What is your favorite genre?

[Heather]

I go for fantasy first, then sci-fi sometimes. I also like a good mystery or crime novel.

[Scrabbler]

I mostly read non-fiction (psychology, spirituality, religion, science) but with fiction I like historical fiction, fantasy, and drama-type books, (e.g. Jodi Picoult).

I am also trying to learn Italian in anticipation of a tour of Italy and Sicily in the next few years.

[Jill]

I like British mysteries -- good writing and not a lot of gore and violence.

[Lbd]

fantasy, sci-fi, murder mystery, brit mystery, a lot of escapism! lol

[FranMag]

Mystery & Suspense are my favorites, but if an author draws me into their stories well, I'll want to read everything by them, no matter the genre.

[Stidmama]

I generally go for fantasy, historical fiction and science fiction in that order for leisure reading, but I haven't made time for that much in the last few years. I read a lot of books on gardening/plants, enjoy books on crafts, especially paper crafts, and whatever else strikes my fancy!

[Niamh]

I'm a fantasy nut because it's a great escape. I'm re-reading the 17 books in the Shannara line, by Terry Brooks right now. Druids, Elves and Trolls... OH MY!
When I first started reading avidly I read horror almost exclusively. Stephen King is a scary man. Then sometime in H.S. I decided to expand my horizons with "The sun also rises" by Hemingway. That was quite a jump. Since then, I read just about anything that sounds intriguing.

[Yoink]

Other than some sci-fi and a variety of books that are about or related to feudal Japan I like books that are hard to classify into a genre. I like to be surprised by a book and I find that difficult within recognised genres of thriller, horror, fantasy, whatever. I like a touch of oddness and unpredictability. David Mitchell, Haruki Murakami, Donna Tartt, Jeffrey Eugenides have done this for me in recent years.

[LizSark]

I'll read anything, from a classic to the back of a cereal box (depends whats available at the time) but I guess my favourite is biography / autobiography.

[Lbd]

Fantasy is my first choice, with specific authors of choice, Rowlings, Feist, Eddings, Hickman and Weis, McCaffery, Lackey, Rollins, Goodkind, Brooks, Anthony, Wurts, Hobb...et.al.

Sci-Fi, depends on the author and the topic. Some of them can get a bit too over the top for me.

Mystery/murder: J. Patterson, J. Kellerman, J. Sandford, P. Cornwell, M. Connelley, D. Baldacci, R. Ludlum... just to name a few

then there are the ones that I'm not sure how to classify: Secret Life of Bees, Mermaids Chair, Life of Pi, Kite Runner, Saving Fish from Drowning, Memoirs of a Geisha...

*authors are not in any particular order of preference.

[Book]

Hi all, just joined this group.

I'm a nonfiction person, mostly history: local history, Detroit Michigan area, and liberal religious history.

I also like word books, books on symbology and flags and heraldry and uniforms, books on debunking of pseudoscience, and topics like that.

I sell used books for a living and often read random parts of books I'm selling. This I know a teeny little bit about a lot of topics!

[Annie]

fantasy is a firm favourite Feist, Eddings, Dart-Thornton, McKenna, Hobb, Wurts, Brooks, McCaffrey, Adams and a hefty dose of Tom Holt.

I also like Grisham, Crichton, King, Koontz, Auel, and am always ready to add new authors to my list.

I am also the kind who reads anything lying around, hence with 194 books in my catalogue, there is at least another 100 yet to add, and that doesn't include the 'real' books on Egypt and Mayan cultures , my poetry collection, and a dozen more books that are not for light reading.
It's funny, but I was astounded by how many books I have read! I have always loved to read, and often stayed up until dawn reading.

[renny]

anything prior to 1960 - books without blasphemous words intrigue me - any untrained mind can use foul language to "get their point across" - an excellent writer can convey the same feelings - in any language- with the philosophical structure of their sentence using a quantum theory approach to determine time and matter in any given situation.

[Doren]

historical fiction, british mysteries - and a bunch of novels that don't fit into any sort of genre

[Hetty]

My favourite reading is the psychological or sociological novel, though like Jill I enjoy the kind of mystery fiction produced by Dorothy Sayers, Reginald Hill, P.D.James, Barbara Vine, Colin Dexter et al. I'm also fond of good literature for reading to children--A.A.Milne, Beatrix Potter, Charles Kingsley, but am not fond of fantasy post-C.S.Lewis, and cannot subscribe to the popularity of the Potter books.
Thanks Doren. I'll put your suggestion on my list of books to read.

[Doren]

Hetty, have you read The Alienist by Caleb Carr? Great amalgamation of psychological/sociological/mystery/historical fiction.

[Scrabbler]

I absolutely loved The Alienist, and Carr's follow-up, Angel of Darkness. Great books!!

[Patricia]

I read just about everything. My favorites are sci-fi, fantasy and mystery. The first sci-fi book I can remember reading is Decision at Doona by Anne McCaffrey. I loved it and have been hooked ever since.

[Anne]

I, too, like fantasy and mystery. I especially favor juvenile fantasy, which I believe often deals with the really important issues of morality without getting bogged down in the gratuitous sex and violence many adult writers feel tempted to rely on. Or maybe it's just that any fantasy book that doesn't have too much sex and violence gets labelled "juvenile" as a matter of course. With mysteries, too, I don't want too much explicit violence, and it is absolutely essential that I like the detective.

[Lbd]

I so agree with you Vicuna. If I wanted to read smut or hot and steamy I'd be reading harlequin (or harlot queen) romances. As for the violence, like the gratuitus sex a little goes a long way for me!

Pabtrek, McCaffrey just has a way of getting you sucked into Pern! lol

Hey Feather, book three really ties it all together! Infact, I think book three is the best of the three Bronze Canticles.

[Heather]

LOL, and I had just decided I have had enough and am not reading book 3! Perhaps I'll go back to it after I finish Middlesex. I need a break from it, it was a strain for me to finish, which is rare.