Leaving Your Comfort Zone: Reading Out of Genre

Historical fiction makes me swoon with delight. It’s what I write and what I love to read. Immersed in a 1920’s speakeasy in New York City or in the servants’ quarters in Regency England, the world around me falls away. When real life calls, I’m startled to discover I still live in the twenty-first century.

My friends used to tease me about my reading habits, taunting me with other books: “Have you read Me Before You? What about The Boys in the Boat? You can’t have missed The Martian!” I’d ignore them as I cloistered myself in another era. But it began to gnaw at me that I was reading historical fiction to the exclusion of other genres. What was I missing? It was time to vary my reading. But how?

The answer was a reading challenge. Every year, a variety of book sites offer challenges to help readers step out of their comfort zones. After looking at a number of lists, I chose Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge. The categories intrigued me, including ideas such as “read a nonfiction book about science,” “read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender,” and “read a book set in the Middle East.”

I used the Internet to choose some titles. Goodreads has a discussion board for the Read Harder challenge where people post ideas for each topic. Twitter also helped; every Thursday between noon and 1 p.m. EST, you can ask for specific book suggestions with the hashtag #AskaLibrarian and receive an answer.

One topic, though, gave me pause: “Read a horror book.” I’m easily spooked and a poor sleeper so I didn’t need another thing to keep me up at night. But I’m a completest so I went to my local book store and begged the bookseller to recommend something not too scary. He suggested the atmospheric and haunting novel The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I lost myself in the most stunning and lyrical writing I have read in a long time. Had it not been for this challenge, I would have missed out on this book entirely.

Once I began stepping out on my historical novels, I couldn’t stop, and I’ve broadened beyond just what’s on the challenge list. In doing so, I’ve discovered many benefits of reading out of genre, such as:

1. My writing has improved. Each genre has its own rules, yet many are applicable broadly. For instance, world creation is something we think about in terms of science fiction or fantasy. In realistic fiction, the world exists as it is. In sci fi, the world exists as the author creates it. In the short stories of Ray Bradbury, he’s built real and believable worlds with unfamiliar locations, creatures, and rules of society. His choice of words and details allow me to clearly picture a place that doesn’t exist outside of the pages of his books. Those world building techniques are useful in other forms, such as my own beloved historical fiction. Dropping in Yiddish phrases, referencing politics of the time, costuming my characters in the styles of the day help me bring to life the New York City of the 1920s and ‘30s to make it current and real to readers of today.

Different genres offer different lessons: The tautness of a thriller such as The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, the humor of The Nest by Cynthia Sweeney D’Aprix, the development of character in Mona Awad’s 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl have all had an effect on my own writing.

2. It’s increased my understanding of the world. Nonfiction has heightened my empathy, making me see the injustices around me. Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed demonstrate more clearly than any news report the inequities of the world, yet do so with such beautiful, precise language that I had to continue reading to learn more. I learned a great nonfiction book can be as compelling a read as a novel.

3. My children and I can share books. The number of adults who read young adult or middle grade books is growing. I will confess, though, I’m not one who seeks out the newest YA title. Yet I have two children who love to read and I discovered that reading a book with them is a great way to connect. My daughter suggested Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper to fulfill the requirement of reading a middle grade novel. I not only loved the story, but it was a delight discussing the plight of the main character with my daughter. As a bonus, YA and MG books are a great launching point for talking with my children about some of the more “icky” realities of a kid’s life, like friend drama and grade pressure.

4. Plain and simple, reading out of genre can be an escapist good time. The memoir Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson had me nodding in empathy as I laughed myself silly. Leela Corman’s Unterzakhn taught me I can lose myself as easily in a graphic novel as a prose one. American Housewife by Helen Ellis gave me a fresh appreciation for short stories. Reading a different type of book can be satisfying for the simple reason that books are fun and it’s exciting to try something new.

Reading out of genre is good for the soul, good for the mind, and good for the writing. I haven’t forsaken my historical novels. I still read them, although interspersed with other books. Now I’m off to find a great food memoir. I have another box on my list that I need to check off.

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Tags: featured, genre, reading, women writers

Category: How To and Tips