This post is part of the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. You can find links to other writers' answers over at Long and Short Reviews.)
Prompt: favorite book genre and why
This is one is trickier than it looks like, for two reasons:
- My favorite genre kind of depends on what I'm in the mood for.
- I don't know that I could explain exactly why I like particular genres, and often what gets marked out as a "genre" isn't in itself the quality that I enjoy or look for in a book.
With that said, most of what I tend to read falls under what I'd generally categorize as Fantastical: fantasy, science fiction, horror, and all the various permutations that reverberate between the three of them. (But then I'll turn around and read a romance or a mystery or a bit of satire because it sounded like what I was in the mood for, and I really don't feel like I should need to justify that.) I like books with swords and magic and adventure and monsters, I like well-realized worlds that are strange to me but still accessible, I like ordinary people who are trying to cope with absurd situations and even their own absurd selves. I like fantasy worlds that still rely on old-fashioned blacksmiths and coopers and haberdashers and are smart enough to incorporate interesting facts about those trades. Give me a soft, fluffy romance between a paladin and a perfume-maker that also includes a handful of severed heads.
I can tell you about what genre(s) are my favorite and why, but honestly a well-realized trope or personality/relationship/situational dynamic is often much more important to what draws me in and makes me prefer one book over another. I tend to favor genres that are more likely to have my sort of tropes and dynamics; in some ways, it's as simple as that.
I LOVE this reply! My instant response to this prompt was, mostly, *groan*. I mean, it's an easy one to throw out there. It seems innocuous on the surface. But there are so many issues with even the idea of genres, let alone how they're categorized (take "chick lit" for books with any kind of romance written by a woman, even if it is beautifully written, erudite and has depth, then take the exact same book with a male author and it's categorized as the much more serious "literary fiction" rather than "bro lit" and ugh I want to punch someone. Or even just literary fiction which isn't really a genre because it includes tragedies and comedies and mysteries and magical realism etc.). Anyway, I like that you touched on so many things here, and I was nodding along. It's so hard to choose on genre, because that's like saying I only like to eat pizza. Yeah, it's good, but what about the days when you really just want a taco? Anyway, I love this post, and I fully support your right to flit between genres like a moody butterfly!
ReplyDeleteYep, good thoughts. I kinda stay in one genre until I get tired of it (two or 3 westerns, then I'm off to 2 or 3 science fiction books, lol). And I like elements of different genres in different degrees. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it depends what you're in the mood for. I would never dismiss a whole genre because sometimes it's just what I'm after.
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