Spencer wants fiction that fully immerses the reader — whether in another era, another culture, or simply another person's life. This is the heart of the list. Stories with strong female voices, emotionally resonant arcs, and the dual capacity to satisfy book-club discussion AND be gulped poolside are exactly the target. Family dramedies — especially those with a catalytic event like a contested will or a generational gathering — are a recurring theme in the comp list.

Spencer wants contemporary romance written for a modern sensibility, with particular enthusiasm for voice-driven romantic comedies where the humor is genuinely funny rather than surface-level cute. Sweeping love stories also qualify. The benchmark is Emily Henry-level emotional and comedic execution — competent plot alone won't cut it here.

Spencer flags this as a persistent attention-getter: characters who scheme, deceive, or operate outside the rules. This overlaps with domestic thriller and psychological suspense but has a distinct flavor — slick, propulsive, and fun as much as tense. The comp cluster is notably recent and commercial, suggesting Spencer tracks this space closely.

High-concept psychological thrillers are explicitly named as a priority. Spencer gravitates toward scenarios involving isolated or pressure-cooker settings — boarding schools, remote cabins, deserted islands, aircraft — and characters who behave in morally compromised ways. The emotional range should be wide: Spencer wants readers to cycle through joy, dread, shock, and longing within the same book.

Spencer has an explicit soft spot for cozy crime — warm, character-driven mysteries with ensemble casts and a light touch. The comp cluster here is consistent and well-defined, pointing to books where the pleasure is as much in the community of characters as in the puzzle itself.

Twentieth-century settings with an angle, person, or place that feels fresh — not the well-trodden perspectives of familiar wars or royalty, but the overlooked and specific. Spencer is drawn to narratives that feel familiar in emotional texture even when the subject matter is newly discovered. Art-world plots (historical or contemporary) are a consistent sub-interest.

Spencer welcomes light speculative elements woven through otherwise commercial or literary fiction — not hard fantasy, but the kind of gentle magical realism or uncanny premise that amplifies emotional stakes. The touchstones here are quiet and literary rather than epic.

Spencer actively seeks male-authored or male-voiced commercial fiction with emotional depth and warmth — a less crowded lane on the list that is worth noting. The models are writers known for humor, humanity, and accessible prose rather than literary experimentalism.

New adult is welcomed, but Spencer's qualifier is firm: the plot must be distinctive and original. Generic coming-of-age arcs or campus romance without a genuinely surprising structural or conceptual hook are unlikely to land. Bring the big, unusual premise.

Spencer represents a wide nonfiction range: true crime (especially work that traces a crime's lasting impact on a community or place), pop culture, self-help, female empowerment, humor, business and finance, wellness, spirituality, parenting, lifestyle, and platform-driven nonfiction from established social media presences. Gift-format and how-to books also fit. The breadth here is real, but the true-crime bar appears to be rigorous — Spencer cites landmark narrative nonfiction as the model.

A personal soft spot — Spencer has cited multiple animal-centered novels as touchstones. This is not a primary category but a recurring tonal preference: books where a memorable non-human presence deepens the emotional register of an otherwise commercial story.

Bibliophilic fiction — stories centered on reading, libraries, or the literary world — is welcome but Spencer frames it as a wide spectrum, implying selectivity. The concept alone is not a hook; execution and voice carry the weight here.