Book Clubs
BOOK CLUBS
As a published novel writer wanna be, I have been told by successfully published authors that you need to read, read, read constantly, not only in your genre but in other genres outside your comfort zone. It will make you a better and smarter writer - is what they say.
To keep me motivated to read books outside my comfort zone, I joined a book club at the local library. This club is a little different from any former book clubs I was a member of. Each month we pick a genre and every person picks their own book to read and then reports back to the group with a cliff note version of a book report.
Guess how many genres there are in the universe. According to Google – my new best friend as a writer - there are around 50 distinct, commonly recognized book genres.
The most common main genres are: Romance – My favorite; Fantasy – not so much; Science Fiction – really do not like this one (I have NEVER NOT finished a book. Even if the story is really bad, I always power through to the end. When I had to read this genre for the book club, I read as far as 100 pages out of 300. It was so painful, I had to stop. Way beyond bizarre for my brain) Thrillers – doable; Mysteries – doable put not preferred; Horror – I have nightmares when I read horror books or watch horror movies; Historical Fiction – love learning new things from our past; Literary Fiction – when I feel the need to re-read the books from high school and college that I never paid much attention to during those times. Thank God for cliff notes back in the day.
Amazon lists over 16,000 subcategories divided into two main categories: Fiction and Non-Fiction. For example, Romance can be broken down into over 162 subgenres. Who knew?
I always wonder how authors come up with a story line in, say, science fiction or horror. We as writers are told to write what we know. Think about that when you are reading a book that is completely different from your own world experiences, that for me, becomes a story within a story. This is what makes reading so entertaining.
I have been a member of this genre book club for over a year now and I look forward to attending every 3rd Wednesday of the month. We average about 10 people in the group. It is a very eclectic group of all ages, races, and backgrounds. We have so much fun, especially when someone reports back that they did not like the book they chose. The bad review is always reported with such dramatic comical flair. It is also very interesting to discover why each person reads the books they do. Great way to learn about people.
The club has opened a sphere of topics I would never have discovered or enjoyed. It has forced me to read more. I still power through the books I don’t like, but I am finding that I am delightfully surprised by how many genres I do like to read in addition to my go to romance novels. What does impress me reading all these different genres is the various styles of the authors. The words and descriptions they use and the many ways the story lines of each book are depicted is always so fascinating.
I highly recommend you join a book club if you are not already in one. It will broaden your horizons, and you will become friends with some amazing people.
Until next Sunday
Kathy