The "books that past-me has vetted for quality" angle is definitely part of it for me! I'm just so worn out with mediocre new releases, and I'm hoping for more of that same counterbalancing you mentioned.

I'm definitely not as trope-driven a reader as you are, but I have appreciated a lot the way you articulate your interest in various tropes, which I think has helped me embrace the more iddy impulses in my own reading. I think I read Strange Grace on your recommendation and remember the triad being deeply satisfying for me as well!