Welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday as hosted by Lainey of gingerreadslainey over on YouTube. Today’s topic is about the top five buzzwords that turn us on to books. These are the words that will draw us to a book no matter what the book is actually about.

I had to seriously think long and hard about my buzzwords because I’ve never really thought about it before, but here are my top five words that get me buzzing:

5. Magic/Super Powers

Who doesn’t love a little bit of magic in their lives? I love magical elements in books, whether they be elemental, mind powers, super strength, Allomancy, or whatever the case may be: I love magic. I think it’s mainly because magic doesn’t really exist in the real world, at least not the way it does in books, and I wish it did. If I could choose any magical ability it would be two things: the ability to fly and the ability to control the elements, kind of like the Avatar. Some of my favorite books with magical elements are: the Mistborn trilogy, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, the Shatter Me trilogy, and the Kate Daniels series.

4. Female Protagonist

I love females in the spotlight! Seriously, almost every book I read now features a leading lady at the forefront and I love it. Women are very strong, capable beings (and don’t get me wrong; male protagonists are cool, too!) and I highly enjoy seeing them in a position of power, so to speak. Some of my favorite heroines include: Celaena/Aelin from the Throne of Glass series, Lia from The Remnant Chronicles, Karou from the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, Cath from Fangirl, and Vin from the Mistborn trilogy. All of these leading ladies have a huge role in the stories that they’re in, but they’re also flawed which I think makes them even more amazing.

3. Faeries

Okay, here’s a weird one, I guess? I love faeries. I love reading about them, seeing how they act in different worlds and stories, and though many of them are the same: cold, inhumanly beautiful, cunning – they are all just incredible. Each has their own personality and each has their own way of life. I love the diversity of the species and types and that not all of them are beautiful, but some are actually grotesque or cute or huge or tiny. There’s so much variety in them. Plus, I love the lore behind them and I find myself drawn to them in ways that’s hard to explain. Some of my favorites include: the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, Trolls by Brian and Wendy Froud, and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

2. Fantasy

This is a fairly broad and huge category, don’t you think? But if you honestly didn’t see this coming then where have you been since I started blogging? I love fantasy, whether it be high fantasy, urban fantasy, a touch of fantasy, whatever; if it’s fantasy, I’m all over it. Now that’s not to say that I love every fantasy book that I read, but I do enjoy a great deal of them and how authors are able to come up with such beautiful, vivid, detailed worlds. Some of my favorites are: the Throne of Glass series, the Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices, the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the Remnant Chronicles, the Song of Ice and Fire series, An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, the Harry Potter series, and the Mistborn trilogy.

1 . Romance

Again, another broad topic, but this is my number one buzzword for books because, well, I love love. Love, and particularly romantic love, is one of the best things, in my opinion, in the world. Not just books, but the world. And to read about different types of romance is an extreme pleasure of mine. Honestly, if a book doesn’t have romance in it at some point then there better be a damn good reason as to why I’m reading it. I just love being able to see two characters come together and realize their feelings and how I see it happening from an early part of the story and it just makes it that much sweeter. Some of my favorite romances are: the Starbound trilogy (all of the romances are amazing), Jace and Clary from the Mortal Instruments series, Kate and Curran from the Kate Daniels series, Cath and Levi from Fangirl, Tamahome and Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi, Karou and Akiva from Daughter of Smoke & Bone, and so, so many more that I don’t want to list them all for fear of dragging this post out for too long.

So yes! Those are my top five buzzwords when it comes to books. Each one is very precious to me in its own way and I am pretty happy with that.

What are your top five buzzwords when it comes to books and why? Let me know!

Accompanying video: Top 5 Wednesday | Favorite Buzzwords