I got this idea from a series of tweets that I saw one evening, sadly I’ve not been able to re-find them, but wanted you to know that this is not purely my idea. The tweets consisted of discussing whether it made you any less of a reader for reading some genres compared with other; YA compared to adult for instance. This struck me as curious as I read a large variety of genres and age ranges in books, but yet I still see each as just as much of a readers book as I do others. If you’ve followed this blog for a little while you’ll know that I read everything from children’s books, YA through to thrillers and historical fictions; and don’t forget fantasy and graphic novels. When it comes to what I read I am really not fussy, about the only thing that I avoid is full on romance novels- and that’s only because its not my thing.

I find that I end up being asked to review a lot of thriller and crime novels, which I happily accept as I find these to normally be gripping, page turning reads that I regularly fly through to find out who did it, or if they’ll survive. But I would not say these were my favourite books. Normally, these are the sort of books that I will really enjoy, but then once they are over I’ll put them back on the shelf and probably not pick up again unless a sequel was to come out.  I don’t know if that’s just me or if the sort of books that they are.

Whenever I find that my desire to read, or I can feel myself slipping into a reading slump, I will pick up a graphic novel or a comic book. Titles can vary from Batman comics, to Deathnote, to graphic novels versions of novels. These are just great to fly through, and I find they often bring me right back out of any slumpy feelings and have me wanting to read again instantly. But again very rarely do I pick these back up, with the exception of Deathnote that I seem to have myself obsessed with. Rarely do I even buy these, more often they are the type of books that I just get from the library, and happily return once I’m finished with them- but I always have some on hand ready.

Historical fiction and fantasy, now these are probably my favourite genres. From these genres I’ll read almost anything. Last month I read a WWII novel following women in a circus, the other night I finished a Roman Empire novel following soldiers in battle; I’m really not fussy when it comes to my historical fiction novel. And the same goes for fantasy, from high fantasy to urban, dark or even fairy tale retellings, I love it all and with not be prejudice against any. These genres probably take up the majority of my book shelves, and I have more authors for these that I just automatically buy than I do any other genres, but again unless there’s a sequel I rarely reread these.

The genre that I find I regularly reread, is YA and children’s books, and I have a lot of these too. I read these because they are normally really quick, enjoyable, often quite light hearted reads, and are great for breaking up some of the heavier books- whether these be heavy as in hard due to writing style or that they are heavy emotionally due to content, a good children’s book is great fro neutralising this feeling and have you ready for your next book. Plus they are often funny and great in to fly through.

But I would not say that this makes me any less of a reader. All genres are still books, and what you read does not change your love of reading, whether you be a YA reader or a heavy tome adult reader, it makes little difference. IF you love books and classify yourself as a reader, then that’s enough for you to be a reader- it really does not matter what it is you prefer to read.

So lets stop this prejudice against certain types of books, and belittling readers for their preferences. Lets just share in our love for reading.