Like a lot of people, I’m pretty locked into my genres and subgenres, and frankly tropes, themes, archetypes, and average length. Why not? If you know what you like, there’s no problem with being a connoisseur. I know I like horror by women, isolation horror and survival horror particularly. I prefer books under 300 pages, unless it’s about the Korean War or North Korea then why not 1000 pages? Right, go figure. I like a good manga. I like male protagonists because I love boys and like to feel sorry for them (some specialized version of cuteness aggression I guess). That being said, I’ve read all kinds of things and like to poke around where I’m not wanted. Here are five books that were far left of field for me and which pushed me out of comfort zone:
Why I thought I’d like it: In my early 20’s, I read House of Leaves (like everyone else did) and I found the idea of houses as an entity intriguing and read a lot of house themed books with little discrimination. So for this entry - I hadn’t researched it as something I thought I’d like but was following a hot trail of novels with a house motif. Just snuffling around and slurping up anything basically.
Did I like it? I did not, no. I don’t have any problems with the book, it just wasn’t for me because I’m easily disgusted, frail, and prudish. I didn’t think that I was any of these things until I read this book then I realized my stuffed animals and I just want to be happy. The book falls under the genre of bizarro lit, but it was too bizarro for me. I tap out at weird lit. It was also excessively masculine, sexual, and despairing. I had a strong reaction of disgust and “oh no what now” which is a good thing for a book to be able to do. If you enjoy penises, despair, and houses, this book is for you.
Will I be reading more? I don’t think so. I kind of want to un-read this one. I might hit the genre again if I found the right book just to say I really tried, since it’s unfair to say that this book represents the whole genre.
Why I thought I’d like it: I added this book to my TBR in the late 2010’s along with samples of works by all the biggest women in horror. I realized most of the books I read and had access to were written by men. I assumed I didn’t like horror novels, but then I started thinking I was only reading a particular type (cough Stephen King cough). I ended up seeing a copy of The Cipher at Barnes and Noble and took it with me on a week-long camping trip. I didn’t know if I would like it or not, but I wanted to give it a shot without knowing anything about it.
Did I like it? I LOVED it. I’m a little sensitive to sex and violence in literature. I get grossed out easily and have nightmares. This book falls under the Lovecraftian/cosmic/weird lit/body horror genres. All things that I actively attempt to avoid because of the aforementioned weak constitution but stumbled onto an exception. The Cipher is
character driven and very lovely in its execution. The protagonist drags you along and the experience is very immersive. I get a little serotonin boost when I think about it, which is weird. Not everything is meant to be understood. I think the key is an intentional ending. Maybe from the author’s point of view it wasn’t that intentional and could have easily ended a different way depending on her mood, but from my perspective it was perfect.
Will I be reading more? I’m still weary about cosmic and body horror, but I do have another book by Kathe Koja on my TBR to try it out. I’m aware that I tend to like any book I read on a camping trip because that’s my happy place, so I might not like subsequent novels when the setting is changed, but I’m willing to try. Additionally, I’m looking into more novels by similar writers. I’m currently planning to read Bad Brains by Kathe Koja and Experimental Film by Gemma Files as well.
Why I thought I’d like it: I didn’t know if I’d like it. When I wrote my first novel, the character was reading a L’amour novel (or rather just kind of carries one around and half-reads it). After finishing the book, I was in one of those places where I devolved into my character and wanted to read a L’amour book even though I grew up around absolute piles of them and never felt tempted to pick one up. I picked this one because it had the word “Haunted” in the title and was about the Anasazi which I think is really interesting. In other words, I just followed my gut and picked one. I found a copy in a used book store in Indiana which is always fun to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Did I like it? Sure, it was pretty cool. It took place in the 80’s with trucks and phones and things, which I wasn’t expecting. It is a parallel universe urban fantasy novel, which I also wasn’t expecting. The concept was cooler than the execution, truth be told, but I was entertained and had a good time.
Will I be reading more? It was interesting enough that I’m willing to read another of his books. I don’t know which one, all the titles sound like recreational drugs and venereal diseases. I decided to check out the Anna Pigeon series just because I like the idea of having a nature themed popcorn series to cut through the heavier stuff I tend to read, which is what I think I enjoyed most about the Haunted Mesa.
Why I thought I’d like it: I saw the film version with my spouse in theaters, and I genuinely had to conceal how much I
did not want to go. I don’t like space movies, I don’t really get into science fiction, and I’m not big on action movies, particularly not male-fantasy type ones. I find movie theaters to be way too loud and mechanical sounds like cars, rockets, etc are the worst. But it turned out it was just Matt Damon being cute and surviving. I like survival novels as well as limited characters and isolationism, which the novel promised to include if the film was a good adaptation. In addition, the book was already available to me because the aforementioned spouse had already bought and read it.
Did I like it? Yes I did. It was a lot of fun, fast paced, and tense. The scientific descriptions weren’t too much and it didn’t trick me with an excess of dialog or extra characters which isn’t what I was signing up for. I leaned into the thriller and survival aspects and felt the science/math parts enhanced it unlike long descriptions in sci-fi novels which often break my concentration and immersion. Not that that’s a bad thing in science-fiction, it’s the science part and it’s important to the genre, but it’s not my thing.
Will I be reading more? No. I don’t feel compelled to read anything else by the author, nor am I compelled to read anything else in the space thriller category because I had one good experience. Honestly, I feel more compelled to read more Gary Paulsen books than anything directly related to the novel even if I genuinely liked it. That doesn’t mean the door is closed, only that I’m not actively running through it.
Why I thought I’d like it: I didn’t think I’d like it. It was just an opportunity when my spouse bought a copy, didn’t read at all, and left laying it around where my greedy fingers could grab it. I think Mark Ruffalo is cute. That concludes a description of my entire motivation in reading it.
Did I like it? Yes I did. It was a well crafted graphic novel with interesting characters. I’ve never read a comic book before, not like a real American comic book, although I’ve read plenty of graphic novels and mangas. Superheroes don’t interest me, but it wasn’t a superhero book at all, at least not in the way we (which I presume to mean filthy casuals) think about it. There was a lot of character development and intention in the writing. I read it years ago and I’m still sad. I will be sad forever. I have a lot of preconceived ideas about what a comic book is and what to expect from them, that the subversion of those expectations was totally unexpected, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. If I read a holocaust novel, I know it’s going to be devastating and can prepare myself to process it, same with literary fiction, dystopian fiction, horror, etc. But for this one, I just didn’t have any way to know what was coming since I just picked it up and read it blind.
Will I be reading more? No. It was a really interesting graphic novel and I’d recommend it, but I don’t see any reason to go spelunking for others like it that will hit the same note or level of quality. Also I don’t feel strongly enough about any of the characters individually to read more Hulk comics. But it was an interesting way to spend an afternoon for people who like graphic novels.