Are you a Genre Rat? A Discussion on Genre Exclusion

Do you know a stubborn bookworm that reads nothing except fantasy fiction? What does their bookshelf at home look like? Is it packed with a similar author and genre? Does every book on their shelf have a dragon, cowboy, or some other reoccurring theme on the cover? I know a few bookworms like this and every book that's recommended to them outside of their chosen genre is declined or (most times) politely passed off as a mediocre book. No matter how hard you try it seems like they're burying their head in their book pages.

Maybe you yourself are a "genre rat." Maybe you take no interest in reading outside of your niche. I was once like this. Historical fiction was my comfort zone. Anything outside of this wasn't interesting to me. I'd try something like sci-fi and would close the book within the first few chapters because it didn't compel me to continue. It wasn't because the writing was awful, it was the content. I was waiting for the historical references, but was only given spaceships and dystopian worlds. Why did this occur though? Why do we judge our enjoyment of a book off of genre instead of merit?  Let me try and answer.

Pictured: A young Genre Rat

I've since left this phase of nonstop historical fiction. I believe the only reason I didn't want to leave was because it was something I was familiar with. Like when you find a seat on the bus next to the window and you sit there every day. When someone comes along and gets to it first it throws you off and your whole day seems off as well. Humans are creatures of habit and this extends to our reading preferences. 

Nowadays it seems ridiculous that I'd be put off by a book because of its genre, but we search for what we already know will be good. Having finished a fantastically outrageous historical fiction series (Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell) I found myself seeking out what I knew to be good books. From my experience with the Sharpe series there was only one route to take: historical fiction. Why move away from that proven genre?  And for others this may be the same with any genre. We want to duplicate the experience. Sticking to the same format is the safe route. 

But looking back now, the genre isn't what I loved about those books.  

What I loved was the writing. The characters and the way Cornwell constructed the novels are what kept me reading the series. It just happened to be historical fiction. What it took for me to realize this was being forced to read other books for school. Finding a novel that was similar in a different genre was mind boggling at the time, but after further reading and study you can see that the writing is what makes the novel unique, not the genre. Although the genre contributes to the experience as a part of the whole, it's not the big deciding factor that it's sometimes made out to be. 

So keep recommending those stubborn genre rats books outside of their realm. Expanding their reading will only do great things for them. It opens them up to new ideas, which can translate to trying new things in life. It can support other genres. Westerns are in need of a surge, they've all but ridden away into the sunset. But if they don't take the bait, I wouldn't sweat it. At least they're reading and any friend that reads is a good friend to have. 

A genre rat discovering quality prose in a new genre