I’ve written about book pet-peeves before, and today I thought of writing about the opposite–though I’m not sure what those would be called!  I’ve written often enough about the kinds of books or characters I like, such as strong heroines and slow-burn romances, but those are fairly broad concepts and (fortunately) fairly common!  So here are a handful of more specific and more unusual things sure to delight me when I find them in a story…

1) Cross-book references: I love it when I’ve read the same book as a character I’m reading about, and the more obscure the better.  It gives me a little thrill of commonality.  So naturally I loved the Libriomancer series (so many references! SO many!) and Breadcrumbs.

2) Settings I’ve visited: I always get excited when a book goes to somewhere I’ve actually been (or when I can go somewhere that I’ve read about).  The more specific, the better.  London is nice; Kensington Gardens is better; the bench closest to the Round Pond when walking south on the Broad Walk is the best.  (Thank you, J. M. Barrie, that’s a real example!)

3) Narrators who talk to me: Speaking of J. M. Barrie, he’s the master of a narrator who addresses his story right to the reader–and Catherynne Valente is just about as good.  Of course, this only applies to friendly narrators.  One of my pet peeves is the flip of this, narrators who talk to the reader but are hostile or insulting (I really don’t know why anyone ever writes this way, but sometimes it comes up…)

4) Villains who think they’re heroes: There’s something marvelous about truly awful, ruthless characters who staunchly believe they’re in the right.  Because I think that’s how people really are!  To pull an example from TV, Gul Dukat on Deep Space Nine is the best for this.  Those Bajorans just didn’t appreciate his guidance while he was running the military occupation of their planet…

5) Heroes who think they’re villains: This can go too far with angst, but when done right I love a character who is so clearly good but doesn’t believe it.  This is a variation on my “brooding heroes with hearts of gold” character type that I enjoy so much.

6) Under-valued kids: Delight might not be the right word since these are always kind of sad characters, but I have a big soft spot for kids who seem to be unappreciated by the adults around them.  Usually these are kids who are imaginative and introverted and really want to make their parents/teachers/guardians happy, but said-authority figures just can’t fathom how much or why they’re struggling to do that.  Hazel from Breadcrumbs, Sym from The White Darkness, and Sophie from The Freedom Maze are all this kind of character (and would probably do better if they could meet each other!)

7) Common sense: Some absurd situations repeat across literature–for example, a stupid misunderstanding separating lovers, so easily cleared up if they just talked to each other.  So I’m delighted when characters actually use common sense (and possibly, use their words!) in defiance of cliche plot lines to solve unnecessary problems in sensible ways.

8) Cameos in history: A little like the cross-references above, I love when real people show up in historical fiction.  Fiction based around a real person is one thing, but it’s a fun little treat when a story is mostly about original characters except, say, Dickens wanders into the pub one day.  Extra points for literary historical figures!

9) Easter eggs across books: I love it when authors drop references or connections across disconnected books.  Gordon Korman used the name “Gavin Gunhold” in three different unrelated books, and Terry Pratchett’s Death, while mostly a Discworld character, also turns up in Good Omens and a short story I can’t recall the name of!

10) ??? – I really wanted to do ten, but I got stuck at number nine!  So I need your help…what’s your favorite book pet-delight?  Maybe you’ll come up with something I love too! 🙂

I have met people who don’t read.  Like, ever.  I don’t understand them.  But the idea got me thinking about the wonderful things about reading–and the best things about being a person who reads.

1) Expanded Knowledge: I’ve learned about history from historical fiction, science from science fiction (slightly dicey, but some real science), and human nature from every genre…which doesn’t even touch all the random information I’ve picked up from nonfiction.  For example, most recently, I’ve probably been slightly annoying on the subject of decision fatigue and energy depletion–but it’s fascinating!

2) Expanded Life: Or, as S. I. Hayakawa said so well, “It is not true we have only one life to live.  If we can read, we can live as many lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”  And recent studies have backed him up–the brain actually views real experiences and imagined experiences as the same thing (or maybe they’re just close–I don’t care, I saw the article and concluded my brain feels I have really ridden dragons and been to Prince Edward Island!)

3) Pleasant Commutes: It’s a good day when I walk out of my office and think, “Oh good, now I get to spend half-an-hour listening to my audiobook!”

4) Easy Entertainment, Always Available: What do non-readers do on their lunch breaks?  Seriously.  I have no idea.  Also helpful for long grocery store lines.

5) Instant Escape: See above.  And it’s not that I need to escape my job exactly, but getting out my book does immediately take me out of my work mindset for half-an-hour.

6) Instant Connections: I have rarely had a friendship that didn’t involve bonding over books on some level.  Notable examples: I met one of my best friends in high school because we were both reading Tamora Pierce, and would have been too shy to talk to each other without that bridge; second, I have never connected so immediately with someone, before or since, as I did at a party when a complete stranger and I realized we both considered (again!) Tamora Pierce’s books to be life-changing.

7) Readily-Available Friends: I saw a meme on Facebook a while back (which I can’t find…) which said, to the best of my memory, “I always carry a book, not because I expect to read it but because then I know I have a friend always with me.” Yes.

But the best thing of all was best said by C. S. Lewis: We read to know we are not alone.  Because nothing’s better in reading than stumbling across an idea or a feeling or a weird quirk that I recognize instantly but have never seen anyone else admit to, and knowing that somewhere, someone else felt it too.

What are your best things about being a book lover?  We might find out we’re not alone in our favorite, quirky thing!

Exploring My Bookshelves, hosted by Addlepates and Book Nerds, offers a color-themed question today!

Today’s prompt is…a book with a green color (in honor of emerald birth stones for May).

I can’t resist bringing out a photo I staged some years ago for St. Patrick’s Day…with forty bookish shades of green!

 

Another fun question this week for Exploring My Bookshelves hosted by Addlepates and Book Nerds.  Each Friday, bloggers are invited to post a picture of their bookshelf, and write in response to a prompt about said-bookshelf.

Today’s prompt is…a hardback missing its dust jacket.

I have a lot of very old hardbacks with no dust jackets, but I’m not certain all of them had dust jackets to begin with.  In the case of Silver Woven in My Hair, though, I know there used to be a dust jacket.

It’s not altogether accurate to describe the dust jacket as missing.  It didn’t just got lost–I threw it out.  I hated the cover, and I thought the book looked far more elegant without it!