Now I know that the few of you who read my blog may be getting a little bit sick of the whole 'childhood reading' tangent that I've been on for the last number of posts, but seeing as the course that I've been writing for lately is called "Reader's Advisory for Children" you hopefully understand where it's coming from.  So bear with me for this last one, because after that I promise all six of you something more exciting.  In fact, if anyone who reads it posts 2 or 3 random words in the 'Comments' section at the bottom I'll combine them all into something exciting/interesting/tantalising/invigorating for my next post.  :)

So the topic of the day is Genres.  As in History, Fantasy, Romance, etc. Wikipedia lists 22 different literary genres, with over 100 sub-genres; a number I find surprising.  As a kid there were probably only a few that interested me at all, those being Family Saga, History, Mystery and Slice of Life.  I think that these are pretty typical genre choices for the average 7-10 year old girl.  Good, safe, usually pretty clean (therefore approved of by most parents) and abundant.  With current reading trends there are age appropriate books published for kids in all kinds of genres from Science Fiction and Fantasy (not to mention the dozens of sub-genres) to Adventure and Thriller.  Twenty five years ago there just wasn't as much choice for kids. 

But there are only so many historical fiction books whose main character is a sprightly and precocious 8-12 year old girl who has adventures on the prairie/in the Annex/on the island before you want to explore the rest of the literary world.  As an adult I'll read pretty much any genre as long as it's well written or has an engaging story line.  This leads me on a tangent; while I may read any genre, the same does not ring true for film.  I may have no problem reading a horror novel, but I would never watch that same book made into a movie.  I suppose it's because when you're reading you tend to manipulate what you read to how you think it should be, whereas in film you get the director's interpretation which may or may not be how you would have pictured it. 

I still do enjoy a book with a smart, determined female lead character, but read plenty without one.  I still love historical fiction, but they tend to have less familiar settings like a Russian palace or a small French town.  Anything with a Sci Fi twist can get it's hooks into me pretty quick and allegorical tales tend to make me go back and read then a few times over, just to make sure I'm getting it.  But the biggest change in my book choice is the whole reading to learn thing.  Go figure.  Who knew that you learnt anything after grade 5?  As a teenager I would have never guessed that one of my favourite ways to spend a sunny winter afternoon is to sit and read a cookbook.  Or that I would go the library to get a mountain of books about passive solar heating to read on a holiday.  Who knew?  Maybe by the time I'm really old (like 34) I'll suddenly have an interest in sports statistics, though I highly doubt it.  My goal is to keep expanding my horizons and never get stuck in a rut.