorites :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Library Huntress!! Considering how much I love The Walking Dead, I can't believe it took this long to read any zombie book. I need more for sure. Any recommendations?
DeleteGreat post and there are SO many things I would also like to see more of in books!
ReplyDeleteI have a few good ones for your categories:
More books from POV of a villain:
Marrow by Tarryn Fisher
Characters who love books as much as I do:
I actually did a whole TTT about this !
Food!:
The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert
The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay
Hope this helps!
Oh thank you so much Eva!! Those recommendations sound awesome and I haven't read any of them. I will check them all out. Thanks again!!
DeleteLOVE. THESE. I feel like I have read a lot of zombie books, but a lot of them were indie/self-pubbed when I wasn't even blogging yet. (Which is me saying I don't remember them all bwhaaha) Okay, I did some searching, just for you. The Ashes series by Ilsa J. Bick, Until the End by Tracey Ward, and I have heard really good things about the Newsflesh series by Mira Grant!
ReplyDeleteI feel like it probably goes without saying that I enjoy all these things, since we are twinsies? And like, if we DIDN'T like the same things, we wouldn't like the same books?
I think I heard that Arrows has Greek Mythology?
(And totally random question... can we umm use that nice little square graphic and make you a blog button with it? Because like, I REALLY want you to be on my blogroll, but BUTTON.)
Thanks so much Shannon! I must check out those recommendations for sure. And YES, I need a blog button so badly! I have no clue how to go about doing this, but I am going to finally take the time and figure it out next week. I promise!
DeleteEasy way? Take the square graphic you used from the top of this post, and type your blog name on it! Done and done!
DeleteYes, but don't I also have to create the html for a grab box or whatever?? Or can I just create that graphic and put it in my sidebar and be done with it?
DeleteFemale friendships: yes! This is something I really like too; Not If I See You First is a great example. I agree with you about unusual formats for books too; I am slightly obsessed with Illuminae and part of that is how different it is to anything else I've read. For another unusual style of story-telling, have you read One by Sarah Crossan? It's all in free verse, which sounds weird but is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh I had forgotten about Not If I See You First! I loved that book and that was an awesome friendship. Loved that one. Illuminae was AMAZING! I was kind of surprised that I loved that one as much as I did. I just didn't expect a book with that kind of format to be so engrossing. And no, I have not read One but I need to. I have heard great things about it. I read one book that was in verse last year (Skyscraping) and thought that one was beautiful. I need to read One soon.
DeleteALL of these! I want them all too! Let's see, I just finished an adult retelling of Helen of Troy that was pretty good (my review goes up tomorrow) - I'm trying to think of others. Oh, wait - The Blooming Goddess Trilogy! This one was great fun and there's tons of Greek mythology in it.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Nicole, I will be on the lookout for that review of the Helen of Troy retelling. That sounds interesting. And I will check out The Blooming Goddess Trilogy! Thanks so much for the recommendation.
DeleteI couldn't agree more about how the market usually goes about LGBT books! Way too much drama.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you read Eat, Pray and Love. I loved the book because the food part of it :):):)
I didn't use to be a big fan of fairytale retelleings until I read Cinder. After finishing this series, Court of Thorn and Roses is Next! :)
Zombies.... uh.... not sure lol
Daniela, oh yes I did read Eat, Pray, Love! I read that one years ago, but I remember the food part being amazing. Any book with the word "eat" in it has to be good. Ha. And yeah, Cinder was actually my first retelling too! That's when I just fell in love with the genre. You will love A Court of Thorn and Roses. That book was so crazy good and I can't wait to read the sequel!
DeleteOH man, I totally need more awesome friendships and yeeees, foooood! More villain is awesome, and I'm so happy that there's more fairy tale retellings! Awesome list, Cynthia!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Cyn! FOOOOOD!! Oh yes, it makes me hungry, but I love it!!! And I have been reading every retelling I can get my hands on. I have totally fallen in love.
DeleteIf you are looking for zombies, I recommend The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle, and one of my favorite retellings is A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce is a great Rumpelstiltskin retelling.
ReplyDeleteFor female friendship - Uprooted (I THINK you read that one) and Truthwitch.
Great topics - I totally agree on so many!!