Thread: Favorite genre

Urban Fantasy I think, lately. Or soft sci fi/fantasy stuff. Things like Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books. There's fantasy elements to it, but it's not all Wizards and Quests. And they're usually really really fun to read.

Technical (Mary Roach), literature (Mark Z Danielewksi), sometimes urban fantasy (Charles de Lint).

i mainly like fantasy because sometimes you dont know what to expect and also some teen novels

no-one has mentioned my favourite genre yet, comedy! I love a good funny book to take away my cares for a few hours Sometimes I also like an action epic or sweeping historical novel when the mood strikes

Good point funnygirl, comedy has been ignored, not serious enough maybe? I find a lot of written comedy un-funny, I think it is missing the timing you get with live people. The funniest thing I can think of reading was Spike Milligan's "Puckoon", but a lot of his other books are a big yawn, do you have any recommendations?

With the exception of the previous poster, you people all seem to be talking to yourself, and time will tell about him too.

Olly- Although I go mainly for the dreaded chic-lit books, I'd think you'd enjoy Nick Earls work, if you dont mind reading convict comedy that is.

Read Penelope Lively not to long ago. Currently I'm taking my time with Kafka. I'm mid-way through a Stephen King novel, which is surprising to me since I don't especially enjoy King novels. Alex Haley is an old favorite as well as MacKinlay Kantor, Ayn Rand, Tom Clancy when in the mood, Cormac McCarthy, and Jack London. At heart, my first love is poetry. I enjoy Wordsworth but Elizabeth Browning has possessed my soul from a young age.

My favourite Book Genre :

- Fantasy - Horror
- Mystery
- Thriller
- Action
- Family Drama

Definitely horror, splatter punk and the classics of course.

Sci-Fi because I like science fiction, especially stuff that deals with space.

Alternate History because I like to think about the way things could have happened.

I'm currently getting into fantasy with The Lord of the Rings. I like Tolkien but I havn't really read anything else that falls under the fantasy category (that isn't one of the above) so I am not quite sure about this genre as a whole.

I've been reading fantasy for a long time. I read Hobbit as a kid, and didn't like it. So I stayed away from the rest of Tolkien's books, although I'm sure they're great to read.

R.A. Salvatore got me into fantasy. And while I've read his books as an adult, I found a lot less of interest than I did as a kid.
If you're interested in fantasy, I'd suggest Robin Hobb, most of her books are worth a read, especially the Farseer trilogy, the Tawney Man trilogy, and the Rain Wild Chronicles. Stay away from Soldiers Son trilogy.. not sure what she was thinking with that one.

Jennifer Fallon has a good series called The Tide Lords. Maybe a little slow to start, and an ending that you only half expect and half want to happen. But the books are very entertaining.

Stephen R Lawhead produced a great series call The Song of Albion. A Celtic themed fantasy world with just enough 'real world' thrown in to make it seem more real.

As a kid I read Jennifer Roberson; a series about shape changers and magic users. I'm sure I'd still find some fascination in rereading the series now.


There are a range of others which I found worth a read, but I'll wait to see if anyone is interested in this before putting too much effort into writing up lists. But on the whole, I've found most of the authors I like, have produced work I don't like. Which means I don't really have a favourite author.

The books I do like, always have something new and unexpected in them. A previously unexplored aspect to the fantasy world (to me at least). There's only so many times you can hear about goblins and elves before you start to grow a little tired of it.

Flash horror, flash comedy, alternate history and steam-punk fantasy are but a few. But nothing beats a book of short stories of any particular genre.

Olly, good blunt comedy is hard to find in literature; why I stick to something with a quick punchline, or a snapped ending.

EDIT: Suggestions?

Horror/Mystery is my numero uno genre. If that sort didn't exist, my next choice would have to be Dystopic-ish sci-fi. Just realized that isn't really a genre, but whatever

Can't really say there is one... it's just so much what I feel like reading and if that book draws me in. You could say for example SciFi & then you read such a book but the plot drags on & the characters are non-existent - so you don't even bother finishing. Then you read a romance and it's just so well written that you love it through and through.

So no set genre for me... just a great read will do thank you very much.