If your favorite authors came to you and said, "What would you like my next book to be about?" what would you say?  Which themes would you suggest?  What settings?  What kinds of characters?  This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt asks us to answer this exact question.  It's such a fun topic that I couldn't resist joining in.  If you want to get on this bandwagon (and you totally do), click on over to The Broke and the Bookish to learn how.  I know I'd love to hear your take on this topic.  In the meantime, here are the Top Ten Things on My Reading Wishlist:

1.  Adoption—Adopting my daughter was such a huge, pivotal moment in my life that I will always be interested in discussions of this subject.  I'm fascinated with stories about birth mothers, birth fathers, adoptive mothers, adoptive fathers, adopted children, their siblings, and everyone else involved in the process.  Interracial adoption is relevant to my situation, so of course, I'm especially interested in that side of the issue.  Fiction, non-fiction, whatever—I just want more books about adoption.

2.  Bi-racial and African-American main characters—Along the same lines, I'd like to see more heroes/heroines who look like my beautiful, bi-racial daughter.  She lights up whenever she sees a brown-skinned, curly-haired child on t.v.—I want her to find the same kind of connection in books.  I think stories about kids/teens of color exploring their racial identity are fantastic, but I'd also love to see more novels where race isn't the central theme, more stories where they're just ordinary kids/teens solving ordinary kid/teen problems.

3.  Arizona—I am, admittedly, kind of an Arizona hater.  After moving here from greener, moister climes, I have little love for the desert in which I live.  It's boiling hot, bone dry, and dirt brown.  Not my favorite climate or landscape.  And yet, I see some great setting potential here—how about a survival story that takes place in the Grand Canyon?  Or a murder mystery set during a houseboating trip on Lake Powell?  Or an action/adventure in the desert, with its extreme weather and threatening wildlife?  Surely, there's a story lurking around here somewhere ...

4.  Teens facing crises of faith—I know novels about religion are hard-sells (unless, of course, they're about polygamous Mormons, fanatical cults, etc.), but I'd love to see more stories about teens grappling with their beliefs about God, especially if they differ from those of their parents.  I also enjoy novels about religious people, especially teens, struggling to be "good" in a world full of temptation.

5.  Cults—I admit, I find these kinds of books endlessly fascinating.  Why?  I have no idea, I just do.

6.  Obesity/weight issues—Most YA novels are, at least in part, about self-image.  I'd like to see more of them about kids who are obese/struggling with weight.  It's an important topic and one I think would resound with readers of all ages.

7.  Stay-at-home moms—I know we don't seem like the most exciting characters in the world, but I think some great books could be written about SAHMs.  Just think of all the potential conflicts for a novel: kids, husbands, boredom, identity crises, neighborhood mysteries/dramas, etc.

8.  YA murder mysteries (no supernatural abilities involved)—Is it just me or is the market seriously lacking in classic murder mysteries for teens?  And I don't mean the kind that are solved through supernatural means.  I'm not even talking about "kid detective" stories necessarily, just contemporary murder mysteries that teens solve or help to solve.

9.  Books/reading—As a bibliophile, I always love reading about books.  I love stories set in bookstores, stories where book worlds collide with the real world, stories about characters who love books, etc.

10.  Original post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels—Seems like an oxymoron, I know.  I still love this genre, but it's getting so stale.  There's got to be a new and different take on it out there somewhere, right?  Right?

So, that's what's on my reading wishlist.  How about yours?  And, have you read any good books that fit into the categories I've listed?  I'd love any recommendations.

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

Unlike most teenagers, 17-year-old Hayley Kincain's never gone to high school.  She's spent the last 5 years traveling with her dad, a truck driver who prefers life on the road to anything else.  Hayley knows he's trying to outrun the nightmares that have plagued him ever since he returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.  He might be able to fend them off for a few days or weeks, but they always come back.  Always.  No matter how thoroughly he tries to drown his memories in alcohol or forget them with mind-dulling drugs, they're always waiting to beat him up and tear him down.  Hayley watches her dad like a hawk, savoring his good days and fearing the dark ones.  With anxiety attacks coming more and more frequently, she's terrified, not just for her father, but also for herself.

Though Hayley should probably be thrilled with her dad's decision to move back to his childhood home in upstate New York, she's not.  She's scared—scared of going to school, scared of meeting new people, scared of someone discovering her turbulent home life.  Hayley vows not to let anyone get that close.  Not even Finn, the cute boy who obviously wants to get to know her better.  Especially not Finn.  If he knew the truth, he'd run as far away from the Kincains as he could go.

As Andy Kincain's PTSD gets increasingly worse and Hayley's plagued with disturbing flashbacks of her own, she begins to wonder if maybe it's all too much for one teenager to handle.  But what can she do?  How can she save them both?

Laurie Halse Anderson is one of those authors whose books I will always pick up and read.  With novels like Speak and now The Impossible Knife of Memory, she's proved herself to be a skilled, sensitive writer who explores tough issues with a deft, yet delicate hand.  Her people and places come to such vivid life that readers can't help becoming ensnared in their stories.  Anderson's newest novel is no exception.  It's a sharp, compelling tale made even more affecting because it stems from the author's own experience dealing with her father's PTSD.  Powerful and poignant, The Impossible Knife of Memory is not to be missed.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams and A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler)

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