This year I have been doing a reading challenge and it has helped me figure out stuff I do NOT enjoy reading. And got me back to some beloved old favorites!!
I love Horror, Victorian literature like Thomas Hardy and Elizabeth Gaskell, and thrillers focusing on social issues – I loved Julie Chan Is Dead, The Other Black Girl, and Best Offer Wins.
Here are some genres I have decided are not really worth my time… what are yours?
Contemporary romance – (it’s just not meaty enough – I need to have something else going on in the plot/the setting). This year I read a book featuring supernatural characters in a post apocalyptic world and I just wanted to know more about that world!! But obviously it focused on the romance.
Cozy mysteries – just not for me. Too slice-of-life
Historical thrillers – eg Robert Harris. Act of Oblivion, An Officer and a Spy etc. Unless it really re-imagines/invents some new aspects of history (eg I loved Fatherland when I was 15). I don’t like it when it’s a point-by point retelling.
Fantasy – took a lot of effort to get through The Hobbit. But not giving up yet – joining a read along for the LOTR trilogy. I may like it although people are warning me I might not. I also didn’t really enjoy Fairytale by Stephen King, even though it had strong points; and Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. The latter started off strong but I don’t like The Chosen One trope.
by DiligentCroissant
2 Comments
people gonna hate me for this,but dystopian/depressing.Ironically,the first books that i read were all belong to this genre,i just feel so depressed and mentally strained after reading books like this
I keep trying to get into thrillers but every one I try I just dnf because I get bored. If anyone has suggestions for really engaging ones, I’ll take them!