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When it comes to books I'm pretty much a creature of habit. I spent years experimenting with different genres until I found my favourites and I don't deviate too much from it. I love my horror, prepper apocalypse, creature feature and urban fantasy not filled with sex. I also enjoy tudor fiction, political, royal and history non fiction, mountain expeditions, some SF and dystopian. I only read the odd fantasy series or YA book if I love the sound of it. But there are certain scenarios that if I see them in book blurbs, I'm really keen to read about!
1) EMP/Solar Flares
I love a good disaster book but I have to admit that the EMP is a personal favourite to read about. With all electricity knocked out, we see tense journeys home on foot while relatives at home get their home defences ready or go on last minute supply runs. These books are generally tense and exciting and I love them! Solar Flares have the same effect.
2) Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs have fascinated me since I was a kid so I love books with dinosaurs in them. I enjoy dinosaur planets where a colonisation attempt goes wrong, deep dark jungles with lost worlds, game shows with dinosaurs, water based dinosaurs eating people, dinosaur theme parks, stranded on dinosaur islands or expeditions to a mysterious island. Love them!
3) The Deep Dark Woods
There are so many reasons to love a dark forest! There are campers being killed by cannibals and serial killers, forests with all kinds of monsters, angry sasquatches, attacks on a cabin in the woods, evil dead type plots, hostage scenarios, lost and being chased by something nasty, survival plots...I just love this for a book setting!
4) Sharks
Whether it is normal sharks, mutated sharks or gigantic megalodons, I have been fascinated by these guys since I first saw Jaws. As soon as I see a cover with sharks, I'm looking at the blurb and hoping it sounds great so I can grab the book! I'm addicted to megalodon books and never pass up the chance to read one!
5) Expeditions
Any book that features an expedition catches my eye, whether it is a trek through the jungles of Peru, exploring digs, caverns and caves, a trek in the Himalayas, death and disaster in the pyramids, lost world discoveries or exploring the Amazon river and basin, there is so much that can and will go wrong!
6) Monsters
I love monsters in horror, SF, UF, fantasy...I've got books about sea monsters of every kind from krakens to pliosaurs, giant mutant things escaping from labs, vampires, shifters, demons, zombies, chupacabra, sasquatches, wendigo, mothman, jersey devil, spiders, snakes, closet monsters. I love mythical and real monsters, good and evil monsters!
7) Henry VIII and his wives
Although I avoid romance, for some reason I love the scandal and intrigue fiction books of the tudor court! I love reading about Henry and his wives, the stories of his mistresses and whether he fathered other children to these women. I read a ton of tudor fiction. I also like fiction about his children and their reigns and other notable people from his court.
8) Games and Trials
I love games and trials! There are those that test YA characters and adults to determine where they fit in society, twisted game shows that kill for entertainment, people offered prizes or freedom to take part in deadly trials and competition, or maybe a list of dangerous tasks on a quest...I see a lot of good plots like this in horror, dystopian and SF.
9) Behind the scenes political
I've always been interested in politics, both UK and US. I love reading behind the scenes of election campaigns and referendums, the diaries of politicians, what really went on when a certain government was in charge and the scandals during a presidency. I have a lot of these that I'm looking forward to reading!
10) Disasters
I love reading about fictional disasters. There are natural disasters like earthquakes, tornado, flooding and volcanic eruptions. There are pandemics and zombie apocalypses. There are terrorist attacks and nuclear explosions. I've always enjoyed a tense and scary disaster of some kind to get the heart pumping!
So much to love on this list - sharks, monsters and disasters. All great reasons!
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Maria VonTrapp, these are a few of my favourite things!
DeleteI like the deep dark woods, too! Pretty much all of the books I read are set in remote places.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
There is nothin quite like a dark and creepy forest!
DeleteOh I love this week's topic!!
ReplyDeleteI love finding books with my favourite themes!
DeleteSharks and dinosaurs are a favorite of mine when it comes to movies.
ReplyDeleteI love sharks and dinosaurs in books and films! I never get enough of Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and Jurassic Park/World!
DeleteI love all of these things, too. Except for the political one. Those books I avoid. But the rest? Love them! :D
ReplyDeleteIt is just so exciting to find new books coming out that are set in your favourite scenarios and have your favourite themes!
DeleteEXpeditions and monsters always get my imagination going. :) And ooh a deep dark woods isn't half bad either!
ReplyDeleteI love going along on booky expeditions and watching the horror unfold!
DeleteWe have a list of opposites, as I love all the warm and fuzzy, sometimes even, schmaltzy stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat's the fun thing about book tastes isn't it! I find it fun to see what other people love in books too!
DeleteI like most of these genres too.
ReplyDeleteThey are fun topics to read about!
DeleteI see sharks on there, yay! Haha, you'll love my Waiting on Wednesday then :D
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
Ooh I'll be over to check that out today!
DeleteMonsters, the deep dark woods, twisty-twists, secrets and atmospheric. Those are all the code words that work for me!
ReplyDeleteThese things certainly fire up my imagination!
DeleteDinosaurs, yes! Every time!
ReplyDeleteThere's just something about a dinosaur adventure!
DeleteI want to read a few of your monster books - they look like so much fun. I'm a huge fan of the syfy movies but haven't read anything like that.
ReplyDeleteI usually go through phases. I'll read one genre for months or years and then dump it for another because I get bored.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
My Goodreads shelves have sections for sea monsters and dinosaurs and all kinds of nasties! I'm struggling to read just now but I really need to get back into it!
DeleteI would pick up books from any of these categories. I tend to want to pick up end of the world type books more lately and I always like a story with some kind of game or trial.
ReplyDeleteI have so many apocalypse series waiting for my attention. A few recent ones have been a bit disappointing though but it does clear some shelf space!
DeleteI love the enthusiasm in this post! I think in a lot of ways it's a list of things that would make me avoid books, lol, but I do share the special affection for books about Henry VIII and the tudors. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Tudors are such fun to read about-so many scandals and intrigue going on! I don't even mind the romance in them for some reason!
DeleteYESSS! Awesome list!
ReplyDeleteA few of my favourite things!
DeleteSolar Flares that is one I haven't read often about. Great list!
ReplyDeleteMary
Every time I hear a news report about solar flares in the sky, I get very jumpy!
Delete