Book Enticements

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is things that make me pick up a book. This is not a small list. I really like books. Here are a few.

1. Gorgeous Cover - Being a self-proclaimed cover slut, I have no problem with judging a book by its cover. Of course, cover art is totally subjective. I watched a video recently of a girl talking about her favorite covers. They were definitely not what I would have called an enticing cover. To each her own.

2. YA Fantasy - I have found that I really dig YA Fantasy books. I'm less into YA contemporary books, but the Fantasy is outstanding. Adult Fantasy can be too complicated. Some people really like that, but it takes me forever to read, and I lose interest. YA Fantasy moves faster and the print is bigger. It reads faster.

3. Book about Books - This will come as no surprise. I love to read about books and reading. Mostly non-fiction, but I do love a good novel about a bookstore or library. Some of my favorites are the memoirs about someone doing a reading challenge for a year. One woman read every book on a particular library bookshelf in order. One woman read a book a day for a year. I love that stuff.

4. Animal Narrators - Stories told from the perspective of an animal get me every time. The Spencer Quinn series told by the detective's dog is hilarious. Rita Mae Brown has a mystery series told by the cat. Just awesome. As long as no animals are harmed in the course of the book, I'm here for it.

5. Jane Austen - We all know I'm a major fan. I love to read all things Austen. Either re-tellings or books about her. One of my favorite things to read is a book about someone reading Jane Austen books and writing about the experience. I have a lovely stockpile of biographies I'm slowly picking through. I don't want to run out, you know?

6. Charlotte Bronte - There are less of these going around, but they are starting to pick up. Mostly, books about Charlotte Bronte are novels about her and her siblings as children.

7. Humor - Now, I don't mean a joke book. I mean a book that tells a story in a funny way. I love to laugh, and sometimes I read enough dark, heavy stuff that I need something light to cleanse the palate. Books with witty banter are perfect. I love Jenny Lawson's books because she has so many bizarre stories and she tells them hilariously.

8. Biographies of the insanely wealthy - Not like the Kardashians. They are all over the internet. I can read anything I want to know about them online (admittedly, I don't want to know much about them). I mean like Huguette Clark, who I'd never heard of until that book about her came out a couple of years ago.

9. Prison - I have this weird fascination with prison. I like books about prison. Either prison guard memoirs, or memoirs of prisoners, or people who go into prisons to teach.

10. Social Justice - Especially books about poverty and urban decline. Is this morbid? Probably. I've read several books about the fall of Detroit. I've got more on my TBR list. Fiction and non-fiction.

What are the things that will get you to pick up a book?