Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.
This Week’s Theme:
Things On My Reading Wishlist
Initial Thoughts:
Don’t even get me staaaaaarttteeed.
Secondary Characters With Backbones
Supporting character giving the big ol’ fuck you to protagonists who think they deserve the world. Bye.
Rational and Conscientious Decision Making
Protagonists require to have more agency if they have the opportunity to do so rather than being dragged around by a willy nilly plot. I think you’d be surprised how often these heroes and heroines don’t step into the realm of a story being character-driven than one that is wholly plot centered.
Villains Who Actually Win
Antiheroes aside, a baddie winning just sounds great. I’m sure the masses would be like ???? if the book ends abruptly BUT THAT IS THE POWER OF MULTI-POV STORYTELLING AYYYYY.
Profanity
Only if it fits the dialogue. I’m not saying I need f-bombs dropped every page but only if it fits the dialogue. I feel like YA especially is watered down in diction because of the possibility of lower-aged readers. But damn, kids these days are super crass and you’d be surprised.
Witty and Snarky Characters
These are my favourite kind of characters. Full stop.
Worldbuilding That Builds The World
All I ask is that the world building limit plot holes. Of course, you can’t escape every single possibility out there but if it’s a glaring concern that destabilizes other avenues in a story’s narrative…then we got some problems. (Magic systems are the worst culprits)
Bittersweet/Sad Endings
93.4% of the time, I would probably want a happy ending because all cinnamon rolls deserve some semblance of happiness. But the other 8.6% of heroes ought to suffer crushing defeat at the “ending” ending, not as a cliffhanger-y lead into a sequel. Mathing.
Fantasy. Books. That. Come. With. Maps.
Or even any book with extensive traveling, really. You would be surprised how many books don’t have maps when it could greatly benefit from one.
Decent (Not Even “Great”) Adaptations
I’m not even asking for a faithful adaptation. I recognize that there may be times that things have to be cut, moved around, or added, to make the story flow better on screen. But all I ask is that it’s well cast, directed, and is written well. If you lay down a terrible foundation, then that’s that.
Afterthoughts:
Life cannot grant me any of the above, probably.
Cheers,
Joey
connect:
afterthoughtAn // twitter
anotherafterthought // goodreads
picturevomit // instagram
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
I love this list! So many great things on here. If you want a bittersweet/sad ending, I know of a couple of books you could try.
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Villains who win would be so interesting?? I don’t think I’ve actually read a book where that happens though lol. And omg witty and snarky characters are the bestttttt. Never get tired of them honestly!
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It upsets me when parents jump down a book’s throat because there is profanity. 1) Look at the media 2) Look at your kid’s friends. This book is not going to make him or her curse like a sailor.
And yes, snarky characters always.
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Secondary characters with backbones is such a good one!
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Love this – it would be so interesting to see a villain really win for once. And I’m with you about sad and bittersweet endings. I need my happy endings but sometimes I also want some endings that are a bit less…convenient I guess.
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MAPS!! I NEED MAPS! I need to track the movement of my characters and see the path they take so I can identify where they are and it’s significance from a geographical perspective. Secondary Characters With Backbones are also a must. I’d love to see them give the finger to the protagonist and head off on their own adventure.
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Great list, I’d love to see all of these things!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/top-ten-tuesday-106/
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Secondary characters with backbones? Absolutely, yes. Also, you’d be surprised how many of my 8th graders, after I’ve given them a book that has characters who speak like they’re real people, come to me and tell me their book has bad words in it. Like I didn’t already know. It’s actually a little hilarious.
-eli @ the (book) supplier
My TTT
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Now that I’ve heard you speak, I cannot not imagine you reading this aloud in my head.
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I’m sorry but did you want me to count the f-bombs in Winger for you? :)! Also, I’m not sure if you’ve read Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus but you might want to check that out.
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I’ll take some snarky villains who win, please. 🙂
https://thoughtsandafterthoughts.com/2017/05/09/things-on-my-reading-wishlist/
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The only snarky character you need in your life is me. ❤
I LIKE VILLAINS BUT I DON'T WANT THEM TO WIN. Unless they're cool villains. Idk.
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I would love a villain to win because why not? I also agree I feel like teenagers cuss a lot and YA doesn’t really show this and I feel like it is isn’t realistic in that way. The kids in my neighborhood could make a sailor blush.
– Tina @ As Told By Tina
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