Do you ever find yourself reading the same genre with the same premise/themes over and over and over again?  Do you ever wonder why you like what you like?  I do, too, which is why today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is so fascinating to me:  Top Ten Things That Make Me Immediately Want to Read a Book.  Besides wanting to read new books by favorite authors, there are certain fictional topics and themes that get me every time.  I've actually done this topic a couple times over the years so you can check out this April 2013 post and this one from April 2017 if you're interested in seeing how little my reading preferences have changed!

I'll spill those particular beans in a minute, but first, if you want to join in the Top Ten Tuesday fun (and you really do), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl.  Read some simple instructions, make your own list, then have a grand ole time visiting other blogs.  It's a great way to find new blogs to love, add good reads to your TBR list, and spread the book blogging love.  Plus, it's FUN.

Okay, here we go with the Top Ten Things That Make Me Immediately Want to Read a Book:


1.  Family Secrets—I'm always intrigued by the tantalizing secrets lurking in the closets of families, especially in those that seem perfect from the outside.  Note:  I enjoy this topic in fiction.  In real life, you can keep your dirty laundry to yourself.  I really don't want to know.  In novels, though, bring it on!

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Anything by Kate Morton or Joshilyn Jackson


2.  Creepy Old Houses—There's just something about a big, mysterious abode that sets my imagination of fire.  Especially if it's perched atop a rugged cliff near the sea.  The possibilities with this theme are literally endless.  Think hidden passageways, ghosts, secret rooms, forgotten bones, concealed treasures, etc.  Show me a creepy old house on a book's cover or anywhere in its plot summary, and I'll read it.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Anything by Kate Morton or Carol Goodman


3.  Homesteading/Pioneers—On the flip side, I also enjoy books about pioneers who leave their creepy old houses to go West in search of land, freedom, and new starts of all kinds.  Something about a character battling inclement weather, poverty, opposing forces, etc. in order to eke out a life in a wild land appeals to me.  Must be my Mormon pioneer heritage that draws me to these kinds of stories.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Gold Seer trilogy by Rae Carson, and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson


4.  World War II—I love historical fiction and this event/time period is one I just can't stop reading about.  No matter how many WWII novels I read, I always want to pick up more.  It's an endlessly fascinating topic and time period.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Diary of Anne Frank, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum


5.  Adoption—Adopting my daughter has been an incredible, life-altering experience.  I'll never not want to read about adoption, whether it's non-fiction guides on various aspects of the process or novels about adoptees searching for their birth families, this topic always reels me in.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr


6.  Amnesia/Traumatic Brain Injury—For some reason, I also find this topic irresistible.  From psychological thrillers to murder mysteries to domestic dramas, I love me an amnesia/TBI novel.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson


7.  Survival Novels, Especially in Severe Environments of In the Wake of Some Kind of Disaster—As big a wimp as I am, it's kind of surprising that I enjoy these types of books so much, but I do.  Whether they're memoirs or novels, I dig a riveting survival story.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf, Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer


8.  Virus/Disease Outbreaks—Again, I'm not sure why this topic intrigues me so, but it does.  I find outbreak books (both fiction and non-) both horrifying and hard to put down.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson


9.  Hoarding—Having books stashed and stacked in every corner of your house doesn't count as hoarding, right?  Asking for a friend ... I'm always engrossed by books about this condition.  It's fascinating to read about the psychology behind the disease and how people cope with it.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omolulu



10.  Small Towns—Cue Bruce Springsteen.  I was born and raised in a beautiful little town that's not nearly as exciting as most fictional villages.  Still, I love me a small town setting, especially if it's filled with quirky characters, loving (if nosy) neighbors, and some simmering secrets that are about to be uncovered ... Be it quaint, hardscrabble, mysterious, or somewhere in between, a small town setting is always going to get me.

Favorite book(s) in the genre:  the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny, the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr, and the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani

So there you have it, ten themes/genres that I just can't resist.  How about you?  What topics/settings/genres pull you right in?  If you've read any great books that fit into my favorite categories, let me know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor.

Happy TTT!       

In Dennis Acres, Missouri (Population: 53), deep, dark family secrets aren't buried, they're discussed—at the gas station, the post office, the Mexican restaurant (no need to specify which one since there's only one), even on the local radio station.  Benny Summer would prefer to keep his family issues on the down low, but that's just not happening.  Everyone knows his mother took off.  And now that his father's junk shop has closed, meaning their house is crammed to the rafters with useless stuff, it's pretty easy to see the truth about that, too.  There's no use denying it:  Benny's got an absent mom and a dad who cares more about his possessions than his marriage.  Or his son.  It's more than the 12-year-old can handle.

Every family has a secret it hides from the world. The Tompkins' is just dirtier than most. Lucy's spent her life hiding it, protecting herself from certain shame and humiliation. She's done everything she can to keep people away, never letting anyone come closer to her house than the porch. No one can know what's inside. Not friends, not family, not neighbors, not repairmen, not delivery people. No one. Which becomes a major problem when Lucy finds her mother dead in the hallway. The thought of reporters covering the story, filming the heaps of junk that fill every corner of her house, announcing the lurid truth - that Joanna Tompkins suffocated under a pile of her own filth - gives Lucy the shakes. She's finally got a best friend, even a potential boyfriend, both of which she knows she'll lose if her filthy secret gets out.

Lucy's story provides the backbone for C.J. Omololu's stunning first novel, Dirty Little Secrets. It's a heartbreaking story dedicated to "every child who grew up with a shameful secret" (Acknowledgments, Page 211). Closets skeleton free? No matter, you will still feel for brave, believable Lucy.

As the 16-year-old digs through the rubble of her mother's life, grief, anger and a strange sense of freedom swirl inside her. She can vaguely remember a time when Joanna Tompkins cared more about her children than about her precious stuff. But that time is long past. Any warm memories have long been erased by her mother's stacks of junk, garbage she obviously treasured over Lucy's happiness. Her compulsive hoarding stole Lucy's childhood, guaranteeing she would never do anything as normal as invite girls over for a PJ party, gossip with her best friend in her bedroom, or, God forbid, eat a meal at an actual dining room table. Instead, she's lied, evaded, and lived in mortal fear of anyone discovering her dirty secret.

Lucy's so determined to hate her mother that she's surprised by the little things she unearths - a secret scrapbook, a handmade teddy bear, blue ribbons. Is it possible she never knew her mother at all? As Lucy literally shovels the past out of her life, she finds a sort of healing - even as she struggles to hide her biggest secret of all.

I've read plenty of books about family secrets, but never one that moved me as much as Dirty Little Secrets. My heart hurt for Lucy. Omololu paints such a clear picture of the filth, shame and despair associated with compulsive hoarding that you'd think she was speaking from personal experience. She's not. Still, the story comes off as achingly real. Although Dirty Little Secrets ends on a semi-hopeful note, it's never warm and fuzzy. It's an honest, sometimes brutal, portrait of what it means to be a child burdened with a terrible secret. It's heartbreaking. It's moving. It's completely unforgettable. In three words: Highly, highly recommended.

(Readalikes: Reminded me of What's Eating Gilbert Grape? by Peter Hedges)

Grade: A-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some language, sexual innuendo and underrage drinking/partying

To the FTC, with love: I purchased this book from Amazon using the millions of dollars I make from my lucrative book reviewing career.

(Note: If your life has been impacted by compulsive hoarding, check out Children of Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive)