Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.
I love talking about genres and I think today it’s a really interesting topic. I feel like every so often I get an inch to try a genre I’ve maybe not quite enjoyed in the past, so this should be a fun one.
Let’s Talk Bookish November 22nd:
How Do You Know a Genre is Just Not For You?
Prompts: Are there any genres you stay away from, no matter what? How do you know a genre is not for you? Do you ever revisit your least favorite genres? Are there genres of books you’ve never really tried? Why not?
There are genres I mostly avoid, but if something in that genre catches my eye, I might still give it a go. Genres are so vast and with so many things encompassed under ‘genre’, I think it’s likely that even if I don’t like a load of books within a particular genre, I might find other books under the same ‘umbrella’ that I still like. I think, to be more specific, it’s when we get more into subgenres that there are things I just completely avoid.
I don’t like military sci-fi or hard sci-fi. I tried these a bit when I was younger, and just found I’m not a big fan of the ‘heavier’ side of sci-fi. I like my sci-fi to be more leaning towards fantasy type. I don’t know if there’s a name for the kind of zombie books that focus on military or ex-military survivors, but there was a huge spate of them, and those I’ll typically avoid, too.
At the moment, I’m kind of finding my feet with romance subgenres. It’s a fun, ongoing journey to try different subgenres within romance. I’m still not sure if there’s any I’d massively go out of my way to avoid, but I suspect eventually there might be.
And although I will pretty much read all horror, I’m not the biggest fan of overly realistic or overly gory horror. I definitely prefer stuff that’s a touch more creepy than gory. That said, I don’t tend to read much realistic crime either. I’ve tried, and I’ll likely try again, but I definitely favour fantasy/paranormal crime novels than realistic ones.
It makes it sound like I’m not a fan of contemporary, but that very much depends on what kind of contemporary novel we’re talking about. I think for romance, I like adult contemporary romances to be more on the lighter side, a bit more rom-com than anything a touch more serious.
I know a genre (or subgenre) isn’t for me because I start getting bored by it. I try to leave time between giving certain (sub)genres another chance, and if I still feel myself getting frustrated or feeling like I’m reading ‘pretty much the same thing’, it’s probably a good indicator that particular type of book isn’t for me.
I do try and revisit ‘disliked’ genres from time to time, as I may unearth something I actually really like. It’s very dependent too on the kind of subject matter – just because I disliked a (completely random example) literary book about a middle aged white man going through a midlife crisis, doesn’t mean I’ll avoid all literary books, or not be interested in a literary book about different types of people.
Off the top of my head, I don’t think there’s much I haven’t really tried – but let me know the kind of books you tend to stay away from, maybe it’s something I’ve never even tried, or do completely stay away from now after some bad experiences!
Unwrapping Words 