Dark Matter
Do we all have our favourite genres that we read over and over again? Are we afraid to venture into the realms of new genres for fear that we will not be as satisfied by something we generally avoid? I am a sucker for a good ghost story, but there comes a point where the ideas can dry up and you are presented with same story repeatedly. Is it this reading security that we actually secretly like? A cliché, I am fully aware but do many women only read chick-lits? Are we somehow pre disposed to only liking rom coms as women? Has Fifty Shades changed the face of what women typically read? Has it shifted from chick lit to ‘mummy porn’ overnight because of the rise of highly sexed novels?
In a masters classroom when each student is associated by what we read and write by a genre, should we be worried? The sci-fi geek, the one that’s into ghost stories, the horror fan. Do we always look to what is for sale by genre or by popularity? Why is it that we are drawn to these particular subjects? Books are something that we invest a lot of time in reading so why would we want to take the risk with one we were not sure of rather than one that we feel comfortable and safe in the knowledge that we will enjoy?
I must admit that I search by genre or anything that has ghost in the title, but as soon as these run out, what next? Some people read what is in the top 10, others through recommendations, most sold or through academia, but would we all rather just pick what we know and like? Is it like we are cheating on our genre if we read another? Do you have genre fidelity?
Female First Lucy Walton