Top Ten Things on My Reading Wishlist

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week is a rewind week, meaning that we can each pick older topics to revisit. A few weeks ago, I missed the chance to write about the top ten things on my reading list, so this week I plan to rectify that. This isn't an exhaustive list by any means, but these are ten aspects that I love in books – and want to see more of in future publications.

Female friendships – Not every book can be Code Name Verity (and I think that's a very good thing), but I would love to see more books focus on the importance of friendship among their characters, rather than using romance as the primary means to draw readers in. 
Less focus on romance in general – When done well, I do enjoy reading about romance. But not every story should have a romance, and I think it's unfortunate that so many authors and publishers feel a romance is necessary in order for a book to do well.

An unrequited love interest protagonist – I have begrudgingly accepted the fact that love triangles aren't likely to disappear from stories any time soon. If they have to stay, then why not take a more interesting approach than the female protagonist being the love interest of two guys? Show me stories from the unrequited (or unchosen) romantic interest's perspective.

More pseudo-historical non-European settings in fantasies – I love a good European-inspired world as the basis of inspiration for a fantasy series. It's a popular setting because it works well. That doesn't mean that non-European-based fantasy worlds are any less compelling or readable, however. I'd like to see some more of those.

A strong emphasis on political intrigue in speculative fiction – I don't care much for real-world politics, but I love it when politics feature heavily in works of fantasy and science fiction. I think a focus on political intrigue is just another way to have readers appreciate the complexity of a fully-imagined fantastical world.
More fairy-tale retellings (preferably from sources that aren't already frequently retold) – I love my "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast" retellings. But why are only a small fraction of the hundreds of fairy tales attributed to the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson being retold? And what about some tales from non-European countries?

Stories about valkyries – To be fair, I have yet to read either Lesley Livingston's Starling or Ingrid Paulson's Valkyrie Rising, and so clearly there are some recent releases about valkyries. But I want that trend to blossom and continue. I'm fascinated by valkyrie lore and the idea of female warriors who guide the dead.
More speculative fiction standalones – Not going to lie: it's super nice to start a new fantasy/science fiction book knowing it's part of a series. I do, however, appreciate those standalone gems where authors have simply one story to tell within this world, and that's it.

Paranormal stories where the humans are superior to the paranormal beings – I'm sick of reading stories where humans are the weaker, inferior beings. Where are the stories where paranormal beings just aren't that great? The stories that show how awesome humanity can be, even without mystical powers?

More stories told in the third-person past tense – This is my favorite type of narration right here. I was over present tense before it became (probably) the most common narrative tense for current YA novels. I loathe first-person present tense. I just like how third-person past tense tends to be a bit more formal and distant. I feel like I get a better view of the novel as a whole.

So those are some of the elements I'd love to see used more frequently in books that are getting published. Do you agree with any of them? Have any that you think I should add to my list? Let me know!