Do you have a favourite genre?

[Graham44]

Having a look through the forum this doesn't seem to have been asked for a while, eight years from what I can see so ...

What's your favourite* genre to read? Is there one you keep finding yourself going back to?

I would say mine is horror, interestingly though when I look in Calibre I see I have 58 books I've classified as horror but 85 Action/ Adventure and 139 Science Fiction! I think the numbers reflect the fact I am much more picky when it comes to horror books, I'm more specific about what I like. Breaking down the horror category even more I would say haunted house horror would be my absolute favourite, if done right. Unfortunately haunted house horror is one genre flooded with badly written stories, but when you get a good one

I think the reason I like this genre so much is because A) They are usually a relatively quick read B) Usually a light read, no convoluted plots C) Pace is usually quite fast. They make quite good 'palate cleansers' between longer/ heavier books. Oh and I like the paranormal

So whats your favourite genre? and any particular reason why?


* Before anyone says anything this is the English (UK) way of spelling it, I double checked!

[Sirtel]

I don't really have a favorite genre. I read science fiction, fantasy (all kinds), mystery (especially historical mystery), occasionally historical fiction, thrillers and romance. I don't like horror, except for haunted house stories - these can be quite good. I avoid literary fiction and classics (I did read lots of classics in my late teens/early twenties, but I lost interest in them.)

I've liked the aforementioned genres since I was a child - my preferences haven't really changed since then, except for the classics period. Well, they've changed in that I no longer read children's stuff and fairytales, but otherwise not much.

[Apache]

I like Science Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Some Westerns, Some Thriller and some Fantasy.
I am not a fan of Horror at all.
in Non-Fiction, like History and some Biography.
Apache

[haertig]

I read only fiction, never non-fiction (unless it's a textbook or other skill learning material).

Of my fiction reading, Action/Adventure is by far my most favorite. Sci-Fi and Thrillers would be next. Then Fantasy (certain types).

[DNSB]

95% of my reading is fiction, mostly science fiction and fantasy. The non-fiction runs heavily to tech manuals and release notes.

[DrNefario]

I guess I'd say Fantasy these days, followed by Science Fiction and Crime/Mystery. Although if pushed, maybe more of my absolute favourite books are SF than Fantasy.

Favourite guilty pleasure subgenres (where the books don't even have to be good) are Military SF and LitRPG.

[Dazrin]

I don't think I can really choose between science fiction and fantasy. But, according to my reading logs, I read almost 40% fantasy, about 30% science fiction, and only 5% non-fiction. I'm not really sure that means fantasy is my favorite though.

The main reason fantasy has such a lead is that it's what I read growing up, so when I don't have a specific book I want to read I re-read something fantasy. Over 1/2 of my re-reads are fantasy, less than 1/4 are science fiction and, if I ignore my re-reads, the percentages are basically 1/3 and 1/3 for science fiction and fantasy.

[Tarana]

I don't have a single favorite, but a group: Science Fiction, historical fiction and detective novels. I also enjoy fantasy, cozies and thrillers. I only dabble in horror (Stephen King, Peter Straub). Finally, I read 4-6 non-fiction annually, almost all history related.

[weateallthepies]

I quite often jump between genres, I think I get a bit of reading fatigue if I stick to one. Currently reading a fair bit of horror but maybe just the time of year.

If I think about it many of my favourites are "hero's journey" and "coming of age" type fiction across any genre.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by weateallthepies

I quite often jump between genres, I think I get a bit of reading fatigue if I stick to one. Currently reading a fair bit of horror but maybe just the time of year.

If I think about it many of my favourites are "hero's journey" and "coming of age" type fiction across any genre.

I quite enjoy a hero's journey, especially in fantasy. I recently read the excellent Darkwater Legacy series by Chris Wooding, I would class them as a hero's journey and can highly recommend them. Another good hero's journey/ fantasy series is The Godserfs series by N.S. Dolkart

[drofgnal]

Historical fiction is leaps and bounds number 1. I guess that would be followed by crime/mystery, particularly some of the comedic ones like Reacher novels and the Stephanie Plum series. I also like a good fantasy which I prefer to sci fi.

[Dr. Drib]

Since the word "favourite" means one ["preferred over all others"], then I would say Literary Fiction.

I do enjoy Horror and Fantasy.

[DiapDealer]

Eclectica.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

Historical fiction is leaps and bounds number 1. I guess that would be followed by crime/mystery, particularly some of the comedic ones like Reacher novels and the Stephanie Plum series. I also like a good fantasy which I prefer to sci fi.

Wouldn't Star Wars be historical fiction given that it takes place in the past?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Wouldn't Star Wars be historical fiction given that it takes place in the past?

No, because historical fiction is mostly an actual past on our world.

So though the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is set in the Napoleonic War era, it's not Historical Fiction because there are dragons.

Jane Austen's books are set in the Regency era, but are contemporary, not Historical fiction. But late 19th C. to current writers with stories set then or earlier (Joan Aiken, Georgette Heyer etc) might be Historical Fiction or Historical Romance. Curiously we now think of Austen as writing Romance, but at the time it was regarded as Satire.

Similarly, the Railway Detective series is Historical Detective, but Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is contemporary detective.

The Caves of Steel is regarded as SF, though it's a detective story. Asimov did also write contemporary mysteries and indeed the Laws of Robotics were a maguffin to write mysteries in an SF setting, not a blueprint.