Breaking Out of My Comfort Zone – Can I Do It?
I’m a creature of habit. I like to eat the same things, watch the same TV shows, shop in the same stores, visit the same websites every day. You get the idea.
When it comes to my reading habits, I’m no different. Obviously, I love romance, but more specifically I love contemporary romance. Ever since I discovered romance twenty years ago, it’s been my preferred subgenre.
But I wasn’t always so narrow in my reading. When I was a kid, I was in love with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Now, when I think about reading fantasy novels, I’m like, “Umm…I don’t know about that.” Granted, some of my reticence can be attributed to evolving tastes. There’s no rule that says you have to always like the same things forever and ever. And there’s no question that the most joy I get from romance novels comes from watching two people fall in love. I don’t need dead bodies or supernatural creatures to make the book interesting to me.
On the other hand, there’s a whole world of romance I don’t partake in as much as I used to. People who know how much I love contemporary romance are kinda shocked when I tell them that Shannon McKenna is my crack. She writes romantic suspense, and I’ve read everything she’s ever written. Back in the 90s before her publisher/legal woes, I goggled up everything Dara Joy wrote. I guess her books can be characterized as futuristic/paranormal romance. But if she were to publish those same books today, the odds of me checking them out are slim to none.
That’s a long-winded way to say I’d like to diversify my reading. Two years ago, when I first realized I should branch out, I read the first Harry Potter book. I read the second one last year, and currently have the third one checked out of the library. At this rate, I’ll be done by 2018. Lol.
More proof of my lack of diversity: out of the 50 books I read last year, 2 were young adult, 2 paranormal, 1 historical, and 5 romantic suspense. Everything else was contemporary. A few of the contemporary novels were erotic, which definitely deserves its own category, but they were still contemporary.
I could read mostly contemporary romance for the rest of my life and be okay, but I know there’s a whole world of romance (and non-romance) I’m missing out on. Maybe I’ll discover an author and/or a series that will make me fall in love and slap myself for not trying it earlier. I suspect I will and there’s only one way to find out – by taking some chances on what I choose to read.
Therefore, I’m more determined than ever to read different types of books in 2014. Keep your fingers crossed that I can stick to it. I am a creature of habit, after all.
Do you like to stick with what you know and love or do you like to branch out? What are your genre ratios in reading? Got any good recommendations (that aren’t contemporary romance) for me?
