I'm sitting here tonight drinking (something that I almost never do, so the rum is a rare treat) and contemplating books, wishing that I had more time to read them, and finding myself a bit lost and sad that there cannot possibly be enough hours in a day in which to read. And, truth be told, I'm also contemplating why it is that Beautiful Creatures just isn't doing it for me.
By rights, I ought to be very interested in this book. If horror was the genre that I enjoyed growing up, and the paranormal genre seems to have grown out of that (thanks to Anne Rice and others), then I ought to be devouring paranormal romance. After all, I read a Nora Roberts paranormal or fantasy romance novel in just a few short hours of rapid reading. So what's my problem with this, and other novels like it?
Alright, so I don't hate paranormal fiction, and I'm certainly a fan of romance. After all, I recently admitted on Tumblr to being a Twilight fan (I know, I know. . . But it's still my right to enjoy the Saga without being picked on about it!).
One thing that I've figured out is that we're all different as readers. I have a terrible time recommending books for my best friend, who has a terrible time recommending books for me. She enjoys paranormal and fantasy, whereas I'm more of a fan of dystopian fiction. I want to be able to hand her books that I know she'll enjoy, but we only really cross where it comes to romance, which we both enjoy, but in different ways. No matter how much somebody pressures me to read Nicholas Sparks, I will not after my ill-fated reading of Safe Haven, and I will always do my best to put Nicholas Evans and Nora Roberts into the hands of as many people as will possibly pay attention to me.
So I wanted to talk to you today about the types of fiction that I enjoy reading, and to give you, the reader, the chance to talk about what types of fiction are your favorites. I think that this is an interesting subject to cover because it has a lot to do with whether or not a person's recommendation of books is going to match the reading style of the person on the receiving end of the recommendation.
I'll start, since I'm the one writing this blog post!
My favorite type of fiction is dystopian. Hands-down, I am more likely to pick up a novel if I know that it has futuristic (or fantasy) dystopian themes. Hands down, this is my favorite type of story. At the moment, I'm especially enjoying Teen (Young Adult) Dystopian Fiction, but I've also enjoyed Stephen King's Bachman books along with other adult authors of dystopian fiction. I think that this is always going to have a special place in my heart.
I also enjoy horror novels. I've been reading Stephen King since I was eleven years old and have always had a (sick) fascination with his stories. My favorite is The Shining, although It and Needful Things come in a close second. Inasmuchas she can be considered to be "horror," I also love Anne Rice's work, though I think that she would be considered "paranormal" now.
Finally, I like romantic fantasy and specifically Nora Roberts. There are some other types of romance that tickle my fancy from time to time, but Nora Roberts is especially dear to my heart, and I really enjoy her trilogies.
While I do not exclusively read young adult fiction, that's what I've been reading the most over the past year or so, and what dominates my TBR (to be read) stack of books that is available for me to enjoy. I try to read and review a little bit of everything, but lately I've been reading more of what I enjoy than what is simply recommended, or "smart."
What about you? What's your favorite genre of fiction to read?
(Photo thanks to Enokson on Flickr under Creative Commons).
First of all thanks for stopping by on my blog, always a pleasure to know people are reading what I write! I'd have to agree with you sometimes it's difficult pickign out what to read and especially genres. I personally will always love ya contemporaries, just because they are feel good books and sometimes i just need that happiness coursing through me. Of course I enjoy the dystopia books as well mainly ya books, that's the majority of my tbr and new adult as well. Now in regards to beautiful creatures I've heard very mixed reviews on this series. I think what I'll do is watch the dvd when it comes out but probably never pick up the books. Wish you luck in reading them.
ReplyDeleteMost of the reviews I've read of Beautiful Creatures have been very positive. I feel, however, like I'm re-reading Twilight. While I enjoyed Twilight -- a lot -- it's not something that I was anticipating re-reading in what amounts to another format.
DeleteGarcia and Stohl do a better job of presenting us with realistic teenagers in a Southern setting than Meyer did with Pacific Northwest teenagers, but I'm finding that the story isn't compelling me to keep reading.
I have a blog post planned about my comparisons of the two, which will probably be up tomorrow, since today I plan on covering another Twilight comparison, though this one's not my own!