Pretty, Pretty Please?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Every week they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I'm so obsessed with lists - so it makes perfect sense that I'd love this feature!
Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist
The Places
1. Life In College.
I am dying for more books set at college, even though I've already graduated. It's such a pivotal time in your life with so many changes and new relationships. I want more of the relatable stuff: freshman orientation, joining a sorority, skipping classes, trying to decide on a major, living in the dorms, etc.
2. Being Near Water.
There's just something about books set near the water. Whether it's the beach or the lake, I love when water plays some kind of a role in the story. It doesn't have to be the focal point by any means, but I want some more of this setting in my stories.
3. Growing Up After Graduation.
Can we please have some books set after college? Living far away from your college friends, joining the workforce, trying to do something you love that also pays the bills, realizing what it means to be a responsible adult... I don't want books that just to skip straight to marriage and kids. Let's have some of the in between!
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The People
4. Supportive Best Friends.
Can we please get some more shout outs for all the best friends in the world? I feel like a lot of books I read focus more on girl drama, friendships that are falling apart, or just best friends barely deserve the title. I would love for books to focus on the awesome side of friendship!
5. Complex Leading Ladies.
So many great heroines are touted as strong, an admirable quality to be sure, but that not the only kind of girl I want to find on the pages of my books. I want to see more characters that feel real with depth, layers and complexity. Girls are people, and people are a mix of characteristics - not just one defining thing.
6. Slow Burn Romance.
Goodness, let's talk about falling in love. It's not always this instantaneous, immediate attraction that leaves you both head over heels for one another. Some of my favorites couples are ones from TV because there is so much build up to them finally getting together. I need more relationships like that in my books!
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The Pastimes
7. Cute, Creative Dates.
I love doing something as simple as dinner and a movie, but I also adore those special, fun dates where you the date is different. Along with slow burn romances, I want couples to do random, silly and sweet things together. Moments like that leave me grinning at my book... and passing on ideas to my husband!
8. Hop On A Horse.
Yep, I was totally a horse girl growing up. I'm still secretly obsessed with them, but nothing like I was back in the day. But I'm definitely still a sucker for books that involve horses. There are so many good ones for young girls - and I wish I got to see more of my favorite animal in books for grown ups (or young adults).
9. Exploration and Adventures.
Road trips, going abroad, sightseeing in your own city... I would absolutely love for authors to sprinkle a little more whimsy and a lot more exploration into their characters lives! I know teens don't always have that freedom, but wouldn't it fit perfectly into stories involving slightly older characters?
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The Pinnacle
10. The South.
All things Southern is at the very top of my reading wishlist - the food, the people, the activities, the places, the traditions... Are you getting the idea? But I don't want to see the stereotypical version. I want more of the world I know and love! There's something special about being born and raised below the Mason-Dixon Line.
I love these! I especially want to read more books set in college, and featuring good friendships.Great list!
ReplyDeleteLove these wishes! I would love more books about life in college. I was hoping that is what NA would be about, but very few have hit the mark! Also agree on more solid friendships! So many books focus on the girl relying on the guy. That is why I loved Attachments so much!! More attention should be given to that kind of support! Heck yeah to Southern books!!
ReplyDeleteThat is one great list of wishlist!
ReplyDeleteCheck our TTT of this week.
Leydy @ OUaT & Redcarpetendings
Gorgeous pics - I agree with so many of these! It's true that New Adult novels focus on the romance - I'd much prefer they focus on what it's like to be either in college or trying to make it in the real world.
ReplyDelete#4....just thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative list full of gorgeous images.
ReplyDeleteYou're reading The Outcast? HOORAY!
ReplyDeleteI really like slow burn romances, too. There's just something amazing when they FINALLY get together and realize you know what I actually LIKE that person after getting to know him for a few months.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post! I would read all these books!
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Promises to Read
Oh, god, this is an amazing list!! Love your ideas and love your pictures! Life after college sounds good, just like a confident leading lady and horse back riding and...yeah, love it! Maybe you should start writing one of these books!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG YES. Best friends, EXPLORATION!? YES. Creative dates?? Please yes! UM also - I used to love horses! So i'll take some of that too! Yes, I'm treating this like an order form, a little of this a little of that, and I'd like that gift wrapped please. And SOUTHERN SETTINGS? OBVIOUSLY. <3333
ReplyDeleteSlow burn romance, my favorite kind of romance! :) I love it when it gradually develops and when it's subtle in the story. The same for more complex characters I don't like it when they are so one-dimensional.
ReplyDeleteI like your "between college and marriage" idea. I feel like there really aren't a lot of those books out there. But, like, the book shouldn't just be about finding your husband, it should be about friendships and finding jobs and traveling and stuff like that! Like ACTUAL New Adult that isn't just romance.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Yankee through and through, but I love books set in the South as well. One of my favorite recent Southern novels is OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys. It's gritty, but really good.
ReplyDeleteSusan
www.blogginboutbooks.com
It's almost like you're in my head, Hannah! These are definitely things I'd love to see more of in the books I read, and I'm happy you were able to voice them way more specifically and coherently than I ever could have.
ReplyDeleteI do really like the idea of after college, the just starting to grow up phase!
ReplyDeleteMissie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
I agree with ALL of these! And I definitely agree with the commenter who talks about actual new adult that isn't just romance. Great list!
ReplyDeleteLove how you did this with the pictures! I agree with all your choices - especially #6. I love my romances to be slow burners, they're more effective that way I think.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I really want to see more slow burn romance. I hate instalove and there is so much of that around at the minute. It's a lot better to see a romance that grows and builds up over time. Great picks :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT :)
Oh! Creative dates-what an awesome idea! I really enjoy a Southern setting as well. I assume you have read Sarah Addison Allen? Her books are so dreamy...Thanks for the lovely list! ~Megan
ReplyDeletehttp://wp.me/pzUn5-1Pd
I love your points here, Hannah. As a senior in University, I really really wish there were more books about life in college and growing up after graduation—in fact, I can’t really think of any off the top of my head, do you have any favourites of this sort? I also grew up near the water, and spent my childhood summers sailing, so reading about being near water just sucks me in out of nostalgia too. Same goes for horses ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with all your points about “the people”, too… I love it when books show positive relationships and character growth, when the leading lady is a real girl, who doesn’t have it all together and doesn’t necessarily by the end of the book, and definitely isn’t a “perfect” person. On the same token I hate reading about what are clearly toxic relationships, either friendships, relationships, or family members. As for slow burn romance… there is no better way, as far as I’m concerned ;-)
Oh goodness YES to 4, 5, and 6. Basically well written characters that aren't total cliches. Am I right?!
ReplyDeleteLovely list, Hannah! It was like you were inside my own head for some of these! Haha. WHY aren't there more books set it in the South? I love reading books that have a familiar setting, but since To Kill a Mockingbird, I don't think I've read a single book that even mentions my home state (granted, MS is a very exciting place! haha). Also, YES to college life. I would love more Fangirl-type books, where they are in college and going through that transition of living life on their own. And yay, another horse lover. I love all things horses. One of my all-time favorite vacations is one that involved horseback riding in the mountains. Sigh. I love love love your list <3 I hope we see more of these things in future books! :)
ReplyDeleteI would love books set before/during/after college. I'm in college right now, and it really is such a life-changing experience. And after this? I have no idea what to do with my life, so I would definitely relate to books set in that time. And supportive best friends? Yes please. I feel like we get way too few of those in literature, and it annoys me, because friendships are supposed to be good, right? I was talking to Ellice the other day about how horses scare the hell out of me, haha. I've had a few experiences sitting on a horse (not actually riding them though) and they were pretty traumatizing. I prefer small animals, haha. And the South! Ever since Hart of Dixie, I've been obsessed. Nowhere But Home was also just so wonderful, and I want more books set in the South, please.
ReplyDeleteWow... just the way you designed this post is beautiful! The pictures are perfect for each one!!! I agree about the South. I love reading about it... it's just so beautiful and the food sounds amazing, I would love to visit some day. I also really, really agree about horses. I was a horse girl growing up as well. I actually was telling my boyfriend recently that I want to take more lessons and actually learn how to ride English style. Although, I know how to ride English style but I would love to have proper lessons with it. My training was Western style and bareback, which I love but gosh... sidesaddle <3 This post has made me nostaglic about that now, lol.
ReplyDelete