So, different genres offer different things (duh). Some work best with tropes, others are best as surprising and original as possible.
I like to read a variety of genres (except horror—also applies to movies and TV). I sometimes go through phases (i.e., I once spent a year reading only Agatha Christie), but each genre (and subgenre) has something in particular that I like.
Suspense novels are great to trap you and keep you on edge, waiting for a twist that you never quite know when is going to happen or what shape it might take. I’ve written about Gillian Flynn and Tana French, and there’s a reason they’re among my favorite authors in the genre. And while I sometimes anticipate some of what’s to come, there’s always an element of surprise. Suspense novels are page-turners that take over my life because the ambience is so tense that I feel the need to get to the bottom of things, mostly so I can stop being stressed.
Mysteries are also page-turners that I have trouble putting down once I’ve started them, but for slightly different reasons. There might be a tense atmosphere, especially toward the end, but it’s mostly about trying to figure out what the clues are, what red herrings pop up, and anticipating how new crimes come into play. Looking at Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, it’s not so much about the action or a sense of upcoming doom, but rather about using one’s wit to solve a crime, in whatever shape it may come.
Moving to a very different genre—science fiction—and going off into space, which I enjoy because so much worldbuilding and possibilities are available. Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is very clearly a funny sci-fi series that takes you on plenty of adventures and which are as broad as, well, the universe. Such escapism can be great, especially if you really need to leave behind bleak (earthly) realities. Of course, there are many subgenres and I also like adventure and romance sci-fi, like Sherrilyn Kenyon’s The League series.
Fantasy is also quite impossible, but there’s usually a sense of, hey, it could happen because it’s set on Earth or in a faraway land that reminds you of (or is depicted like) a place you know or have heard of. From growing up with Harry Potter or wanting to visit the Wyrd Sisters, maybe make a trip to Hobbiton, there are many fantasy novels that transport me elsewhere and make me daydream about having some power or ability.
And I’ll wrap things up with romance—and all its subgenres. What can I say? At time of writing this post, I’m single and about to delete Bumble yet again. I wouldn’t want to move to a small town (I’m a city gal), I can’t bake (I have friends who do), I don’t normally bump into very handsome, single, passionate men who then ask me out to coffee, and I’m not emailing someone without knowing their identity and kind of falling for them. I also don’t live in the 1800s, when letters were a thing. So, romance novels let me have all these feelings or imagine how great the situations could be if they happened to me. Plus, they can be laugh-out-loud-in-the-park-and-a-stranger-asks-me-what’s-so-funny funny. Yes, Marian Keyes, Jane Austen, Nora Ephron, Mhairi Mcfarlane…
What are your favorite genres and what do you love about them?
