Top Ten Things on my Reading Wishlist

This week’s top ten tuesday topic is things on our reading wishlists, things you want to see more of in books. Book genres / tropes do tend to go through trends as they years pass. There was a while where paranormal fantasy was a big thing, then urban fantasy, then dystopian. I’m not really sure where we’re headed next but her are my hopes for the next few years in reading.

 

More Diversity

I think this is kind of a given and will be on a lot of people’s lists. More diversity can never be a bad thing, and with the expansion of a lot of books to include a variety of sexualities, mental illness and disabilities (along with a bunch of other marginalized groups) I am looking forward to seeing this continue. Personally I really enjoyed reading about the experiences of diverse characters because it helps me gain an insight into other people’s realities and be more empathetic towards people I know.

 

More YA Sci-fi (not the dystopian kind)

It might just be me, but there isn’t a lot of YA sci-fi out there. I’d love some recommendations if anyone has them, but books like the Illuminae files, Legend, The Starbound series and The Lunar Chronicles have opened my eyes to the possibilities of YA sci-fi. There have been more of these books around in recent years, so hopefully that trend continues.

I’d like to read more books that are a bit more positive about our future considering the massive extent of dystopian novels out there. It’s understandable that they exist, but think of all the cool technology us bookworms can create and then maybe some scientist will read the book and decide to actually make it. You never know.

 

More Time Travel

Time travel is actually something I love reading about, and with the recent releases of time travel books like The Girl From Everywhere and Passenger  (neither of which I have read yet but I plan to) I am hopefully that there will be more time travel books appearing. I like history, and I like seeing how people can influence history and all the paradoxical effects this can have. I guess more alternate histories also fits in here. I really like history okay.

 

More Heists

Heists will never go out of style. I love reading a good heist, whether it be in a light hearted novel like Allie Carter’s or a super intense fantasy one like Six of Crows (which I still haven’t read yet). I am hoping that there will be more heist focused books, or books with clever plots and deception. I just want clever books.

 

More Female Friendships

The female friendships in books is overall quite lacking and I would love to not have to search for books that actually include these friendships. I want them to be common. I want to read about girls being friends and spending time together when it isn’t in a fluffy contemporary where they’re talking about a guy.

 

More Realistic Romances

I’m not talking instalove or some weird Stockholm syndrome. I want a slow burn relationship that I can get behind. One where it isn’t evident to me from the second I meet the character that they are going to be together but where I get to see them slowly grow together over the course of a long series. Often romance is too rushed or too idealized, I want a relationship that I could see myself getting into.

 

More Geeky Characters

Yes to characters who have nerdy discussions and are in STEM fields. Yes to characters who are intelligent and scientific and very clever and know they are. I don’t want characters who are clever but emotionally insensitive, I want fully fleshed out characters who happen to be scientists. I actually really want more geeky conversations about science or fandoms or things like that. I want characters fangirling and freaking out about some technological advancement.

 

More Average Characters

I would much prefer to see characters be appreciated for the skills they do have by people who like them than to have them be good at everything or really attractive to everyone. I want characters who aren’t perfect or even good. I want characters who are actually pretty horrible people and are bad at everything but genuinely have positive intentions. And I want relationships where characters fall in love with personality or habits or little quirks, and that makes their physical appearance more attractive because that’s realistic.

 

More Non European Fantasy Worlds

This has become a recurring trend in the recent years, but as a big reader of fantasy I want worlds that aren’t inspired by medieval Europe. I am looking forwards to seeing more unique fantasy worlds in the future.

 

More Realistic Portrayals of Teenagers

In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of the representations of teenagers in YA books are quite horrible. They make stupid decisions and are either rebellious punks trying to destroy the system, emotional messes, shy bookworms or party animals. What about the 99% of the teenage population that doesn’t fit into these statistics?? Or maybe does a but sometimes but not all the time? I would love to see a teenage girl I could relate to, and maybe some bookworms who are extroverted?? That would be cool. We do exist you know.

If you have any recommendations of books for me based on these requests please let me know down in the comments