Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book’ which, once I got thinking about it, was actually a really fun list to compile! Don’t know why I sound surprised, though, considering I love making lists.
Below is a list of ten things that make me pick up a book, why I like them and three books I’ve added to my TBR because of that thing. You may notice that there are a few books that could easily fit into more than one category here, so I’m definitely on brand!
F/F Romance
I’ve said before that, when it comes to LGBT+ books, I used to find it really difficult to find good f/f books, whereas there seemed to be a plethora of m/m stories out there. Thankfully there are so many more books out now, and coming out in future, that cover the whole spectrum of the LGBT+ community, including lots of brilliant-sounding books to satisfy my f/f craving.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
We Set the Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Witches
I mean, come on. If witches weren’t on this list then you could rightly assume someone had booted me off my chair and taken over this blog. I’ve always been fascinated by the history of witchcraft and witch trials, so I love a witch book; I particularly have Celia Rees’s Witch Child to thank for this.
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft ed. by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
The Tudors
I’ve said plenty of times before that I’m a huge history nerd, and I’ve particularly loved the Tudor era ever since my Dad told me about Henry VIII and his six wives (I even created my own Tudor-themed book tag!). I love learning about this era, particularly about its women.
The Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton
Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann
Elizabeth’s Women: The Women Who Shaped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman
Islam
We see Islam a lot on the news and, in the western media I’m surrounded by, it’s often portrayed in a very negative light, and it’s because of that that I want to learn more about it for myself. I actually think it’s a fascinating religion – I find religions fascinating generally – and I also think it’s become a very misunderstood religion because so many people see ‘Islam’ and think ‘terrorism’. I want to get rid of my ignorance.
The House of Islam: A Global History by Ed Husain
It’s Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race ed. by Mariam Khan
This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World by Jerry Brotton
Sisters
I guess because I’m the youngest of three sisters myself, and stories involving witches so often involve sisters, I love books with strong and realistic portrayals of what it is to be a sister. I don’t want everyone to be the best of friends all the time because sisters can be a pain in the arse – like I said, I’m the youngest, so it’s still my job to annoy the hell out of my sisters – but I love it when books portray sisters as separate people with agency, not merely the main character and her sister who pops up to help from time to time.
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Banned Magic
Ugh this is probably one of the most overdone tropes in fantasy of all time – even Shrek essentially starts out as a banned magic story – and I eat it up like nobody’s business. I think because it’s a plot that so often leads to rebellions and seeking justice for persecution, it just ticks a lot of my boxes. Keep it coming, fantasy authors, keep it coming.
The Antidote by Shelley Sackier
Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Religious Conflict
This probably stems from my fascination with the Tudor era, when Catholics and Protestants were quite literally at each other’s throats after Henry VIII broke away from Rome and set up the Church of England so he could marry Anne Boleyn. I can’t help being fascinated by those people in history, and in stories, who believe something so strongly they’d willingly die a pretty horrid death for it.
These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch
Fires of the Faithful by Naomi Kritzer
The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse
Italian-inspired Fantasy
Italy’s one of my favourite countries, I’m very lucky in that I’ve visited three cities so far – Rome, Florence and Bologna – and I’m hoping to go to Naples this year, and since reading Foundryside earlier this year I’ve been craving more fantasy books inspired by Italy’s long history.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
Nigeria
In the past few years I’ve realised that I tend to really enjoy work by Nigerian writers, particularly if their work is set in Nigeria. I feel like I haven’t read anything set in Nigeria for a while, though, so I need to get on that.
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Westerns
I actually wrote a post about this not too long ago when I realised, after reading Dread Nation, that I tend to enjoy books with a western vibe. Traditional westerns I’m not into at all, but books that give me that Blood Red Road feel I am all about.
Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist
Jessticulates 
i’m reading Girl of Paper and Fire right now and I’m loving it. 🙂
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Yay, glad to hear you’re enjoying it! I’m looking forward to reading it. 🙂
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Great list! Witches and banned magic always seem to draw me in as well.
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I just can’t resist those kinds of stories! 😀
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The Tudor era vibe is pretty cool.
I lived in Naples for three years. Hope you get to go and you like it.
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Really? Wow! I’d love to have a go at living in Italy for a while, it’s such a beautiful country.
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The Tudors is pretty much an auto-read for me, too! I don’t even know how many Tudor-related books I have on my TBR right now, but it’s a lot!
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Haha, you’re not alone – my Tudor TBR is huge!
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I love your picks. I’d like to read more Italian- inspired fantasy for sure- so much potential there. Religious conflict and witches are also fascinating topics!
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Thanks, Greg! Yeah there’s something about the atmosphere in Italian-inspired fantasy that I love. 🙂
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I love a good witches/sister story. It’s been far too long since I’ve read either.
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Yesss, I can’t resist a good witch story.
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Now that I think about it, I really like banned magic as well. I read the other two, but I haven’t read The Antidote. Must look into it!
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It’s such a fun trope, isn’t it? I hope you enjoy The Antidote if you check it out!
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I love your list! Witches for sure make me pick up a book, no questions. Samw with anything Tudors-related! And, well, honestly most things on this list make me want to read a book as well, haha. The Queens of Innis Lear is such a fantastic sibling story. Great list!
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Glad you enjoyed it, I really want to read The Queens of Innis Lear this year!
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Wow!! Talk about an inspiring list! And I’m totally blown away by the books you’ve listed. I need to get ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ for the cover alone! I’d never heard of ‘Unbury Carol’ till a week or so ago when I blogged about adult fairy tales, and now it seems to be popping up everywhere 🙂 My TBR list is going to be in serious danger of toppling over when I’m done checking out the books you’ve listed.
My TTT: http://bit.ly/T10Tues
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Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy The Priory of the Orange Tree and Unbury Carol. 😀
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I’ve been really into Westerns recently as well!
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There’s something quite addictive about them, isn’t there? They’re so much fun!
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I totally agree with your list, Jess. I love books with the Tudors!
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Thanks Chrissi! Can’t resist a good Tudor book 😀
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I totally agree with you on F/F/ romances. Love them.
My post.
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Yes, I love reading them so much!
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Witches and banned magic are awesome in books! 🙂
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They’re so much fun!
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Witches!! Such a good one!
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Can’t resist a good witch story! 😉
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I’m quite curious about those Nigerian books you mentioned.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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I hope you enjoy them if you check them out!
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Yes I love the Tudors so much, will read basically anything Tudor inspired! I do like banned magic to an extent, but a side effect of that can be fantasies with very little magic at all, and I need quite a lot of it to keep my interest, I’ve read some books that have done it better than others.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/top-ten-tuesday-205/
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That’s a good point! I must admit, though, I quite like those fantasy worlds who have remnants of magic that they’ve lost – there’s something about the atmosphere in those settings that always pulls me in. 🙂
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Yeah I do get what you mean about that.
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Great list! I 100% agree with so many of these. I never really thought about myself as enjoying westerns but, like you say, loved that vibe in Dread Nation. Maybe I just need to find the right sort of westerns?
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I know what you mean – traditional westerns aren’t my thing at all, but I love women-led stories with a western vibe. I think Devils Unto Dust is another one set around/after the American Civil War, so it could be worth checking out if you enjoyed Dread Nation! 😀
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Thanks, I’ll look that one up! 🙂
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