Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.
This week Billy asks: Have you ever ventured out of your comfort zone in terms of reading a genre you have never read? If so, did you get hooked on that new genre?
Although I primarily read science fiction and fantasy, I read fairly broadly overall. I read historical fiction, science, history, westerns, political science, and so on. The only genre I haven't read a whole lot of is romance, but I have read a couple of what could be called romance or romance-adjacent books. I even reviewed Danielle Steele's novel The Ring. That said, I can't say that I have ever been inspired to read more books by Danielle Steele, or seek out other romance-style books.
I do like science fiction laced through with romance. For example, I have enjoyed Catherine Asaro's novels such as Primary Inversion or Sunrise Alley that are basically space opera with romance added. She has also written a number of fantasy novels that combine fantasy and romance. I believe that she has written at least one straight romance novel, and, if so, at some point I will probably get an example of that and read it, but that choice is driven by my familiarity with the author rather than a particular interest in the genre.
I guess this has all been a roundabout way of saying: I read books drawn from a fairly wide variety of genres. I don't read romance very much, but I have read some. I don't have any real motivation to read more romance unless I like the author's work in other genres.
Previous Book Blogger Hop: "147-Break" Is a 1983 Documentary About Snooker Featuring Steve Davis
Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: 149 Fish and Chips Has a Shop in Bridlington and Another in Barnard Castle
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Nice answer....thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou do read a wide variety of genres. I stick with three. :)
I hope you are having a good weekend.
Happy Hopping!!
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog Hop Answer
@Elizbaeth: I find that reading eclectically helps keep my reading from becoming stale. At least for me, if I read the same style of book over and over, it gets somewhat tedious and tiring.
DeleteI also couldn't read Danielle Steele. I like her 1st books from the beginning of time now they all seem the same.
ReplyDeleteSportochick’s Musings Answer
@Teri Lloyd: I've only read the one book of hers. The Ring was recommended to me by my ex-wife (who loves Danielle Steele) as one of her best, so I read it to see what Steele's books were like. It was okay, but I'm probably not going to ever read another book by Steele.
DeleteI could never connect with Steel but I love Romance novels, mostly Holiday Romances
ReplyDelete@FICTION STATE OF MIND: I've only read a couple of romance novels. I read a few when I was a teenager living overseas and reading material was hard to come by, and a few written by authors who I found through their writing in other genres. I don't mind reading the occasional romance novel, but I don't go out of my way to seek them out.
DeleteI don't think I've ever read anything by Danielle Steele. I read a wide variety too. And while I have more recently ventured into straight romance type novels, I mostly prefer my romance to be secondary to another genre--like mystery or urban fantasy too.
ReplyDelete@Literary Feline: If you think you would enjoy space opera with some romance or fantasy with some romance, I would recommend checking out Catherine Asaro's books.
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