Top Ten Tuesday: The Murky Fringes Of My Comfort Zone

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Once again, I’m going to be a rebel and not completely follow the prompt. I think I’m supposed to be listing ten recent reads that are out of my comfort zone. Instead, I’m going to list the genres that are at the edges of my comfort zone. I’m comfortable with reading these genres, but I don’t go out of my way to seek them out. If you have any awesome recommendations for books in these genres, I’d love to hear them.

10 Genres At The Fringes Of My Comfort Zone

1. Fantasy: There are some fantasy novels that I obsess over (such as Harry Potter), but fantasy books tend to have a lot of stuff going on. There are a bunch of characters whose strange names I can’t remember because I’m terrible with names. There are new worlds that I have to understand. Also, I’m bothered by anything illogical, so if the magical worlds don’t make perfect sense, I rage a little.

2. Memoir: I have a love/hate relationship with these. Some of my favorite books ever are memoirs, but so many memoirs feel like an author’s self-indulgent ramblings. Most people’s lives just aren’t that interesting.

3. Poetry: Okay, confession time. I’ve spent the last six years working as an editor for literary journals and anthologies. I read poetry every single weekday. I like poetry, but I don’t love it enough to read a ton of it in my free time. I am trying to change this. I’m just extremely picky about my poetry.

4. Plays: When I read plays, I tend to like them. I don’t know why I don’t read more of them. I usually only read 2-3 plays a year.

5. Graphic novels: I started reading these last year. I wasn’t sure if I’d like them, but now I want to read all of the graphic novels.

6. Nonfiction: I’ve read tons of nonfiction, and I own shelves and shelves of it, but almost all of my nonfiction books are about religion or cults. I guess non-cult-nonfiction would be at the edges of my comfort zone? I do occasionally read nonfiction about non-religious things.

7. Series: Am I the only one who’s biased against series? When I see that a book is #1 of a series, I’m reluctant to read it. I do try to read 1-2 finished series a year, but series are big time commitments. I’d rather read standalones.

8. Children’s/Middlegrade: I read these genres because I’m getting a master’s degree in children’s lit., but I’m more comfortable at the YA end of the children’s lit. spectrum.

9. Romance: Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda made me reconsider my hatred of book romances. I still have a hard time finding romancey (that’s totally a word) books I like. I want a romance that isn’t tropey, isn’t too fluffy, isn’t pointlessly angsty, isn’t abusive, and doesn’t instantly fix all of the characters’ problems in life. Is that too much to ask?

10: LGBT: I started reading this genre last year. I found a few books I like, but books in this genre tend to be romancey, so I have the same problem as #9.

Which genres are at the fringes of your comfort zone?