1.) What’s your least favorite genre to read…or a genre you haven’t read or not likely to read? Please share why.
2.) What “new to you” genre have you tried that surprised you in a good way?
24 thoughts on “What’s at the bottom of your TBR pile?”
I grew up at the right time–back in the day you used to be able to buy Star Trek TOS novels on a pretty regular basis. Given that, you’d think I’d read sci-fi, but I don’t. But then, I never read or watched because of the sci-fi element, but because of the three key characters (Spock, Kirk, McCoy).
And given that the characters and their relationships are so important to me in reading, you’d think I read romance, but I don’t & it’s my least favorite. So I guess that doesn’t make sense either. 😎
Haven’t tried a new-to-me genre recently.
I loved those! Read most of them.
My guilty pleasure is watching the original Star Treks, even if I had seen each one dozens of times.
I don’t read Sci-Fi although I enjoyed reading DUNE. Any recommendations on authors to try?
When I belonged to a local book club, their selections were almost always out of my preferred genre. Can’t say that I liked any of them, although “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” was better than most.
Literary fiction is at the bottom of my reading choices. Anything that says “Poignant” or “Heartwarming” in the blurb. Or “Dystopian.” And I didn’t even try “Hamilton” (no white space, 600+ pages? History? A non-starter.)
I don’t read much historical, although I’d be open to a good one with good research. I love being swept away in a thorough & visual world.
I definitely haven’t read a literary book since I was a student.
A year ago, I bought a thick manual about how to use my then-new Mac. Haven’t cracked the spine. People keep saying the Mac is so much easier than the PC. Maybe if I read the book, I’d agree.
Guess I better blow the dust off.
If you need the manual that proves that Macs aren’t easy. So, using your Mac is easy.
Instruction manuals are paper weights. Nuff said.
I tend to read fiction then non-fiction and go on like that. There are a handful of authors whose books I devour the week they come out. Although I get behind sometimes.
I have been reading some YA. It started sort of by accident then I started reading what my children were reading. YA can get depressing. A lot of people die in YA.
While I have been playing D&D for 40 years, I get bogged down in fantasy novels. I also have found that some are re-hashing of movies I have seen. Tolkien did a great job telling a story, tell your own stories, not retelling his.
I’m a reading omnivore for fiction to the point I even read middle school novels. I don’t read dark horror because I’m a sissy about dark stuff and extreme violence. Despite writing romance for years, I find erotica boring. A repair manual for my lawn mower is more exciting than erotica.
You can learn a lot by reading YAs. They are cross genre & full of imagination. Young readers aren’t inhibited by different kind of books & their openness leads to creative plots. YA readers love elements of romance in the story, along with an anything goes emotional plot. Throw out conventional thinking. Young readers want to read unusual plots & it’s fun to test your imagination.
Read what’s popular in YA & you’ll get hooked.
I can’t read erotica. Yes, I find it boring. The sex is the point & generally the plots are contrivances for the graphic sex. I agree.
As for horror, I don’t like graphic violence in any novel. I do enjoy horror elements. It’s titillating & visceral.
Least: paranormal anything. I find the emphasis on werewolf gangs and vampires gangs boring.
New genre: Westerns. I’ve found a number of thoughtful, engaging stories like
Long Ride Home
Butcher’s Crossing
The Oxbow Incident
No Country for Old Men
The Sisters Brothers.
I got hooked on reading as a kid, reading Westerns. Still love them.
Brian, it does my heart good to hear someone say they’ve read some westerns, especially when they mention it’s new to them. 😎 Everybody has their preference in westerns. I teethed on Zane Grey and he’s still my favorite, though many can’t take his style.
Loss of the western genre is one of my “book fears”. I love it for many reasons, but in particular when you read westerns you can be taken back to a time when there weren’t 3 million people per square inch of land, which is quite refreshing. 😎
So it made my day to hear that people do still read the western genre.
Always loved crime and mystery, especially hardboiled and noir stuff.
New to me genres that I’ve fallen hard in love with:
1. westerns
2. weird horror/fantasy as in Thomas Ligotti, Laird Baron, and old HP Lovecraft.
Thanks for the recommendations.
I don’t read sci-fi or erotic romance. A “new-to-me genre” that I’m really enjoying is historical non-fiction.
LOVE historical non-fiction. So many good authors and that’s why I have more books than bookshelf space. LOL!
I can relate, BK!
Sci-Fi is the go to genre. I have been reading Kage Baker’s “The Company” series and the writing is exceptional. Sadly her career was too short. I read some fantasy and have sampled the YA market, just to see what it is all about. The omniscient POV usually knocks me out of the story. Otherwise it’s classics or straight history. Art History ( forgeries and theft) is a new subject I have found interesting. I would not likely read romance, horror, or any NYT ‘literary’ offerings. In younger days I read a fair bit of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes.
Thanks for the recommendations, Robert.
I have no use for romance novels. Or high fantasy. Ugh. Can’t read Tolkien, thought Game of Thrones was BOR-INNG!, and I tired three different times to watch the series.
I like literary novels, as long as they’re good. OTOH if the author graduated from one of a couple of very famous MFA programs which shall remain unnamed, I know the book will be written in a style I find boring. Ya know, as boring as looking over a cornfield (wink wink).
When I see words like “heartwarming” and “uplifting” in the description, I put the book right back before the vomit rises too high in my throat. I need mayhem.
Well done history non fiction can be lots of fun, and I especially like reading about the peripheral events. I recommend Lawrence in Arabia as an example. Also, boats going down at sea, with at least a few survivors to tell the tale.
I rarely read nonfiction unless it is a craft book. I love to be swept away into a fictive world. I get enough reality from the TV and morning newspaper, not to mention Facebook! I don’t read much romance unless it is romantic suspense. I have read some that are quite good, others not so much. Since I am such a novice, I don’t know what would be new to me, pretty much everything is at the moment.
I grew up at the right time–back in the day you used to be able to buy Star Trek TOS novels on a pretty regular basis. Given that, you’d think I’d read sci-fi, but I don’t. But then, I never read or watched because of the sci-fi element, but because of the three key characters (Spock, Kirk, McCoy).
And given that the characters and their relationships are so important to me in reading, you’d think I read romance, but I don’t & it’s my least favorite. So I guess that doesn’t make sense either. 😎
Haven’t tried a new-to-me genre recently.
I loved those! Read most of them.
My guilty pleasure is watching the original Star Treks, even if I had seen each one dozens of times.
I don’t read Sci-Fi although I enjoyed reading DUNE. Any recommendations on authors to try?
When I belonged to a local book club, their selections were almost always out of my preferred genre. Can’t say that I liked any of them, although “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” was better than most.
Literary fiction is at the bottom of my reading choices. Anything that says “Poignant” or “Heartwarming” in the blurb. Or “Dystopian.” And I didn’t even try “Hamilton” (no white space, 600+ pages? History? A non-starter.)
I don’t read much historical, although I’d be open to a good one with good research. I love being swept away in a thorough & visual world.
I definitely haven’t read a literary book since I was a student.
A year ago, I bought a thick manual about how to use my then-new Mac. Haven’t cracked the spine. People keep saying the Mac is so much easier than the PC. Maybe if I read the book, I’d agree.
Guess I better blow the dust off.
If you need the manual that proves that Macs aren’t easy. So, using your Mac is easy.
Instruction manuals are paper weights. Nuff said.
I tend to read fiction then non-fiction and go on like that. There are a handful of authors whose books I devour the week they come out. Although I get behind sometimes.
I have been reading some YA. It started sort of by accident then I started reading what my children were reading. YA can get depressing. A lot of people die in YA.
While I have been playing D&D for 40 years, I get bogged down in fantasy novels. I also have found that some are re-hashing of movies I have seen. Tolkien did a great job telling a story, tell your own stories, not retelling his.
I’m a reading omnivore for fiction to the point I even read middle school novels. I don’t read dark horror because I’m a sissy about dark stuff and extreme violence. Despite writing romance for years, I find erotica boring. A repair manual for my lawn mower is more exciting than erotica.
You can learn a lot by reading YAs. They are cross genre & full of imagination. Young readers aren’t inhibited by different kind of books & their openness leads to creative plots. YA readers love elements of romance in the story, along with an anything goes emotional plot. Throw out conventional thinking. Young readers want to read unusual plots & it’s fun to test your imagination.
Read what’s popular in YA & you’ll get hooked.
I can’t read erotica. Yes, I find it boring. The sex is the point & generally the plots are contrivances for the graphic sex. I agree.
As for horror, I don’t like graphic violence in any novel. I do enjoy horror elements. It’s titillating & visceral.
Least: paranormal anything. I find the emphasis on werewolf gangs and vampires gangs boring.
New genre: Westerns. I’ve found a number of thoughtful, engaging stories like
Long Ride Home
Butcher’s Crossing
The Oxbow Incident
No Country for Old Men
The Sisters Brothers.
I got hooked on reading as a kid, reading Westerns. Still love them.
Brian, it does my heart good to hear someone say they’ve read some westerns, especially when they mention it’s new to them. 😎 Everybody has their preference in westerns. I teethed on Zane Grey and he’s still my favorite, though many can’t take his style.
Loss of the western genre is one of my “book fears”. I love it for many reasons, but in particular when you read westerns you can be taken back to a time when there weren’t 3 million people per square inch of land, which is quite refreshing. 😎
So it made my day to hear that people do still read the western genre.
Always loved crime and mystery, especially hardboiled and noir stuff.
New to me genres that I’ve fallen hard in love with:
1. westerns
2. weird horror/fantasy as in Thomas Ligotti, Laird Baron, and old HP Lovecraft.
Thanks for the recommendations.
I don’t read sci-fi or erotic romance. A “new-to-me genre” that I’m really enjoying is historical non-fiction.
LOVE historical non-fiction. So many good authors and that’s why I have more books than bookshelf space. LOL!
I can relate, BK!
Sci-Fi is the go to genre. I have been reading Kage Baker’s “The Company” series and the writing is exceptional. Sadly her career was too short. I read some fantasy and have sampled the YA market, just to see what it is all about. The omniscient POV usually knocks me out of the story. Otherwise it’s classics or straight history. Art History ( forgeries and theft) is a new subject I have found interesting. I would not likely read romance, horror, or any NYT ‘literary’ offerings. In younger days I read a fair bit of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes.
Thanks for the recommendations, Robert.
I have no use for romance novels. Or high fantasy. Ugh. Can’t read Tolkien, thought Game of Thrones was BOR-INNG!, and I tired three different times to watch the series.
I like literary novels, as long as they’re good. OTOH if the author graduated from one of a couple of very famous MFA programs which shall remain unnamed, I know the book will be written in a style I find boring. Ya know, as boring as looking over a cornfield (wink wink).
When I see words like “heartwarming” and “uplifting” in the description, I put the book right back before the vomit rises too high in my throat. I need mayhem.
Well done history non fiction can be lots of fun, and I especially like reading about the peripheral events. I recommend Lawrence in Arabia as an example. Also, boats going down at sea, with at least a few survivors to tell the tale.
I rarely read nonfiction unless it is a craft book. I love to be swept away into a fictive world. I get enough reality from the TV and morning newspaper, not to mention Facebook! I don’t read much romance unless it is romantic suspense. I have read some that are quite good, others not so much. Since I am such a novice, I don’t know what would be new to me, pretty much everything is at the moment.