Not only did I take a little break with this blog, but I was also been a little haphazard with the 52 in 52 posts, so I’ve decided to dedicate Monday posts to trying new things. First up is reading. Have you read any good books lately, or is everything just starting to sound the same?
I love to read. While I usually prefer a real book in my hands, I will use the Kindle App while traveling. Unfortunately, Kindle hasn’t yet been able to replace the smell of a new book (or the smell of a well-loved book!) And for me, that’s part of the magic of reading.
Over the years, I’ve found that I can get stuck in a genre rut when it comes to books—reading the same types of books over and over until I get tired of them. When I was younger, it was Romances. Pretty quickly, I tired of those and moved to Romantic Suspense before moving to Mysteries. I’ve also dabbled in Self Help, Science Fiction, New Age and Fantasy. My husband, on the other hand, reads only Cookbooks. He considers it a new genre when he changes from a Savory Cookbook to a Dessert one—so like a chef!
If you’re stuck in a genre rut, if the books you’re reading are all starting to blend together, then it’s time to switch it up. When we get bogged down in reading only one type of subject, we are limiting ourselves. Changing genres will not only give you new insight into other lives and other worlds or but also the real world around you.
Enjoy Fiction? Maybe it’s time for a Biography. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction! Like Self Help books? Maybe it’s time for some Science Fiction. And no matter the genre, if you haven’t read the Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia—-it’s time to catch up. All of them were books before they were movies.
What books have you been reading lately? What new book are you going to try? If you’re not sure where to begin, below is a list of my top 5 in several different categories.
Romance
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Outlander Series – Diana Galbaldon
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
The Secret – Julie Garwood
Romantic Suspense/Gothic
Amethyst Dream – Phyllis Whitney
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Menfreya in the Morning – Victoria Holt
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Bellefleur – Joyce Carol Oates
Mystery
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Science Fiction
The Merlin Trilogy – Mary Stewart
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Dune – Frank Herbert
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle
Fantasy
Peter Pan – J. M. Barrie
Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowland
Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis
The Unlikely Ones – Mary Brown
Self Help
Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
Way of the Peaceful Warrior – Dan Millman
Light on Life – B.K.S. Iyengar
Care of the Soul – Thomas Moore
Where Ever You Go There You Are – Jon Kabat Zinn
