I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel the need to read different things at different times. I can’t just read the same romance novels, or murder-mysteries, or fantasy series all the time. I have to branch out.
I’m not one of those people who can read multiple books at once, so I have to be a little deliberate with what I pick up after I finish my current read. Sometimes I go by pure gut feeling, and sometimes it’s more analytical.
For example, before I read Gone Girl, which I knew was going to be heavier read, I picked up a lighthearted romance novel I’ve read a couple of times before, Last Man Standing. After I finished Gone Girl, I decided I needed something to pick me back up, and a friend recommended McCarthy’s Bar. It was amusing and witty, and I followed that up by devouring the satirical and fantastical Finishing School series and the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. (If you like Jasper Fforde and his Thursday Next series, you’ll like Gail Carriger.)
I meandered through fiction and fantasy genres toward the end of the year, along with a little nonfiction Investing for Dummies reading. (As a grown up, I think there’s things you have to read, even if you don’t really want to, in order to do being a grown up well.) I was able to get one of my favorite authors’ new books from my local library before Christmas (Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong). Then I picked up Queen Isabella by Alison Weir, a nonfiction historical novel about Queen Isabella of England in the 1300s, and since finishing that, have started The Murder Room.
All were welcome changes of pace from each other. I like going back and forth, wandering through genres. Different novels and types of novels exercise different parts of my brain and makes reading more worthwhile, I think.
I have a harder time sticking with nonfiction novels, sometimes, and I generally veer toward fantasy stories. At the same time, though, sometimes it is really refreshing to pick up a novel you might not normally read. It can also make you appreciate other novels more in the genres I normally read, too.
So the next time you’re browsing your library’s shelves for a new book, or going through Amazon or Barnes and Noble for a new eBook, try looking for something a little outside your typical search patterns. You could find your next favorite author.
I'm a lover of writing and books. I graduated from South Dakota State with a master's degree in communications in 2011, the same year I was first published. I'm a wife and mom, and I work in content and digital marketing in South Dakota.
Me and my writing life 
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