#Microblog Monday 242: It’s a Mystery
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If you asked me three years ago if I liked mystery books, I would have told you no. It was a genre I avoided. Loved fantasy, loved science fiction, loved non-genre fiction. Didn’t love mysteries.
But I went from not liking mysteries at all to pretty much only reading mysteries. I’m currently making my way through Brittany Cavallaro’s Charlotte Holmes books. (They are so much fun.) And Agatha Christie. And I just finished the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. (Fantastic except for one tiny thing in the ending.) And Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious books. (Loved them.)
I don’t know what changed, but I stopped avoiding mysteries and finally embraced them.
Are there any genres you once avoided and now love? Or vice versa?
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12 comments
I’ve never been a reader tied to genres. I’ll read anything if it’s a good story. I guess I read mostly non-genre books, but I throw in any other genre if I have a good recommendation. I read some really crappy sci-fi books as light relief, when they’re recommended by my husband (who is a voracious reader of genre fiction.)
I like mysteries, though I haven’t read one for a while. Elizabeth George writes some excellent ones.
I tend not t read mysteries, but I’d say It’s not that I avoid them, it’s that there’s other things taking up my time. 😉 Lately I’ve been all about the spirituality stuff, which for this engineer is causing a lot of internal conflict. I may need a Shopaholic palate cleanser at some point…
I can’t say that I avoid mysteries but I don’t think I have ever read any. I might have to find one to add to my reading list.
I’m the opposite. I love mysteries and often seek to buy them
at airports on trips vs other genres. I am not drawn to fantasy and if I ever pick up one, I don’t finish.
I’ve always loved mysteries, although I haven’t read as many of them lately as I did in my younger years. Agatha Christie, definitely. Not for the first time, I will plug the Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley, as well as those written by Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters. The Michaels books are more thrillers, sometimes with a supernatural bent, while the Peters books have more humour. 🙂 I especially love her Amelia Peabody series, but her books about Jacqueline Kirby & Vicky Bliss are also great.
I’ve never been drawn to fantasy. I remember in high school a friend raving about the very first Terry Brooks book, “The Sword of Shannara” — I think I did manage to slog my way through it, but I was like, “meh.” Never read any Tolkien (although I did get suckered into watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies & enjoyed that for the most part) or George Martin… have no interest in “Game of Thrones.”
I read more sci-fi and dystopian fiction now than I once did. I don’t read as much straight fantasy now, though – probably because I’ve gotten set in my ways and nothing quite can touch “Lord of the Rings” for me ;). I did read “Game of Thrones” series and was intrigued enough to read all the way through 5 long novels, so I liked it pretty well, but it got to a point where I’d have to put it down periodically because it is so incredibly, graphically *violent* (I knew it was time for a reading break when I started having nightmares!).
I do love mysteries and have for years. I literally bounced up and down in my chair when I got a notification that the new Louise Penny is coming out later this year :).
I never used to read science fiction, but I have tried a few books in that genre over the past few years and really enjoyed them. I actually like most books if they are engaging and well-written.
I used to dislike romances because they were so misogynistic, but that started to phase out in the 90s and even those same authors are nicely feminist and there are amazing new authors. The genre has changed, not me. (1980s Balogh is still rapey.)
I avoid sci-fi, though there is some speculative fiction I really want to read. I usually can’t get past the first few chapters for some reason.
Oooh, I got Evelyn Hardcastle for Christmas, I will bump it up on my list! I like mysteries, too, but don’t read them often. I guess fantasy is something I didn’t used to enjoy quote as much as i do now — give me dragons and women bucking tradition in alternate universe worlds any day now.
I thought I didn’t like Fantasy, but then I found the Incarnations of Immortality YA series by Piers Anthony.
Can’t say I seek out Fantasy now, but man, those 7 books had a big influence on my world view.
Nope. I’m hopelessly stuck in mysteries and have been for decades. I also have a particular type I like which often makes them hard to come by. I’ve wanted to try other genres but I just can’t shake the comfort and satisfaction that I get from a good murder.