New Genres: Recommendations

I feel at the moment, as you may have seen from previous posts, I am in the midst of trying new genres. I seem to be consistently picking up books from new authors and around different topics from my ‘comfort zone’ of reading and loving what I find.

I have only really read non-fiction over the last year and I have learnt a breadth of new knowledge. I particularly enjoyed ‘Do No Harm’ (Henry Marsh), a biography about neurosurgery, talking about his journey through different clients at a level which even a novice can understand. I don’t think I fully comprehended the skill and sometimes luck involved in doing non harm to the patient.

It is also interesting to note different ways in which a biography or section of one’s life can be written. Earlier in the year, I read ‘Maus’ (Art Spielgelman) which was my first graphic novel. I was initially recommended this novel as its relatively easy to read. It is a novel about how a family survive World War 2 as Jews in Germany. The cats being the Nazi’s and mice being the Jews. As it is told through pictures it makes it more bearable and more accessible to younger readers. Because of this, it is a greater graphic novel to start on as the story is easy to follow, read and explores an important topic which most people are at least aware of as a historic event.

Next up, I delved into dystopian novel ‘Never Let Me Go’ (Kazuo Ishiguro) which takes place in a school where the students are part of a program, eventually becoming donors to those on the outside, as their sole purpose. In the core, is a love story and it explores many important subjects as well as being a harrowing coming of age novel of teenagers wanting to escape their fate. Although it is obviously not as good as the book, there is also a film adaptation of this novel if you prefer to watch dystopian films. ‘Never Let Me Go’ is a relatively short book but is so poignant as shown by awards it has won and the writing style is gripping. I would recommend it to young adults plus due to it being hard to read at times and different yet significant to the world we currently live in, as all dystopian novels should be.

Finally, I have been reading more thriller-esque novels recently. I have not really had interest in their genre until recently. I really enjoyed reading ‘The Girl on the Train’ (Paula Hawkins) which is now out as a film. I wasn’t convinced by the ending. Obviously I read ‘Gone Girl’ (Gillian Flynn) which is also worth a read, but more recently I read ‘Woman of the Dead’ (Bernard Aichner). I enjoyed this book because it caused me conflict: I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to like the main character or not. The story begs the question, What is justice?, when the main character, who is an undertaker takes matters into her own hands after her husband dies. I also enjoyed 'The Girl in the Red Coat' (Kate Hamer) about a girl who gets kidnapped, following both her adventures and her mother's struggle to overcome not knowing where her daughter is, and even if she is alive. 

Happy reading

x

Getting into reading

When I was younger I wasn’t much of a reader. I read for school, but never picked them up otherwise. The first author I read was Jacqueline Wilson books but it was a quite young writing by the time I picked them up so I only read a few of these books. I feel in love with Cathy Cassidy books and I read all of her books, excited for a new release. These books centered around family troubles, personal issues and often a love interest. I was interested in how others dealt with life and was my form of escapism. Maybe from this time I’d known I would be interested in and later study people’s behaviour. Anyway I followed this series of books until I reached my teen years. When I was a teenager, I moved onto Sarah Dessen who I discovered on a family trip to America. The first book I read was ‘The Truth About Forever’ but I personally preferred ‘Just Listen’ and ‘This Lullaby’ which I read later.

The first series I read fully was ‘Hush, Hush’ by Becca Fitzpatrick, which seems to have mixed reviews but I loved it. Sometimes you read a book at the right time and you just click with it. The story follows Nora who runs into the mysterious Patch, and is a paranormal romance and involves some suspense sequences across the four books.

Following this, I got interested in fairy tale retellings. In particular, I read 'Shadows on the Moon' by Zoe Marriott which was a Cinderella retelling. It follows Suzanne who goes through different identities and is completely different to the original story. It all begins with the death of her father and cousin. Beautifully written retelling about revenge, recreating oneself and a long journey. It may not all be about finding the happy ending and Prince Charming.

My love for young adult was born from a strong female protagonist. I particular enjoyed e.lockhart including ‘We Were Liars’, which was a short but poignant book about the Sinclair’s annual family trip to their island. It was so moving for such a small book and would recommend to everyone, the less you know about it before you read it the better. It was a great summer read.

Also a summer read is ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ series and ‘To all the boys I’ve loved before’ both by Jenny Han. These are simple and easy to read contemporary romance novels, with great characters at their heart.