(Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.)
This week’s task is to list topics, words, and phrases that immediately attract my attention and make me pick up and want to buy the books in which they are mentioned. Don’t know if I’ll make it to ten, but let’s give it a shot!
- Sex/psychology/sociology – That’s right, I read sex books. I love reading about sex research and all the areas of psychology and sociology that have sprung up (ha, pun!) around it. Tell me that David Buss or Cindy Meston has written a new book and I’m on it like white on rice on a paper plate in a snowstorm.
- Regency – Pride and Prejudice was my gateway drug into this genre. I want to get my grubby paws on everything Georgette Heyer ever wrote — although no character can take the place of Lizzie Bennet.
- Fantasy – Seriously, my love of this stuff is unhealthy. Show me book that includes dragons, magic, and a BAMF heroine and I’m putty.
- History – Okay, not all history. I love Bill Bryson because At Home and A Short History of Nearly Everything give me little bites of everything from how salt and pepper came to be common table items to how we think the world was made. Politics isn’t normally my thing, but I loved learning about Abraham Lincoln and what made him such a great president.
Most of what I’m reading these days—and what I’ve always read, really—falls into one or more of these categories. Fortunately there’s a never-ending supply of each!
What topics hook you immediately? Let me know in the comments!
You have great picks! I’ve not read any sex/ psychology/ sociology books but I have read lots of articles about them so I should get my hands on some.
Thanks, Kayla! It’s a really interesting topic, and so many different perspectives. I like David Buss, Cindy Meston, Mary Roach, Wendy Shalit (she’s on the conservative end), and Jessica Valenti just to name a few. It’s all so much fun to read!
A big YES to Georgette Heyer!! I got addicted to her when I was a teenager and I have copies (really old copies, some of them, or ones from the 70s) of almost all her romance and historical fiction books (none of her detective novels) and have read almost all of them too (haven’t read Lord John, one of her historical ones, and maybe one other). I used to read them all the time but haven’t in a really long time – would love to re-read them all, they’re such great fun!
I like psychology, too, and reading about sex – I read a fun little book a couple of years ago all about the kiss, its history and why we do it and what kissing does to our hormones, fascinating stuff though there’s not a lot of research on it still. I have some other books I still haven’t read yet, like Unnatural Selection about how some societies get rid of girl babies etc., and Delusions of Gender and, of course, the one I read about on your blog, Cinderella Ate My Daughter. Lots to look forward to reading! I really want to understand some of the research and arguments that are out there, it’s always relevant. 🙂
I only got 4 hours of sleep last night – please, what is a BAMF heroine?
So good to hear from you, Shannon! I stumbled upon Heyer totally by accident — they put a bunch of her books out in print again a couple years ago, and I can’t get enough of them. Her mysteries are much less entertaining, though. I think I’ve actually got a copy of Lord John…you know, somewhere.
Seems like I had a book about the history of kissing on my TBR list, but I can’t find it. But then I’m loopy from some procedures/tests I had done earlier today, so I could just be skimming over it. 🙂
Unnatural Selection sounds interesting, but I don’t know if I could read that without getting too mad to like it. Cinderella Ate My Daughter was awesome, and I hope you like it! Orenstein just wrote an article in the New York Times about breast cancer screenings. Great stuff, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
So much to learn, I love it!
“BAMF” stands for Bad-Ass Mother F*cker. 🙂
I share your opinion of regency and fantasy. I don’t think I’ve read any books that focus solely on sex… although it’s an interesting subject. It just makes me feel kind of uncomfortable, I guess 😀
It’s definitely a bit of an uncomfortable topic, and those are the books I tend to leave at home (no reading them in line at the grocery store!). That said, there should be nothing that embarrasses you about your reading habits. If you want to read it, go for it! 🙂
Yeah, it’d be nice if I had guts to do it 😀 Maybe some day soon… if it really fascinates me, I’ll read it. There’s no question in that.
Good! I hope you find one you like.