Alternating Genres?

Libra said:

I am all over the place.I am even contemplating reading war fiction that I was planning to give away...maybe.

The history of The Magna Carta sounds interesting too.

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That's just it...I believe 'reading all over the place' is far more 'normal' than reading just one kind of book ever could be. Humans are more like Curious George than we sometimes want to admit; our interests fluctuate wildly. We have the priviledge of living in an information rich era; not taking advantage of that luxury is utter folly. But that's just my opinion.

As a teenager I rarely ventured from my 'safe' genres of sci-fi/fantasy/horror,but I think English Lit lessons in school helped broaden my reading horizons,and vividly remember 'The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain and 'Rogue Male' by Geoffrey Household. After school I signed for a couple of English Lit part-time courses,and read and disected 'Lord Of The Flies' by William Golding & 'Autobiography Of A Supertramp' by W.H.Davies.

Because a lot of my reading at the moment is for uni, I am constantly alternating my attention between different genres. This coming semester it will be modern Gothic fiction, Bronte and Dickens, and a course called 'gender and contemporary fiction' (fay weldon, joan riley, alice munro etc.). I think this has taught me good practises for when the real world beckons and I no longer have prescribed reading!

If I can manage to get all the books read ahead of the classes, I like to try something different in my own time, for instance I'm reading Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl but I also have some Stephen King and Gregory Maguire on my pile of 'to-read' books.

As many others have said, I don't think I could stick to one genre. I think it would get awfully dull, much like reading the same author over and over again can get boring. I went through a phase of reading nothing but Marian Keyes (chick-lit or romantic fiction) when I was about 14, and then I started to notice that all the novels were essentially the same thing and very formulaic.

Bob Magness said:

I feel sorry for people who only enjoy one genre. There are just too many good books out there.

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AGREED!!!
I read anything but Romance. I love non-fiction, fiction and anything else in between. Like Silverseason pointed out--I have one fiction and one non-fiction going at once.

I like to mix it up, although I suppose I do lean towards contemporary 'literary' fiction. I do get suckered into wanting to read the bestsellers and the prize winners. I will give anything a whirl though and can't imagine only reading one genre or type of book. That's why I'm so pleased I am part of a book club cos I'm made to try new things. I don't think I'm a book snob - I'm just as happy to be reading 'The Bad Mother's Handbook' one week, followed by 'Labyrinths' by Jorges Luis Borges the next - it's all grist for the mill.

I alternate between Non-fiction, SciFi, Classics, and Fiction.

sparkchaser said:

I alternate between Non-fiction, SciFi, Classics, and Fiction.

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Non-fiction is too wide a label....too many wonderful sub headings! That's why I can spend hours browsing amazon in just the Non-Fiction section alone. Did you know you can learn a great deal of history from cookbooks or quilting books, for example? I can't quote chapter and verse on this, but I have a firm belief that Heaven has a magnificent Free Library:lol:

Reading only one genre is like eating your favourite meal every day. It might be tasty and nutritious, but it loses its sense of excitement after a while. I love to branch out and read new authours and new genres all the time. It keeps things interesting.