How to Find Your Favourite Genre
Have you been struggling with reading recently? Skipping from book to book without really engaging with or finishing any of them?
Not to worry, it happens to us all from time to time. If you’re in a bit of a reading slump, we suggest you take a look at our blog on how to get out of one! However, if it’s deeper than that, and you’re struggling to gel with the kinds of material that you’re reading, you may well have not found your book genre yet. And this we can definitely help with.
Book genres explained
The act of classifying books into genre has been around nearly as long as books themselves and is, for the most part, an extremely useful way of breaking down and thinking about literature.
Genres categorise books into distinctive types based on their themes, content, and style. But genre can also be informed by a number of other factors such as where a work was written, who it was written by, when it was written, and the social, economic, and political contexts of the work.
For us readers, genre is a fantastic opportunity — a gateway, if you will, to easily finding and consuming books we like. Think of book genre as the precursor to Netflix’s ‘Recommended for you’…
Many people say that once they’ve found ‘their genre’ they feel at home and safe when reading. Here is a list of some of the most common book genres out there today:
- Classics
- Graphic novels & comic books
- Crime fiction (detectives & murder mystery books)
- Fantasy
- Romance
- Poetry
- Horror
- Historical Fiction
- Sci-Fi (AKA science fiction)
- Short stories
- LGBTQ+
- Suspense & thrillers
- Biographies & autobiographies
- Essays
And these are just a handful of categories. Genre is a very difficult concept to pin down and can be overarchingly broad and simplistic (like ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-Fiction’) or extremely granular (like Cookery, Paranormal Romance, or Historical Mystery). At this point, the term ‘microgenre’ begins to crop up a lot — referring to the subsections of genre.
Do you have to stick to one book genre?
In short, no. Of course you don’t have to. Your reading habits are as unique as the books you read; so, it is natural that you will flit between genres — one day hankering for a gripping thriller, the next opting for a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance.
That being said, you may well find yourself gravitating towards a certain genre over time. The more you read, the more you develop your own preferences made up of likes and dislikes. This is called your literary taste. Contrary to what stuffy literary critics would have us believe, anyone can have a literary taste and everyone’s book-related opinions are valid no matter how many or how few books they’ve read.
If you’re curious to know which genre best satisfies your appetite, or are keen to learn more about discovering genres, read on.
How to find your book genre
This section involves a lot of self-assessment. So, get yourself into a headspace where you are able to think about your reading habits and preferences.
Begin by asking yourself the following questions to start trying to nail down what it is you like and don’t like:
- Do you prefer reading to learn or reading to distract?
- Do you like annotating your books?
- Do you prefer to read a book in one sitting or return to it multiple times over a period of time?
- Do you like books that make you think about the world around you?
- How do you feel about long books (we’re talking 400 pages plus!)?
- Would you like to read what everyone else is reading or discover uncharted territory?
- What kind of emotions do you want to experience when you read? Thrill? Reassurance? Intrigue? Fear? Comfort?
- Are there any specific topics you definitely don’t want to read about? Perhaps any areas that don’t interest you or may be triggering to you?
- Which genres of film do you enjoy consuming the most?
Maybe write down your answers to these questions, noticing any patterns that develop. Use these initial thoughts as a launching off point combined with the activities below designed to help you explore genre more deeply.
Talking about books!
This is something we don’t do enough as a society if you ask us! One of the best ways to learn what you like is by voicing your opinions. Whether in a formal setting like a classroom discussion or book club, or just between friends or family, putting your opinions about books into words may well lead you to some interesting conclusions. It might go something like this…
Friend: “Have you read the latest release by Jane Smith?”
You: “No, I’m not really a fan of her work to be honest, I find it a bit boring!”
Friend: “See, that’s exactly why I like it, I don’t enjoy the chase of a murder mystery; I like to have it all spelled out for me.”
Ding ding! It seems you like a book that keeps you on your toes
Bookshops
Bookshops are a paradise of genre, neatly organised into different categories for you to explore. When was the last time you visited a bookshop and didn’t just gravitate towards the ‘New Fiction’ tables nearest the door?
We’d encourage you to ‘look up’ a little the next time you’re in a bookshop and consider the different labels on the shelves — from Self Help to Crime.
Walk around, take your time, and dip into the blurbs from a few in each section. If you find yourself putting the books back quickly, it’s probably safe to assume that that’s not the genre for you.
And, don’t be afraid to explore NEW genres — venture to the section you’ve never been to before and try not to get too caught up in the idea that certain genres are “for” anyone. As an example, reading Young Adult fiction does not make you “lazy” or “bad at reading”. Some of the stories are excellent — take feminist Laura Bates’ debut YA novel, The Burning (2019), for example. And, you don’t have to know about history or medicine to read historical novels or textbooks, you just have to enjoy it! Who knows, maybe the graphic novels have been calling you all this time!
Online quizzes
Lastly, for a bit of fun, one of the most exciting ways to discover what genre you’re destined to read is by trying online quizzes. Although the answers won’t give you anything as accurate as your own reading efforts, it can be an entertaining way to examine your literary tastes.
Here are a few fun online book genre quizzes for you to try:
Book reviews by genre
Here at Victoria Freudenheim, we want to make it as easy for our readers to experience literature. By actively sorting our reviews into genres — drama, biography, crime, thrillers, and more — we try to help all our readers develop a literary taste of their own.
However, if you just want to throw genre to the wind, check out our top-rated or latest reviews sections for more of a lucky-dip approach to reading. And, for more bookish advice, be sure to keep up to date with our blog.
