I was reflecting upon my own reading list this morning and was thinking about just how narrow some of my reading could often be. I tend to go through the back lists of my favourite authors and therefore stick to the types of books that I am used to and generally give me pleasure.
But then I thought about some of the very different books that I have read this year. Some non-fiction, fantasy and even romantic ones that don’t normally crop up in my reading have satisfied me as much as any contemporary family drama.
Just for fun I have come up with some questions to enable us all to reflect upon our reading habits. I will put my own answers under every question and I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
1) When was the last time you tried a book by a new author (an author whose books you had never read before)?
Today. I had a book sample in my Apple Books and decided to try it and then persuaded myself to buy the full ebook. It is called ‘The Dragon of Ynes’ and was recently recommended in another blog review that I read. It has LGBT aspects to its storyline and already I am loving it.
2) Have you read any non-fiction books this year?
Having just bought Matt Haig’s ‘The Comfort Book’ I am definitely going to soon. I also read a couple of biographies by Julie Andrews and Mindy Kaling, amongst others.
3) Have you read outside of your comfort zone lately?
‘The Order of the Day’ was a historical short book and definitely new territory for me as a reader. Written about the German invasion of Austria and various events that led to the Second World War, it was interesting but also scary. Scary in the sense that it illustrated just how easily people were fooled by Hitler in the early days.
4) When did you last try an Indie writer’s book?
Being an indie author myself, I try hard to often buy and read books by fellow indie writers. A couple of months ago I read ‘Crossings’ by Elizabeth Thomas which was a compelling collection of short stories. I also read the marvellous, ‘The Vintage Bookshop of Memories’ by Elizabeth Holland.
5) Do you read books written by authors from other countries?
This one is easy for me as I love so many American and Australian authors. My go-to Australian writing legend is Liane Moriarty and I am regularly pleased by the works of such writers as Celeste Ng, Becky Albertalli, John Green and David Levithan.
You will notice that I included a picture of Jane Austin books as recently I overheard someone talking about having read them all. I hope that I have become more of a varied reader than I used to be, but I will always read novels by my favourites, such as Matt Haig, Joanne Harris and Liane Moriarty. Click here for a post about some of their books that I enjoyed recently.
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I don’t like fiction at all but perhaps I should give it a try.
I never really thought about how narrow my reading genres really are until now. I tend to stick to crime and mystery with some YA thrown in. Definitely have to read some more varied books.
What a timely post. I myself have thought of tackling some literary fiction, which will require a bit more active reading on my part. I’ll maybe throw in a non-fiction book in there as well. I need to read widely as a writer, but I’ve only been sticking to my favourites, which are sci-fi and fantasy. Anyway, thanks for this post!
Interesting post. I enjoyed reading it, also because I mostly answered yes to all! I love experimenting with books and have found a new fascination for non-fiction and biographical novels. In the last couple of years, I have gone back to re-reading books by authors I have previously liked and what can I say about classics.. this genre is so underrated! Only fantasy and sci-fi are yet to catch my attention.
I am the same. I find sci-fi intimidating but I do love on screen sci-fi, so maybe I should try.
I read lots of different things. I love fiction and specific writers which are my comfort zone. I know what to expect and the fact that I will have a great time reading them is guaranteed. But I also have other things aside for when I feel like I need something different like biographies, poetry, historical books, romances etc. Usually I read translated literature in my language (Greek). But I also read books written in English.
I find this post really interesting cause most people tend to read only one thing and don’t even bother thinking that they might be missing something. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you. I am glad you try a range of books.
I always read the same type of books and I’ve been thinking about branching out. I’m going to give some others a try now. Been thinking about it for a while now. Thanks for the push 😀
My favorite picks are nonfiction but nowadays adding fiction as well just for a change.
Based on your questions, I would say I do read widely! I don’t get a chance to read indie others as much as I might, but this is because I have a long list of books on my TBR already! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. An interesting post!
Yes mix it up a bit. Thanks for looking.
This is really interesting to think about 🙂 I try to read one non-fiction book a month.
Great! Thanks for reading.
My TBR is massive too. This summer will be busy.
Haha definitely try something different.
Try a Liane Moriarty book, maybe. Thanks for reading.
👍👍😊
So, umm, I try books by new authors all the time. The last one was The Stars Wait Not by Anne Wheeler, which is also Sci-Fi, which is not my favorite genre. I don’t really like Sci-Fi elements. But I loved The Stars Wait Not!
I don’t know if I’ve read any nonfiction yet this year (apart from posts and such) but I am going to read The Mirror of Simple Souls by Marguerite Porrete, a french beguine mystic who was burned as a heretic by the Inquisition or something of that sort.
Outside of my comfort zone? Huh. Not quite sure what that is.
At this point, I’m reading Indie books more than traditionally published ones. I can reference The Stars Wait Not by Anne Wheeler for that, too, or mention any number of this year’s reads, such as The Fires of Treason by Michele Quirke (a historical fiction I loved – and reviewed on my own blog, which isn’t a book review blog for the most part! – though, once again, hist. fic isn’t my preferred genre) and Deathborn by CE Page, among others.
I don’t pay attention to what country an author is from. I’m pretty certain I do, but not bothering to know what countries authors are from … I can’t mention who these authors might be.
You definitely sound like you have a varied reading list. Thank you so much for sharing your answers. It is great that a Sci-if book worked out well. I have yet to read one .
I definitely don’t really feel I read widely enough. I love the sound of The Order Of The Day though so maybe that book can be the start of me changing my reading habits.
Yes it is interesting. Thanks for reading.
Great post! This has definitely made me consider my reading habits more, I think I should definitely be reading more non fiction. Thanks for sharing!
Hmm… I don’t think I’ve read outside of my comfort zone lately. I love a story with a bit of romance. But I have tried some new authors and I might just read something by John Green now that you’ve reminded me of him. Looking for Alaska, perhaps.