I read with great interest Colleen's post on crossovers in genres. It's funny, because I was just blogging last week about how restrictive genre expectations can be - it's not only that writers can certainly successfully write more than one genre, it's that readers certainly READ more than one!
And yet recognition of those facts - especially salient I think to readers - is only just appearing. One always hears that "our readers" (of a particular, genre specific line) won't read something else. In a different line.
I mean do readers who love romance only read one kind of romance? Do readers who read romance never read mysteries or literary fiction or biographies or travel articles or....
I mean it's like saying only Italians eat spaghetti - when come on, everybody eats spaghetti sometime.
I'd love to hear from some of our readers out there - what different KINDS of books have you read recently? Were they really all from the same line, in the same genre?
Genie
www.geniedavis.com
The Model Man - Kensington, 2006
The Cowboy (as Nikki Alton - Aphrodisia, 2006
Five O'Clock Shadow - Kensington, 2007
5 comments:
Okay, I'm a writer, but I was a reader first. I'm a FAST reader, and a voracious reader (I've put over 170 books on my "list" for the year, and I have probably another 100 on the floor waiting to be put into the list). Anyway, because I'm such a fast and voracious reader, I read in a lot of different genres. I read pretty much every sub-genre of romance, leaning heavily toward historical and paranormal, but there's a lot of romantic suspense in there too. I also read women's fiction aimed at all ages, and "straight" science fiction and fantasy and mystery. I don't care for most literary fiction.
But I think I'm an unusual reader, simply because I do read so much. I have relatives who do read only one kind of romance. I rarely get my mother to read anything but the more literary, mainstream stuff. (Unless I wrote it, but hey, she's my mom.) If it takes longer to read something, you tend to be able to find enough in your favored genre to read that you don't have to wander afield.
I too am a fast reader, and a bit all over the place genre wise! I read a lot of historical fiction, historical romance, recently been reading a lot of paranormal romance, and more fantasy. I am also partial to a good mystery, and some literay fiction as well!!
I think that if I only read one genre or even sub genre I would go into reading slumps all the time!
Genie, my reading tastes are all over the map. My TBR pile (tower? mountain?;-)) is a multi-genre treasure trove, because what I want to read is dependent upon what I'm in the mood for on any given day. I tend to buy books that interest me, even though I know I might not get to them right away. Although most of my TBR stash could be classified as romance, there are all kinds of romance novels. I might go on a reading jag of funny short contemporaries, or dark paranormal historicals--since I don't want to be without something to read, I try to cover all the bases.
I use the local library to get my reading fix, too, which reminds me--they're holding a book for me. Now if I can just find the time to read it over the holiday!
I think as writers we were all (or at least most of us) readers from an early age. And romances just weren't around way back then for many of us. That means we grew up reading lots of things. Do people really change all that much when they grow up? I haven't. I still read anything and everything icluding fiction & non-fiction books, magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, you name it. I'm a whiz at Jeopardy, and I owe my knowledge of trivial (and often useless) information on the fact that I've been a reader all my life. Some people read only one type of book, or one kind of romance novel, but hey, at least they're reading. I find that those who don't read much, or at all, are generally uninformed and, okay I'll say it, boring.
I read predominently romantic suspense, suspense, mysteries, thrillers, and some romances--I love romantic comedy when it's done right. I don't read many historicals. I never really got into them when I was younger, and there are too many books I want to read to start reading something completely different right now! I read a little science fiction and paranormal, but I'm very picky about my paranormal. I like supernatural books--ghosts, psychics, (Jayne Castle/Kay Hooper) etc--more than vampires/werewolves, etc. That's just me :) . . . Stephen King type of supernatural :) . . .
I read some non-fiction--not as much as I used to. Primarily true crime and some American history books. When I read historicals, I prefer American-set.
So I'm not as broad read as most of you! But I do read across the suspense genre pretty expensively.
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