Which do you read most of, when reading for pleasure?

[Katie-Ellen]

Eek. I haven't read any one of these. I don't fancy any of them.

Amazon best sellers on Kindle

This one is highly rated

Classics

General

Crime/Mystery

Thrillers

Sci Fi

Horror

Fantasy

Supernatural

Westerns

Romance

Historical Fiction

Poetry

Non-Fiction

Biography

Science

Histories

Travel

Lifestyle

Other


By general I mean novels that say 'general fiction' on the back cover. Westerns seem a rarer read these days, out of fashion, but I think Lonesome Dove is great. Centennial too.

 

[Carol Rose]

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

And different moods. None of the covers particularly grab me. But I posted was wondering if there was an even distribution of preference here in the Colony re genres, or if not, how uneven it might be. But I struggled to edit the post (when trying to delete thread and start again as a poll)

 

[Charles Ott]

I rarely read any fiction these days except SF and fantasy, but in non-fiction I'm all over the map -- I will read books on almost any subject. Do you know, though, all my life drugstores have had racks of "best-sellers" and I have tried to read them but can't recall more than about two I liked at all. I also can't remember any of my friends ever mentioning one. Who the heck reads "best-sellers?"

 

[Rich.]

Who the heck reads "best-sellers?

The majority of the book-buying public, I guess.

 

[Carol Rose]

The majority of the book-buying public, I guess.

Yep. This.

 

[Carol Rose]

And to answer @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine's question, I read a lot of nonfiction for pleasure. Biographies, mostly. Right now I'm reading two books about the women who worked for the US space program in the 50s and 60s, calculating formulas by hand. I'm also reading Hilary Clinton's latest book. For fiction, I read anything that strikes my fancy from the blurb, sample, or back cover material - whatever's handy.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Me too. Eclectic....except for no Agatha Christie, not never, best seller as she is, it leaves me cold. Biography on the go at the moment is an eye witness account of Waterloo. Great vignette of Wellington, asked for money by a local tavern keeper presenting his bill.
What the devil do you want?
Man presents bill.
Wellington looks at it. Says to adjutant.
Kick the scoundrel down the stairs!

Poor tavern keeper chose a bad moment.

Does anyone recommend Mr Comey's book?

 

[Carly]

I have Eleanor Oliphant on my bedside reading pile, after hearing so many of my friends saying what a good read it is.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Ah...I'd like to hear how you get on with it, Carly

 

[Carly]

Ah...I'd like to hear how you get on with it, Carly

I'll let you know. I was going to read it next but another book has somehow arrived on my TBR pile. These books just appear by magic, you know. Or so I tell my husband.

 

[Barbara]

I have Eleanor Oliphant on my bedside reading pile, after hearing so many of my friends saying what a good read it is.

Hey @Carly , I too would love to know what you make of Eleanor. I've read it and while I liked it overall, I had a few big bones to pick with it. I wonder how other writers receive it.

I tend to read as widely across genres as I can, and pick stuff I wouldn't necessarily read. Open minds, and all that. You never know what you can learn, and a few times a new-to-me genre peaked my interest for my own writing. The last novel I wrote was a light-hearted romp. I started it by accident. I hadn't written that kind of thing before. I also hadn't read that kind of thing before. Once I was finished with mine, I decided I ought to check out the competition. And guess what: I found some gems.

 

[Tim James]

I will read most things, from best sellers to obscure books that someone has happened to mention.
I went through a phase where I was just reading science fiction, but then changed to fantasy and then to general fiction and then to crime.
I'm currently reading Val McDermid's Insidious Intent.
But before that I was going through a non-fiction phase which included Sapiens and Homo Deus (both by Yuval Noah Harari) and The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

They do, they do @Carly. The book fairy comes in the night and this is one brawny fairy. I need to read something of Val McDermid's. That might be a good place to start. Sophie Hannah now writes Poirot, which I haven't read but I did enjoy her early novels including Cordial and Corrosive, Backstabbing in academia, she's so droll and clever and witty. Generous too. Gracious in the extreme to a wannabe. She read a draft of one of my things and wrote such a kind letter. I didn't ask her, BTW. A rellie met her at a conference and they got talking. I'd never ask such a favour - writers must be absolutely inundated.

 

[Emurelda]

Sci-fi for me mainly if I get to choose. Children's Middle-Grade. But I do read others if I know the author like Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence and our own litopian colonist writer Muhammed Khan's I am Thunder. Although I've purchased the latter and not yet started it. Got it on the queue as I'm reading children's fiction in my own genre i.e MG stuff like Cogheart by Peter Bunzl.

 

[Tim James]

I need to read something of Val McDermid's

Insidious Intent is part of the Wire in The Blood series (some of which have been televised). If you intend to read them it is probably best to start with The Mermaids Singing.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

Sci-fi for me, with occasional fantasy tossed into the mix.

 

[Marc Joan]

Sci-fi for me mainly if I get to choose. Children's Middle-Grade. But I do read others if I know the author like Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence and our own litopian colonist writer Muhammed Khan's I am Thunder. Although I've purchased the latter and not yet started it. Got it on the queue as I'm reading children's fiction in my own genre i.e MG stuff like Cogheart by Peter Bunzl.

Nice to see you back, Emurelda! You've been quiet recently, Litopia-wise. Busy?

 

[Marc Joan]

I'll try any story which looks like it will actually transport me, regardless of genre. I suppose that as an adult I am always looking for books which had the same effect as my favourites did on me as a child. I want something that has the inexplicable literary magic that pulls you out of this world. So I tend to choose books by opening them at random and seeing if the language connects with me. If that's a yes, and if the story line looks okay -- not dully worthy, not moronically shallow -- then I'll usually buy it. For non-fiction, I have a long-standing interest in the meeting points of science and philosophy, especially with regard to the mind. 'Godel, Escher, Bach' is an eternal favourite, which I still return to from time to time; also, anything by Oliver Sachs. But at the moment I am focusing on a number of works as background reading for the current WIP. These include Rabelais' 'Gargantua and Pantagruel' (1933 hardback bought for £1 in an Oxfam shop) -- juicily scatological.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Reading for pleasure implies that you know what the effect of a book will be before you start it—that it might even be a guilty secret! I have favourite authors, who write crime series, where I'm familiar with the story arc of their protagonist, so it feels like meeting an old friend to hear his news.

In a way, it's nicer to be taken by surprise and that's happening to me at the moment, for I'm re-reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, which I first read in the 1970s. It's Chandler's longest and most personal novel, and also his favourite work. Hardboiled crime fiction can read in a superficial way, but there's a lot of emotion and clever technique in this story. It's easy to forget the strengths of classic titles, as their image becomes a parody that overshadows the writing itself.

Reading non-fiction feels more like self-education to me, than something I'm doing solely for pleasure, though I enjoy increasing my knowledge while getting insights into the mind of the artists, criminals or scientists who are the subject of the book. I recently enjoyed psychologist Oliver Sack's second autobiography On The Move for he's disarmingly honest about how his life went, and charming about how he made medical breakthroughs—drawing the reader in with his curiosity.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I'll often read a novel in order to study it. I sit down with the intention of studying it while reading because it's recent/current and sitting on a shelf where a project of mine might theoretically sit. I don't think of that as reading for pleasure, though of course it often ends up that way. Currently reading a trilogy Eustace and Hilda by LP Hartley - and it's a masterpiece- reading purely for pleasure in the sense that I have no strategic motive, except to worship at the altar of utter excellence.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Insidious Intent is part of the Wire in The Blood series (some of which have been televised). If you intend to read them it is probably best to start with The Mermaids Singing.

Spanish Inquisition type torture. Heck. Might need to chicken out and start with something less....visceral. (Does she DO less visceral.)

Reading through titles and reviews, came across this comment.

'I'm very lucky in that my readers generally want to share their appreciation of my books. Their enthusiasm is a great pick-me-up on those days when every word feels as if it's being dragged out kicking and screaming.'- Val McDermid.

 

[Amber]

I'll read in every genre but sci-fi/fantasy is what sticks with me.

It's tempting to turn my nose up at bestsellers or certain genres and I certainly have my own personal preference which has the possibility of coming across as a disdain for a certain thing when mostly... it's personal preference. I have pet rants I'll nurture but at the end of the day I'll give everything a chance.

I've noticed every genre gets a turn in the contempt and "I'm too smart for that sort of writing" department. There are lots of people who think general fiction is self-indulgent and boring while others believe it's literature. Lots of people think fantasy is for boys and/or girls lost in a D&D fantasy world or that science fiction is for boys and their toys. We all know what romance is guilty of. My guess, they're all guilty of it sometimes but not always and that the bottom line is that if it sells, it speaks and/or entertains people and that's what we're trying to do with this writing thing anyway.

 

[Carol Rose]

My guess, they're all guilty of it sometimes but not always and that the bottom line is that if it sells, it speaks and/or entertains people and that's what we're trying to do with this writing thing anyway.

THIS.

 

[Tim James]

Might need to chicken out and start with something less....visceral. (Does she DO less visceral.)

I'm not sure if she does. It's kind of her style.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

OK, fair warning

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I tend to go in cycles. In winter, I come home from the library with lots of non-fiction, because there's time in my schedule to pay attention to it. In summer, it's light reading--stuff I can read while shelling peas, stuff I can pick up for five minutes and put down. I try to read widely, and I try to read 'bestsellers' in many genres, purely for professional reasons (I admit, I don't often enjoy the books I read, but obviously the authors have done something right if they're bestsellers, and I reckon I should be paying attention). But there are times I need to steer clear of certain genres. When real life is too intense, I read to escape, so I avoid a lot of contemporary general fiction because it's too close to reality. The past three months for me has been an unending stream of fantasy and sci-fi novels. I reckon life better improve soon, or I'll run out of escapist literature in the local library.

 

[Emurelda]

Nice to see you back, Emurelda! You've been quiet recently, Litopia-wise. Busy?

Thanks, Marc! Lovely to see you too. Hoping to join more convos here. Been a bit busy finding my way in the world (what a cliche!) and I suppose trying to understand a few things about what I want as an individual and a children's writer. Focusing on that mainly.

Communities are interesting, aren't they? When you don't conform you really aren't welcome. And I'm talking about all kinds of communities not necessarily religious or cultural but writing too. In any case, it's a process of maturing for me....hopefully.

 

[Patricia D]

I enjoy books in many genres, mostly mysteries and "commercial fiction" whatever that means. I rarely read non-fiction but feel as if I should.

 

[Marc Joan]

Thanks, Marc! Lovely to see you too. Hoping to join more convos here. Been a bit busy finding my way in the world (what a cliche!) and I suppose trying to understand a few things about what I want as an individual and a children's writer. Focusing on that mainly.

Communities are interesting, aren't they? When you don't conform you really aren't welcome. And I'm talking about all kinds of communities not necessarily religious or cultural but writing too. In any case, it's a process of maturing for me....hopefully.

I think when people work out what it is that makes them happy, and then pursue that happiness with an intelligent plan, all the other stuff about conforming, or not, takes on a different perspective. Can still be painful, of course. That's not meant to be advice, by the way, just a vague observation.