This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Today, we're going to take a deep dive into my reading life. I have a lot of favorite genres and tropes, but why do I like those things? Which books got me interested in them?

Here are the "gateway" books that got me hooked on my favorite types of stories.

😁  Gateway Books  👀

Adventure

The first book with a strong adventure plotline that I remember reading is The Call Of The Wild by Jack London. My dad read me the illustrated children's version when I was a kid. Then I read the original version in middle school. I love a good adventure story. There's a lot of room for plot twists.

Classics

I owned a bunch of classic picture books when I was a kid, but I don't think I realized they were classics. The first classic book I vividly remember is Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. This is another book my dad read to me as a kid. My tiny mind was blown when I learned that Black Beauty was first published in 1877. I liked knowing that 100+ years of humans have read and loved this book before me.

Dark Nonfiction

I read a lot of Arctic exploration nonfiction as a kid, and that usually has some death, but the books don't feel dark. The explorers chose to put themselves in dangerous situations. They knew death could happen. The first nonfiction book I read that actually feels dark is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It's true crime, and it's devastating from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. I think I'm drawn to dark nonfiction because I want to know how the minds of troubled people work.

Dystopias

I didn't know dystopian fiction existed until The Giver by Lois Lowry was assigned to me in 7th grade. After that, there was no turning back. I wanted all dystopia! Nothing else. I think I like imagining different futures and wondering if I could survive them. (I probably couldn't.)

Historical Fiction

This is a tricky one because historical fiction has always been a big part of my reading life. I don't remember the first historical book I read. One of the first that made an impact on me was The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. A teacher read it to our class in 4th (I think?) grade. I got very attached to the Watsons and was shocked by the ending. I think I'm attracted to historical fiction for the same reason I like dystopias. Could I survive the period of history I'm reading about?

Horror

Stephen King made me a reader. I wasn't a bookworm until I discovered his stuff. However, I liked horror before I met his books. I owned all of the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark anthologies by Alvin Schwartz. I memorized the stories and told them every chance I got. I loved traumatizing my fellow children at Girl Scout camps. That was the only fun thing about Girl Scout camps.

Light Fantasy

This isn't a genre that I paid much attention to until college. I was forced to read a lot of short stories in college. My favorite stories were the slightly magical ones. The ones that are mostly realistic, but there's an element or a character that's a little bit fantastical. I don't remember if I was assigned Shirley Jackson, Aimee Bender, or Karen Russell first, but Karen Russell made the biggest impact on me. Her stories are like puzzles. You don't know what you're looking at until all the pieces come together. Then you're shocked by her creativity. St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves is one of my favorite short story collections.

Literary Fiction

This is another tricky one because assigned reading has always been a thing. I've had a lot of "art" forced upon me by various schools. I was underwhelmed by the majority of it. Margaret Atwood's name came up often in my English classes, but her books were never assigned, so I picked up The Handmaid's Tale on my own. It shifted the way I thought about writing and made me want to study narrative structure in graduate school, which I did. Now I want to read artsy books instead of dismissing them as boring school stuff.

Morally Gray Characters

Morally gray characters are my favorites. I like good people who occasionally make bad choices. I like villains with understandable motives. Give me all the complex people! Most of the books I read as a child had clear heroes and villains. Then, my middle school English teacher assigned The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and it was a breath of fresh air. Finally! Characters with realistic flaws! Now I seek out books with less-than-perfect people.

Young Adult Books

I kind of skipped young adult books when I was a teenager. I jumped right from Boxcar Children to Stephen King. Other than Harry Potter, I didn't think I liked kids' books. Then I read a few of them in my early 20s and completely changed my mind. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was a turning point for me. I literally stayed awake for multiple nights to read this series. It's fast-paced and gritty and everything I want from a dystopia. It made me more open minded about young adult books.

Talk to me about your gateway books!