Wednesday, May 28, 2014

TCWT May Blog Chain: Book Wishlist

Once again the lovely folks at Teens Can Write, Too! are hosting their monthly blog chain. This month's prompt is:

What kinds of published books would you like to see more of?

Disclaimer: I may be an avid reader, but there are a lot of books I haven't read, so the listed books probably do exist, and I just haven't found them yet. If you have recommendations I'd love to hear them. And let's face it: what I really want is a TARDIS so I can read all the books already on my to-read list without worrying about finding time to do so.
  1. More mysteries. Yes, several people in the chain have mentioned this, but what can I say? I agree. My parents raised me on a healthy diet of Blues Clues and murder mysteries, so I'm rather fond of that genre.
  2. More clean books. One of the reasons I'm wary of romance (be it a side plot or main plot) is that every time a kissing scene comes around I'm wincing and waiting for it to turn inappropriate. Ew. I don't want to read about that stuff.
  3. Fiction books about the Monuments Men from WWII. A few years ago, my parents read The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter, which is about the group of art scholars and museum directors who worked to preserve the great art of Europe during war time. I remembered it after I heard it was being made into a movie, and recently started reading it myself. I would totally read a work of fiction about characters involved with the Monuments Men and the art they recovered.
  4. Books by my friends. I've made a bunch of writing friends over the past few years, and would love to see their books in print. 
  5. Books about people who aren't searching for romance, or who don't find romance in the course of the story. Romance has its good points, absolutely, and I'll squeal over a cute couple as much as the next person, but not everyone is looking for romance. Some of us avoid romance because we just don't have the time and don't want to deal with the drama just yet. Lots of YA books have romance in them, but not all teens want/are ready for romance. It would be interesting to read about those people. There are other kinds of relationships and plots worth exploring. 
  6. The last of the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place books.  My sister and I recently looked up the next one - book 5 in a 6 book series - and it doesn't come out until next year. *Wails.*
I think that's about all. What kinds of books would you like to see more of? Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the chain:

15 comments:

  1. Great list! *cough, cough* I think I'll be able to cross three things off of your list, I'm writing a story (:

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  2. I'd love to have a Tardis too! There's no shortage of books on my To Read List. I'm very intrigued about your request for books about the Monuments Men. Just watched the movie the other night and loved the story.

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    1. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm on the hold list at the library, and really look forward to it. Thanks for the comment!

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  3. Yes! Yes! to Number Two. My best friend is wary of modern fiction for this reason and I understand why.

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    1. I'm glad I'm not alone in my wariness! Thanks for the comment!

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  4. "My parents raised me on a healthy diet of Blues Clues and murder mysteries". Oh yes. Because I always think of these two together. :P

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  5. Love this! You know that I, too, would die over a great YA mystery. There are so few out there, yet so many possibilities for each one. I've read some good British mysteries in the past, and I'd love to see more mysteries set in like late 19th/early 20th century U.S. in non-"wild west" settings (like the Gilded Age or Prohibition Era New York would be AMAZING). Same with mysteries not set in the West in general. A 20th century China mystery could be extremely cool, for example, and same with a 20th century Japan.

    And yes! I would love more books where the main character searches for romance but doesn't find it. That feels really realistic to me, and it gives you the benefit of connecting to the main character (since I think most of us want some level of romance, so it's a somewhat universal goal) without having to read pretty painfully written high school relationships that aren't very much like real life.

    -John

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    1. There's a short story called "The Professor of Smells". It's a Chinese folk story, I think. It's not really a mystery but it came to my head when you mentioned a mystery in China. I read it in an anthology of Chinese folk tales called "The Rainbow People". Most of the stories in there are pretty creepy!

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    2. John: I saw you suggest the Prohibition Era idea on another post, and YES. That would be so cool. All those ideas would be.

      Tara: That sounds interesting. I'll have to remember that.

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  6. Good post! I'm reading Pulse by Patrick Carman, and I'm definitely feeling the effects of overly-stressed romance. Part of it is teenage hormones, but occasionally we're more complicated than that.

    Good post!

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    1. Thank you! Agree with being more complicated. I don't like the notion that ALL TEENAGERS EVERYWHERE are looking for romance. There's more to life and teenagerdom than that.

      Thank you again!

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  7. Ooh! Awesome post. I should be able to take care of 2 and 4... no promises with 5. I love playing matchmaker too much. ;)


    ~Robyn Hoode

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    1. Thank you! I look forward to what you do with 2 and 4. :)

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