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

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