I’m betting I have friends who could write this list for me. These are topics, themes, and settings that make me immediately interested in a book.
Make your mental guesses before you scroll down…
Victorian England
Gaslit cobblestone streets, magnificent clothes, early forensics, invention, exploration. It is such a rich setting to tell many different kinds of stories.
B
Asylums
The idea of madness and a place devoted to studying it is mesmerizing and terrifying. From nonfiction about Charcot to wild fiction set in Bedlam, I will always gravitate to this topic.
J
Ghosts
Like Mulder, I want to believe in ghosts. Regardless of whether they exist or not, I am fascinated by the folklore aspect of them. Why do we tell ghost stories? What do they say about us?
T
Magic
Not the fantasy epic kind so much, but the vintage stage magic done by the likes of Houdini or Alfred Borden in The Prestige.
Fin-de-sicle Paris
Kind of like Victorian England, there is an odd energy and spirit about it. The art of Toulouse Lautrec set against the backdrop of feats of engineering and the flâneur culture.
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Archaeology and quest
Is there a lost vault? A cryptic map? A series of clues that lead to a treasure or the answer to a mystery? Then I want to be there for the adventure.
^
Early photography and film
People experimenting with images on film – still or moving – makes for great characters, and often interesting plots. From Daguerre to silent film, it’s all fascinating.
X
Doppelgangers or time slips
I can’t keep up with a technical sci-fi story but if it is something where just one element is out of place, making the whole thing tremble, I love it.
S
Gothic anything
Is there a house in disrepair? A disinherited daughter with a vengeance? A family secret? I want to peer in through those cracked, cobwebbed windows.
Y
What makes you read?