MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What Genre of Fiction do you read most often?

BearMountainBooks · 09-11-2014, 09:20 PM

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.

09-11-2014, 09:20 PM	#41
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	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.