Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
1. Prehistoric, Neanderthal, Hunter-Gatherer, and/or Anatomically-Modern Human
I’m always interested in books set at this point in the past.
2. Magical Realism
There’s nothing like a story that is 99% realistic but has a slightly magical twist to it.
3. HEA (happily ever after)
It’s not that common in the scary stuff I sometimes read, so I have to branch out to other genres to see characters who ride off into the sunset peacefully.
4. Friends to Lovers
This is how my spouse and I ended up together. When I do dip into more romantic reads on occasion, starting off with a strong friendship between the characters is definitely the first thing I’m looking for.
5. Twist Ending
If the right amount of foreshadowing is included ahead of time, I love it when there’s a twist ending that catches me off-guard but, in retrospect, makes perfect sense. It’s quite difficult to accomplish, so I never fault authors who can’t quite strike the balance between hinting at what’s to come and still keeping their audience guessing. It’s simply a fun bonus when it does occur.
6. Solarpunk, Hopepunk, and/or Utopian Themes
Show me visions of the future that are remarkably better than the world we currently live in!
7. Animal Companions
Assuming the pets don’t die or get seriously injured in the story, I love reading about characters who have close relationships with their furry (or scaly, aquatic, or what have you) friends.
8. Urban settings
I love living in an urban setting as well as reading all sorts of stories with this sort of setting.
9. Medical triumphs
That is to say, there’s nothing like reading a book about a condition or illness that we now either prevent with better nutrition, clean water, vaccines, municipal sanitation, etc. or have such effective treatments for that the average person may not realize how dangerous or painful it was for previous generations. It’s exhilarating to read about all of the progress we’ve made.
10. Mutual Aid
That is, stories about people working together to solve seemingly insurmountable problems. It’s easy for this topic to come across as an cheesy after school special, but when care is taken in fleshing out the characters and exploring the conflict(s) they face in depth, the hopefully happy ending that eventually comes can be immensely satisfying.
Fantastic list! A couple of really unique ones too!
Thank you!
Such a unique list! I also love a good animal companion, but yes, no dying of the animal companion or I’ll never forgive the author.
Thanks. And, yeah, that’s the worst.
These are all wonderful!
Heh, thanks. 🙂
I agree with you about Friends to Lovers, I like that trope a lot and my husband is first of all my best friend so I look for that in romances too. I love Solarpunk and Hopepunk too and definitely need to read more of them! 🙂
Here’s my list this week: https://darkshelfofwonders.com/top-10-buzzwords-that-make-me-pick-book/
That’s how I ended up with my spouse as well! 🙂
“Medical triumphs”, good way to phrase it. I guess that would be mine, too. It would be so awful to read one which was a medical disaster.
https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/03/ttt-buzzwords-that-make-me-want-to-read.html
Oh, absolutely! That wouldn’t be fun at all.
In reference to your “Solarpunk, Hopepunk, and/or Utopian Themes” I had not heard about Hopepunk until curating this week’s TTT list. I love this tag and the Utopian themes.
Isn’t it a great word? I learned about it on Mastodon and it seems to be gaining popularity.
I also love magical realism, friends to lovers, HEA and animal companions!
Yay!
A great list. I like Magical Realism. I want to read more of it!
Have a great week!
Thanks. 🙂
Some excellent choices here, I forgot to add on my list, historical fiction. Though not a big fan of magical realism to be honest.
Cool. 🙂
You have some really interesting ones. I also love animal companions, HEA and a good twist 🙂
Thanks. That’s nice!
Love happy ends (they are always a must) and a bit of magic is always most welcome in a story. I think that tends to always lean into the HEA and of course, I am always a fan of that. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting my list today!
You’re welcome, Rissi. It’s always nice to hear from you.
I love magical realism. I think that’s my preferred type of fantasy, though I have been branching out into more cozy fantasy lately. Thanks for stopping by my post earlier.
Here’s my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/the-qs-us-vs-have-it-ten-titles-starting-with-q-u-or-v/
You’re quite welcome!
Twist endings are so good when they are done right. I feel like I haven’t read many with a twist ending at all, lately. HEA are a must these days! Great list.
Thanks! 😀
I love an animal companion! Also yes to the HEA (why I read so much romance) and visions of the future that are better than the now.
Yay! I’m glad you get it.
This is a great list! I like most of these too, especially magical realism, friends to lovers and twist endings.
Awesome. 🙂
Very good list. One of my favorites is animal companions. As long as nothing bad happens to the animal, I’m there for it.
Hope you enjoy your books.
Thank you!
I love your list! These are all things that make me want to read the books as well!
Yay! That’s awesome.
There is something really special about magical realism for sure.
For sure. 🙂
Lydia, you put together a great list. Happily Ever After is probably my favorite from your list. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.
You’re welcome. Thank you for your kind words.
I like happily ever afters too. And I prefer the pets don’t die.
Yay!
Great list, Lydia. I do enjoy Friends to Lovers, HEA, and Magical Realism. I think Found Family is my favourite trope though.
It’s been on almost every list this week. Impressive!
Excellent list. I dip my toe into Magic Realism occasionally. It is a very different and surprising genre. I hadn’t heard of solarpunk or hopepunk. Very cool! I will need to give this genre a try.
I hope you love it! Becky Chambers is one of the authors doing cool stuff with it.
You would like Priscilla Bird’s Baker National Forest series (now three books with a fourth one beginning): Neanderthal couple and Sasquatch couple are friends with each other and with wolves, pumas, ravens, space aliens, and very very selectively with ordinary people from the nearby towns. Officialdom has no idea that they’re living in the Forest.
I’ve watched these books grow from their blog beginnings so I might not be a reliable reviewer. They need reviews from people meeting the characters for the first time in finished books.
Oh, thank you so much! They sound amazing. I’ll see if I can find copies of them.
Yay for solarpunk/hopepunk! I also really love magical realism.
Awesome!
Interesting list, Lydia, some of those buzzwords I would have never thought of though I do like them. Well done.
Thanks for visiting my list:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/top-ten-tuesday-buzzwords.html
You’re welcome. Thank you for your kind words.
I love Magical Realism and Friends to Lovers!
Yay!
Nice list! You have some great choices.
Thank you.
I’m with you on a lot of these. Even in mysteries/thrillers, I always want a HEA, at least of some kind, you know? I’m an optimist; what can I say? 🙂
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Mutual aid stories are sooo satisfying, because I believe we don’t talk about and boost it enough as a way to feel connected to one another and genuinely help the world, even by small gestures, each doing our little part. Great choice!
Oops, sorry this got displaced from being a new thread… the page defeated me, I misclicked and then thought refreshing would fix it, argh!
And no worries. 🙂
Yes, precisely!
Of course! Happy belated TTT!
Great list! Magical Realism and Friends To Lovers are high on my list of reasons to read a book, too.
Thank you. 🙂