I’ve been thinking about the books I’ve read lately and I’ve identified a pattern: almost all of them (listed below) are some combination of dark, introspective, and disturbing.
The thing I found interesting is that this trend is present across genres. The prevailing ‘mood’ is similar. I’m going to try to shake things up moving forward.
Do you, fellow readers, also try to vary the ‘mood’ of the books you read?
Or do you just read what you enjoy even if that means it’s not super diverse?
1) Gone Girl
2) When Breath Becomes Air
3) The Silent Patient (regret reading this)
4) The Secret History
5) And Then There Were None
6) Never Let Me Go
7) Sharp Objects
8) Rebecca
9) Madonna in a Fur Coat
10) Piranesi
11) The Magus
12) Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
by FearlessCat7
11 Comments
I like my fantasy depressing. The other genres I’m interested in tend to be all over the emotional map.
Take one “John Dies at the End” (“Wong”/Pargin) and chase it with “The Exploding Detective” (Swartzwelder). Boom, fixed. ✊
Read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Everything you read after will seem downright cheerful by comparison.
yeah i get stuck in these reading ruts too. my kindle algorithm keeps suggesting more of same dark stuff and i just keep clicking because they look interesting.
maybe try switching up where you get recommendations? i started asking coworkers what they’re reading instead of relying on “customers also bought” suggestions. got some surprisingly lighter picks that way.
I like to try to vary what kind of books I’m reading, including the tone. It helps keep things from getting stale. But there are times I’m in a mood and will do several similar ones in a row. As long as the books are somewhat different it’s usually fine, change the genre instead, or the writing style, or something. I’m very much a mood reader so it just depends, but I do make an effort to not sit on one thing for too long.
I read across many genres and likewise many moods, personally. Reading should be enjoyable, but also there’s no story without conflict and books are often a way we can work through the difficulties of existence through stories. I tend to go through phases where I want darker/depressing (horror, lit fic, sci fi) or happier (romance, comedy).
I will deliberately shake things up, I can’t do the same mood back to back. If I read a fluffy romance then next I might want a serious thriller, followed by a good fantasy, followed by maybe women’s fiction. That kind of thing
I kinda just read whatever catches my eye and it ends up being dark like 90% of the time ha. Never really thought about mixing it up but maybe I should.
I always vary moods from book to book, personally. But I always have more than one book going too, so I like them to be different. I’ll usually be working on a big fantasy or sci-fi and then I’ll have a lighter fiction for when I’m not in the mood for that. But I’d say the mood of the book is the first thing I decide, then I pick a book that fits it.
90%-95% of what I read is depressing too on some level. Life is depressing and funny, upbeat books are much harder to pull off. Much higher risk of being corny.
I will say that when a non-depressing, funny read does break through the gloom, like *My Husband* by Maud Ventura, *The Blacktongue Thief* by Christopher Buehlman, or *Lost Lambs* by Madeline Cash, they really stick out in a good way.
You have good taste in books despite their depressing nature. I would suggest reading something light and funny to break the cycle. A memoir by a comedian you like might be a good choice. Tina Fey, Collin Jost, and David Spade all have a good ones if you like SNL.