Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Hi everybody, and welcome to a new Top Ten Tuesday!
Today we’re talking about buzzwords or phrases that make us want to read (or avoid) a book. This is another short and sweet post. Here are my bookish loves and icks:
Bookish loves: make me want to READ a book
Slow Burn Romance – I’m a sucker for a good slow burn romance. If you can build up the romance so much that I’m kicking my feet when the characters brush hands and screaming when they finally kiss? Magic.
Enemies to Lovers – I don’t care that it’s overdone. I eat it up and it’s so delicious every single time.
Pen Pal Romance – When two characters fall in love with each other’s words long before they even meet in real life? The connection always feels so powerful for these types of romances and I love it.
Road Trip – There’s just something so whimsical and freeing about road trips. It’s not just the actual journey the characters take, it’s also the self-discovery that happens along the way. It’s the perfect armchair travel for the reader.
Found Family – Found family is one of my favorite kinds of stories. When misfits find a home with each other, it just hits me every time. The trust, the loyalty, the emotional intimacy between characters.. it’s always so comforting and heartwarming.
Examples (some books encompass several of these):
Bookish icks: make me want to AVOID a book
Second Chance Romance – I want to read about people falling in love. When the story is about people falling back in love after a falling out, it almost never hits as hard for me. I don’t hate it, but I also hardly ever fall in love with these kinds of stories, so I tend to avoid reading them.
Surprise Pregnancy – I’m sorry, I don’t like reading about this trope.
Instalust – As I mentioned above, I’m a slow burn romance kind of girl. I don’t mind smut or lust, but if it’s lust before love, or all lust and little love, I tend to tune out quickly.
Love triangle – it makes the characters feel flaky and undecided. If they can’t decide who they love, how can I root for them?
Unhappy or open ending – I’m all for the HEA, okay? I read for escape, I read for enjoyment, and that means I like to know that all is well in the end.
The exceptions to the rule (I loved these, despite having things I’d usually avoid in them. Meaning I’ll still try books with my bookish icks in them sometimes, so I don’t miss out on any unexpected faves):
Tell Me:
Do we have some bookish loves or icks in common?
Pen pal romance is so sweet and I too love that HEA end. 🙂
They’re two of my favorite buzzwords 🙂
Instalust is a big no no for me as well. Happy reading! My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/my-top-10-bookish-buzzwords/
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who thinks so!
I love a slow burn, I don’t mind a love triangle, but I’m with you on the surprise pregnancy.
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
Slow burns are the best indeed 😀
Ooh, pen pal romance. I don’t think I’ve read a lot of those, but I can see the appeal!
Pen pal romances are indeed not super common, but it makes finding one all the sweeter 🙂
When I looked her up, she seemed so popular and prolific that I was surprised I hadn’t heard of her before!
I’m not a fan of instalust either.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one!
I love Found Families and hate Love Triangle
Glad we agree on those! 😀
I also love a good slow burn romance and found family in stories! The love triangle from Clockwork Angel & Infernal Devices lives rent free in my head since I was a teenager and it’s probably one of the few love triangles I can tolerate because I love how it was handled and I love each character involved so much!
Here’s my list: https://darkshelfofwonders.com/top-10-buzzwords-that-make-me-pick-book/
Yes, I feel the same way about the love triangle in the Infernal Devices series! It’s one of the only instances of a love triangle I actually love 🙂
Highly agree with all your bookish loves and icks! I especially love Enemies to Lovers and dislike insta-lust!
Yes to enemies to lovers! Forever one of my favorite tropes 🙂
Open endings are THE WORST! And instalust is getting annoying as well.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2026/03/31/top-ten-tuesday-reasons-to-read-or-avoid-a-book/
Indeed, I don’t want to wonder about what happens to fictional people, just tell me 🙂
Road trips are such a fun plot point! I especially enjoy those during the summer because the setting is perfect. Bonus points if they have an old van that’s slowly falling apart 😂😂
Wow, all these years and I never realized what my husband and I have started as a pen pal romance. We spoke to each other (in assorted forms) before finally meeting 6 months later. We’ve been together almost 27 years, and married for almost 25.
Here’s my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/the-qs-us-vs-have-it-ten-titles-starting-with-q-u-or-v/
I’m a big fan of slow-burn romance, enemies-to-lovers and found family. Love triangles are a hard no.
instalust & instalove are big no nos for me!
Great list, Lindsey. I could have written this list except I do enjoy second chance romance. Insta-lust is one thing that has me DNFing a book.
Found family is a forever favorite of mine too!
Here’s my TTT: https://readintowonderland.blogspot.com/2026/03/t10t-buzzwordsphrases-that-make-me-want.html
I’m also not a huge fan of second chance romances, and ugh, surprise pregnancies!
Instalust is a turn off for me too. Mostly because there’s a lot of focus on the character’s body. It makes me feel gross.
Slow-burn romances are the best kind! They feel more realistic and satisfying than the insta ones. I also love a good found family story.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com