Genres

Genre: “A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.” (a definition provided by google)

I had a look on the infamous Wikipedia for a list of the genres out there and was given this list (the below list is taken from the first section: Literary Genres):

• Action
• Adventure
• Comedy
• Crime
• Erotica
• Faction
• Fantasy
• Historical
• Horror
• Mystery
• Paranoid
• Philosophical
• Political
• Romance
• Saga
• Satire
• Science Fiction
• Slice of Life
• Speculative
• Thriller
• Urban

Not only was there this list but most of these genres had a sub-genre too! That’s a huge amount right there! Looking through the list I think I can honestly say that I have read or watched something from each of those categories (I blame University English Lit classes!). Can you say the same? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genres it’s a very interesting page if you would like to learn more about all the genres out there.

I hope that the list above has opened your eyes readers because it certainly opened mine! I was astonished that literature has been sliced into such a concise sorting system. But it’s a good thing! Genres make it possible for us to easily find and read the types of books us, as individuals, are interested in. What about you? Do you have a favourite genre? Why is it?

I’ve always enjoyed being able to choose from a variety of genres in all things: books, tv programs, films and plays. I couldn’t tell you my favourite genre because, honestly, I don’t have one. I find it very restricting to only watch/read one when there is so much more out there. I guess that I hover around a genre now and then, for example, I am interested in romance at the moment mainly because of the book club I am involved with but also because I read ‘A Feast For Crows’ about a month ago and needed to give my brain a break. But after I have finished my current book I have a non-fiction textbook about Japan and its culture lined up. I jump from genre to genre to mix it up a bit. There is so much information out there in the world, whether it comes from a work of fiction or non-fiction, I don’t want to miss out on any of it. As actor John Goodman said:

“Read, read, read, read, read. Read everything. You can’t work unless you know the world, and outside of living in the world the best way to learn about the world is to read about it,” (Full article here: http://ksmu.org/article/actor-alumnus-goodman-receives-honorary-doctorate-reflects-college-days-66388)

The Great Project

I spent the whole night tossing and turning trying to think of how to organise this blog. Plenty of reviews, thoughts on the world of books and in general. Then I spoke to my friend and she reminded me ‘don’t stress’. So that shall be my new moto – “Don’t stress – just write.” So here I am, writing. Writing rubbish, writing a masterpiece, it doesn’t matter. This is pretty much all I want to do with myself, I love falling into a world that I have created with characters I know better than myself. The only thing I like doing more than writing is reading, which leads me to my project…

At the beginning of January 2013 I decided that I should set myself a realistic New Year’s resolution so I gave myself the task of reading one hundred books by the end of the year. Here we are in August and I am only 50 books into my target, I am a little behind but with all the doctors appointments and sleeping I have been doing for the last six months I am not that surprised. There are a variety of genres in the list, some I enjoyed a lot and some that I just wanted to throw across the room. Don’t you just love it when you just want to scream at the top of your lungs because a fictional character started acting like a jerk and broke your heart at the same time as breaking their fictional significant others! Crazy, who’d have thought that novels could evoke emotions in you that you didn’t even know that you had!

I thought that I would share my experiences reading these first 50 books with you over the next couple of weeks (until I am all caught up and can start reviewing new ones!). Starting tomorrow I will write a post about one of the books that I have and keep doing so until I have told you my thoughts on most of them as well as the stuff that happened around them.

See you tomorrow!

I’m Back!

Finally…after nearly 5 months…I am writing again! A few old friends of mine (plus some new ones) convinced me that I needed to start using my brain again, so here I am, sharing my ideas and reviews once again.

I have been very ill for the last few months, I lost confidence in myself while I was sick. It is very hard to keep on going when you can hardly leave the house, time gets all mixed together and you don’t know whether you are coming or going. When I was finally referred for a minor operation I was both scared and happy because I would finally be getting my answers. Two teeny scars and a month of rest later I am starting to get my inspiration back. I can walk around outside and even jogged a little for the first time in six months! (Hopefully I can get that running routine back soon!) But not only that, I want to start writing more! I want to get my views out there and get feedback on my writing. I have recently joined a book group which certainly keeps the ‘to read’ pile large so I will have plenty of books to review for you.

I hope to see you all commenting and reading along with me 😉 see you tomorrow!

Just an Update

So, I am really starting to get this blogging and reviewing thing up and running! I’m reading a lot, many books at a time in fact; I’m trying my best to get in contact with authors and publishers as well as making sure I go to all author events close to me. I went to Cambridge at the weekend to visit my sisters at university and there I met my first author who signed both his books for me. I have also started following him on twitter so that I can let him know when I have read and reviewed his book. Hopefully, if I keep on top of things I will be doing this more and more.

I never truly realised until now how difficult it is to start a life once you leave university, as I have said before I have been looking for a job since May last year…that’s a long time to be looking for work. It’s starting to really stress me out. I am glad that I have this blog, and the people who read it. It would truly be a boring life if I didn’t have SOMETHING to do. This is my something, and I will keep it up. I am determined. This is my promise to you – even if I get a job I will still be reading just as much and reviewing as much as I can. I have spent most of this morning browsing job sites, giving applications in and calling temp agencies…keep your fingers crossed for me! I’ll keep you all updated.

Anyway, this little blog post was to update you all. I am working on two reviews at the moment Peter Quatrine’s ‘Dragon Sisters’ and Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ which I should be posting tomorrow and Thursday if all goes to plan. Look forward to it!