What Genre of Fiction do you read most often?

[cromag]

Probably tied between Mystery/Crime (including cozies) and Science Fiction (mostly from the 60s and 70s, but some newer stuff), and that's the way I voted.

I also read some Fantasy, a little Horror (a little goes a long way) -- but not urban fantasy -- and some non-fiction (Science and some History). Not enough to worry about including them in my votes.

Originally Posted by Catlady

What age range do science fiction and fantasy appeal to? It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres.

I'm 62. But I got my introduction to science fiction very early, sometime before the age of 10, and it stuck.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by cromag

Probably tied between Mystery/Crime (including cozies) and Science Fiction (mostly from the 60s and 70s, but some newer stuff), and that's the way I voted.

I also read some Fantasy, a little Horror (a little goes a long way) -- but not urban fantasy -- and some non-fiction (Science and some History). Not enough to worry about including them in my votes.






I'm 62. But I got my introduction to science fiction very early, sometime before the age of 10, and it stuck.

I'm 43 and I got hooked on reading by age 3 when my mom got me my 1st library card. Back then of course my favorite author was Dr. Seuss whose works I'm guessing would fit under the fantasy banner with his Grinches, Sneeches and Thing 2 and Thing 1 (who can find anything, anything, anything under the sun) among others.

[Nabeel]

I would have liked something like a 'classics' genre. I really do enjoy a lot of those great nineteenth century writers: Balzac (who taught me to reach French!), Dostoyevsky, Flaubert...

I think I'm not alone: it's one reason why they keep being re-issued.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Nabeel

I would have liked something like a 'classics' genre. I really do enjoy a lot of those great nineteenth century writers: Balzac (who taught me to reach French!), Dostoyevsky, Flaubert...

I think I'm not alone: it's one reason why they keep being re-issued.

Ah but 'classics' don't fall into any one genre of fiction. There are classics in every genre. For example "The Time Machine" and "Treasure Island." Both are "Classics" in their own right, but one is a straightforward Adventure, and the other is Science Fiction. To my mind a classic is a book (no matter the genre) that is still read and enjoyed a century (or more) after the author has laid down their pen. I think that's the only true test of whether a book is a classic. Schools and publications connected with writing (such as the New York Times) may say such and such is destined to be a classic but how the book withstands time (and if it is still read) is the only real measure of whether or not a book is one or not I think.

[Lynx-lynx]

I'm squarely in the mystery/crime genre, and have little interest in other fiction genres. Oh well, I used to read some of the other genres but I've moved on.

[Lusitanic]

Where does dystopic and zombie fiction fit in?

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Lusitanic

Where does dystopic and zombie fiction fit in?

I think dystopic is part of Sci Fi and zombie is usually horror. Just my opinion though.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Never read Baen in my life, nor bought from them.
I never read any genre book because x, y, z publisher.

I don't think medium (ebook or pbook) here is important. The poll is regarding what genre you read, not what genre you read on your e-reader.

Indeed. And I heartily agree with you about the poll. However, my comment about Baen was in response to Catlady's comment saying "It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres." And I interpreted "here" to mean at MobileRead, and thus to mean "people who use/like eReaders". So the people "here" have very likely been exposed to Baen.

The likely causality is that lovers of SF/F first discovered eBooks through Baen and thus became fans of electronic readers. I wouldn't expect someone who didn't like SF/F to suddenly start reading it just because Baen offered eBooks.

[mr_nihilism]

I really thought horror would have ranked higher. The horror!

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Indeed. And I heartily agree with you about the poll. However, my comment about Baen was in response to Catlady's comment saying "It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres." And I interpreted "here" to mean at MobileRead, and thus to mean "people who use/like eReaders". So the people "here" have very likely been exposed to Baen.

The likely causality is that lovers of SF/F first discovered eBooks through Baen and thus became fans of electronic readers. I wouldn't expect someone who didn't like SF/F to suddenly start reading it just because Baen offered eBooks.

True. That would be like everyone starting to eat escargot simply because a local restaurant started offering it for free for a limited time. Some might try it, but others would pass the offer by.

[BearMountainBooks]

I read mystery/thriller/cozy, urban fantasy/fantasy, some sci/fi. I agree with the person that said that the quality and appeal of cozy is all over the map. I think that is because there is a very broad range of books and some target younger readers, some target older readers and some target humor and some target those interested in the "hobby du jour." This creates a plethora of cozy mysteries that I am not interested in at all. I prefer the ones with some humor, but not the over-the-top I-am-too stupid to solve a mystery type. I really don't enjoy the sedate (and sometimes plodding) cozies that are so formulatic you can count on: Hobby, boring details about said hobby, find dead body, meet cute detective/guy, spend time on hobby and interview people/suspects - shocking reveal that very often has nothing to do with the clues or there were no clues to begin with. I like cozy mysteries that spend a lot of time on characterization and plot--not so much on the hobby. Because of my preference for plot, I often find "general" mysteries more enjoyable. But general mysteries can be too dark and cozies rarely are (Exception is probably Michelle Scott of Lilith Straight cozies. She combined cozy and noir, which is an unusual combination.)

I read a lot of Urban fantasy, but also find that the quality varies from "This is really paranormal romance with a love triangle, no mystery at all" to "This is really good mystery that happens to involve magic and/or fantasy characters such as shifters." I have nothing against paranormal romance, but I don't want to read it and I am often quite annoyed when PR is billed as UF. I like to read fantasy too, but I don't like it when it is really horror or really romance.

I avoid horror and will drop even a good UF or Fantasy that contains too many horror details. By this I do not mean horror characters (zombies, vamps, big uglies). I don't read anything that involves torture or graphic violence--both of which I categorize as horror. I don't read King or any of the classic horror writers although I have read one of his and that other horror writer just to make sure I didn't like them. In my youth I read a lot of fantasy quests that spanned several books. I rarely read those anymore and tend to prefer stand alones or shorter series packed with action and great characters.

I will try just about any type of book, but I'm not partial to historical settings. I read steampunk and I read non-fiction. I read middle-grade, young adult and regular.

[Tarana]

I'm almost equally split between crime/mystery, scifi and fantasy by actual numbers in the last couple of years, but crime/mystery still beat the other two out slightly.

[BearMountainBooks]

When taking out an ad at various sites, I can tell you that crime/mystery/thriller is always the most expensive ad (if your book is in that category). I think romance comes in about the same or second? I'd have to check because I haven't done any romance ads. Sci/fi and fantasy are often some of the cheapest ads in genre (non-fiction if they take those ads is usually the cheapest). Mystery is more expensive by quite a lot on some ad sites (Bookbub I'm looking at you.)

[paindaisy]

Definitely depends on my mood. I love books from many genres. Lately I've been reading more fantasy and romance.

[Red Falcon]

Full Novels - Historical Fiction and Literary Fiction

Short Fiction - Horror (Weird Fiction) , Folklore and Mythology and Russian Short Stories.