Jan. Genre Talk!

[Jessica]

One of the missions for January's Winter Read Challenge is to read a bestseller from a genre you don't normally read.

So, tell us a genre that you usually avoid and help out your fellow readers by letting us know your favorite bestseller in a genre you love!

[Tonja]

Where can I find the Jan challenge page?

[Jessica]

Tonja wrote: "Where can I find the Jan challenge page?"

Hi Tonja! I will add it to the group photos or if you'd like you can send me an email at jessica.slone@kentonlibrary.org and I can email you a copy!

Thanks for asking!

[Missy]

I read about any genre, but I guess I read nonfiction the least. I'm not sure what my favorite genre is as it really depends on my mood as to what I want to read. As my kids get older, I read books they read so we can talk about them. One young readers series I have really enjoyed because from a young age I have always been fascinated with mythology is The Percy Jackson series.

[Jessica]

Missy wrote: "I read about any genre, but I guess I read nonfiction the least. I'm not sure what my favorite genre is as it really depends on my mood as to what I want to read. As my kids get older, I read books..."

I think it's really great to see what books parents have read with their kids and also enjoyed on their own. I've not read the Percy Jackson series, but I've heard so many good things about it!

[Janice]

I avoid Westerns and I love YA novel "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo.

[Kat]

I avoid YA (other than the famed favs of everyone) and Romance. Though I have found a few I liked:
YA "Finding Audrey" by Sophie Kinsella,
Romance wise I read "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson
& The "Fifty Shades" series (So i knew what the heck people were talking about!!!).
MY FAV Genre is Psychological Thrillers; Most recently (because I can't just choose a favorite) I have read and reallllly liked:
"In a Dark, Dark Wood" Ruth Ware
"Dark Matter" Blake Crouch (Sci-Fi too)
"The Paying Guests" Sarah Waters (Historical Fic too)
"The Girl Before" J.P. Delany

[Jessica]

I also tend to avoid Westerns, but just for something different I will add that I also don't read many graphic novels. The art always looks amazing, but for some reason I never pick them up.

My favorite genres are Fantasy and Contemporary Lit. Bestsellers I really liked: for Fantasy I really enjoyed V.E. Schwab's "A Darker Shade of Magic", & N.K. Jemisin's "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" and for Contemporary Lit I'll recommend "The Mothers" by Brit Bennett & "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng!

[Amy]

I have to say I avoid books that are purely mysteries. Its okay if a book has a mystery in it, but it has to have a lot of other things going on. I just can't seem to bring myself to care about who did what if that's all there is. I mostly read fantasy and historical fiction because I like the escapism.

[Vicki]

I’m not one for romance, westerns, or anything too scary anymore. My favorite genre is YA dystopian. I think my favorite, not super trendy series from that is the Testing trilogy. I’m currently enjoying the Red Queen series.

[Jessica]

Vicki wrote: "I’m not one for romance, westerns, or anything too scary anymore. My favorite genre is YA dystopian. I think my favorite, not super trendy series from that is the Testing trilogy. I’m currently enj..."

Ooh I saw the special edition of Red Queen at the store the other day. It was cool. A good book for the challenge for anyone who doesn't read a lot of YA!

[Lara]

I'm open to almost anything. My favorites have to be SciFi and Fantasy. I tend to avoid best sellers. And I cannot read horror. So Im having a trouble thinking of something from "genre you don't normally read." Any suggestions?

[Jessica]

Lara wrote: "I'm open to almost anything. My favorites have to be SciFi and Fantasy. I tend to avoid best sellers. And I cannot read horror. So Im having a trouble thinking of something from "genre you don't no..."

Hi Lara! The spirit of the challenge is to get you reading something a little outside your comfort zone, but if you read broadly already that can be tough! I mean, it's an excellent reading habit, but makes the challenge harder. But no worries! This just means we get to dig a little deeper! Instead of doing a straightforward genre maybe you could try approaching it from a slightly different angle. A couple ideas I had were maybe a bestseller translated into English/written by someone in another country or a book written for a different age group. You don't have to choose those, but feel free to approach the issue more creatively. I'll put a couple links below with books that would fit these parameters, but if you're still struggling to find something let us know and we'll help you choose!

https://media.bookbub.com/blog/2017/0...
https://geediting.com/most-iconic-boo...
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-se...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

[Lara]

Thanks Jessica for the ideas. I decided to go with an autobiography; I Am Malala.