It occurred to me this weekend that I am a Genre Hopper. I know this phrase is usually used to describe a writer who goes from genre to genre to genre writing different books, but in this case I am applying it to myself as a reader. Anyone who has read even just one of our Wednesday blogs where Pantster and I list what we are reading can see that I am very eclectic in my reading habits. I already knew this. What I realized this weekend is that even within the genre of romance I am a Genre Hopper.
Sometimes I am in love with the paranormal. I mean when you think about having a lover who has had hundreds of years to perfect his skills, what’s not to love about that??? Other times nothing will get me through the night but a soldier book. I do so love a man in uniform story! (A man out of the uniform story is often even better!) This type of romance tends to be contemporary and is often full of suspense and danger. So there’s really another genre – suspense. Of course, sometimes-said man is in a different century. So there I am smack dab in the historical genre. I am especially fond of those British Red-Coats and the gallant men of Confederate States of America. And one of my favorite genres of all time is the Cowboy Story. I love a well written Cowboy or Western Romance whether it is a historical about “how the west was won” or a contemporary like Linda Howard’s Mackenzie’s Mountain, possibility the best Cowboy story ever written!
I guess at the end of the day the important truth is that I love to read almost all of the genres of romance. I love the idea that across all times and cultures everyone deserves a Happily Ever After.
Are you a Genre Hopper?
Do you read in multiple genres even within romance?
I'm with you! I jump around reading different genres but I seem to do it in periods. Say for a few months I will read nothing but contemporaries then a cowboy book will garner my attention. So off I go into the Wild, Wild West. Lately, it seems that paranormals have captured me - especially Linda Howard and Linda Jones' new one, Blood Born. I read at night and have scared myself silly sometimes (ever had your significant other check under the bed? - I have, much to my embarrassment). I agree, there's something about a guy who's had centuries to perfect his, uh, skills. I am like you: I just love to read!
ReplyDeleteI Genre Hop all the time. I love to read paranormal fiction, historical, young adult, contemporary romance, regular fiction/mainstream, women's fiction-you name it--I read it.
ReplyDeleteI like comedy, so I tend to look for books with blurbs that incorporate phrases like "eccentric cast of characters", "witty", "mad cap", etc. I'll read non-comedic work if the back cover synopsis really resonates, but I like the majority of my reading entertainment to be fun and funny.
ReplyDeleteSo, I think I genre hop to follow my deeper, more basic needs of finding humor. There are some subgenres of romance that don't really draw me, but I'll give most anything a try if it promises to make me laugh. By the same token, mystery, SF/F, adventure & thrillers, unclassified works that nobody knows how to shelve ... those are all fair game if they hold out the possibility of zippy dialog or quirky turns on reality or general silliness done well.
From Crusie & Quinn in romance to Donna Andrews & Joan Hess in romance to Terry Pratchett's Disc World, Hiassen's Florida, Westlake's Dortmunder, and Christopher Moore's varied realities, I'm all over the place with my reading.
Well, I am happy to see that I am not alone in my hopping!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to you ladies for sharing your hopping habits with me. :-)
I do not read as widely as I once did. More and more, I don't want to read something that I know is not going to end well. Aside from that, I don't like stories where the heroine dresses up like a boy and tries to fool people for a long stretch of time. I just cannot suspend belief. I know mind if she puts on her brother's clothes for a few hours after she returns from Almack's to go do something daring. Did I answer the question?
ReplyDeleteNo? Yes. I like different genres--so long as they end well and nobody cross dresses.
I'm not a hopper unless I begin to feel like Tigger again. ;)
ReplyDeleteBoinga boinga - I like Tigger! That's the book they gave me with the new I-Pad! I am re-reading Winnie the Pooh (nobody said you have to grow up all the time)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Pantster: who likes cross-dresser's? Well, maybe a guy in a kilt...