Top Ten Things That Make Me Want to Read a Book

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Things That Make Me Want to Read a Book.

On the Outside

1. Cover - Let's just be honest here. A cover says a lot about a book. And they're supposed to. You can look at some covers and immediately know that the book is going to be a mystery/thriller. Others scream Young Adult. The most obvious are usually romance and erotica. If I'm not at least drawn to the cover, chances are that I'm not even going to read the book description.
2. Author - There are two exceptions to what I said above. Despite not being interested in the book cover, I will read the book description at least if the book is written by an author I've read and enjoyed before. I like to say that I have auto-buy authors, but I do have a few subjects that I won't even bother reading about no matter who the author is. But an author I've enjoyed is a sure-fire way to ensure that I at least check out the description.
3. Title - Occasionally despite not being an author I've read before or a book cover that I'm attracted to, a title MIGHT pull me in enough to read the description.
4. Book Reviews - If I'm on the fence about whether or not I'm interested in a book, I'll check out the ratings on Goodreads or Amazon first. I try NOT to read book reviews if I know that I plan to read a book because I don't want what I've read to sway my opinion of a book, but occasionally book reviews have changed my mind about whether or not to read one.

Subjects that Get Me Everytime

5. Arranged Marriages - I don't know what it is about this topic, but I'm completely intrigued by it. And mostly I only sway toward this topic if I think the couple might actually end up together in a healthy relationship. This idea is so foreign to our current culture in America of marrying for love, yet I love the idea of two people coming together with no feelings of attachment to each other beyond a commitment and coming to love each other despite their start. On the other hand, I tend to run in the other direction if I can tell from the description that one of the characters will fall in love with someone outside of who they're arranged to marry.
6. Strong Female Characters - I wouldn't classify myself as a feminist at all. But I do love reading about strong female characters. Characters that have strong morals and convictions as well as physically strong and emotionally stable (shall we say wise). Characters that aren't victims--not because bad things don't happen to them, but because they overcome.
7. Pen Pal Romances - My husband and I fell in love over email. We knew each other in person so it wasn't like we met online (not saying there's anything wrong with that), but we got to know each other, became friends first, and then developed feelings through the emails that we shared back and forth. So these stories have a special place in my heart.
8. Amnesia - Another subject that I'm intrigued by. How the mind works is truly fascinating, and these stories have a unique underlying current: will he/she get their memory back or not?
9. Bad Boys Turned Good - While I admit it is possible, the bad boy who changes his stripes for the good girl is not something that typically happens in real life. It's hard enough to change things about yourself even when you truly want to change. Changing for someone else isn't typical and when it happens often isn't long term change. Yet, I do think that certain people out there make us each want to be a better person. And those are the exact people that we need to end up with. And of course, this is a way of living vicariously. All of us women have found the bad boy attractive at some point or other. Knowing it likely won't work out, reading books like this allows us to live vicariously.
10. Castles - If there are kings and queens and castles involved, chances are that I'm at least going to look into the book. Of course not all books with this setting are going to be winners for me, but this draws me in for sure. My inner five year princess wants to come out to play.

What about you guys? What things make you want to read a book?