Anybody that knows me also knows that my preferred genre, whether it be fiction or film, is usually Horror. I grew up in the eighties and nineties and there is so much nostalgia attached to this genre, at least for me. But what a lot of people don’t know is that I love to read Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction, Poetry, True Crime, and a million other things.
I am very much a mood reader. One minute I may be in the mood for a campy Slasher and the next a light-hearted Romance. During the winter months, I love nothing more than to grab my favorite plush blanket and curl up with an Alice Hoffman book. Her writing always has a way of warming my bones and making me feel like I am in a different time. I may be surrounded by the witches of Salem or on the island of Curacao basking beneath the hot sun and listening to the tropical birds sing as a tender-hearted pirate whisks me away for boat ride across blue seas.
Each new genre entices new sensations. The cozy comfort of a good “who done it?” mystery, the nail-biting experience as you flip the pages of the newest thriller, or the sensation that somebody is watching you as you thumb through Salem’s Lot.
You can have a different adventure every day of the week, if you want to! With each new adventure comes new creativity. It may be a new character, setting, or idea. The best part is you never know what your brain will come up with. There is so much inspiration to be found among other genres, it is ridiculous. Writer or not, reading multiple genres is sure to inspire. Especially if you’ve ever been in a reading slump.
Do you ever open a book and you just can’t get into it? So, you open another book and it’s the same thing all over again. Until finally you’ve gone through every book on your shelf and still can’t find a thing to read. Well, you probably need to try a new genre. Your brain may be bored from reading the same types of books over and over again. It’s probably hungry for something new.
Before you run off groaning and moaning “But I don’t like such and such genre,” don’t knock it until you’ve tried more than one book. Many people will pick up a book outside their preferred genre, read a few pages, hate it, then put down that genre forever. All because they did not like ONE book out of the entire genre. So, before you abandon an entire genre, be sure to try many different books by different authors first. This way you will know for an absolute fact that it is the genre and not the book, or the author.
So, from Horror to Romance and everything in between, be sure to grab something new and give your imagination new adventures to look forward to. I know I will. Oh, and don’t forget to comment with some of your favorite “out of your preferred genre” reads. Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire someone else to read outside their own. Here’s a link to one of mine now.
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman