Reading Out Of My Comfort Zone/Not Just Reading YA Fantasy

 Reading Out Of My Comfort Zone

One of my reading goals for 2016 is to read more books that are out of my comfort zone. When I say “out of my comfort zone”, I don’t mean books that make me uncomfortable- I just mean genres of books that I don’t reach for quite as often as I do for others.

To clarify: I’m not saying I’m going to go out and buy a dozen New Adult novels to read “out of my comfort zone”. Those are just not for me, and I don’t see myself loving and reading them a lot in the near future.

The majority of what I read is YA, and in that category, YA Fantasy. If you take a look at my bookshelves, a LOT of what is there is YA Fantasy, And that’s because it’s what I love to read. I’m not saying I don’t want to read YA Fantasy anymore. I just want to venture into the unknown and read more books in different genres. Not all of the genres listed below are “out of my comfort zone”, in fact, I’ve loved books in those genres before. They’re just genres that I don’t read as often.

I want to read more:

• YA Contemporary

I don’t read contemporary as much as I do other genes. Sure, some of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOKS are contemporary (Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Anna and the French Kiss, I’ll Give You The Sun…) but I actually don’t read that much of it.

Maybe it’s because I’m a heartless beast, and no one dies or gets brutally murdered in contemporary (usually). AND I LIKE THAT STUFF, OKAY? Dying is FUN. (No, it’s not, but READING about it and cackling is fun.) But contemporary is just so FLUFFY.

Or maybe it’s because contemporary is so realistic. It could happen to anyone. It could happen to me. (Not really, because contemporary usually revolves around loooooooooove stories. UH UH. NO THANK YOU.) But I’d rather be travelling to different worlds and MAGIC and DRAGONS and CASTLES and ROYALTY and CULTURES then staying in the same world I’m used to.

Whatever the reason, I don’t find myself reaching for contemporary as much as I should.

• Historical Fiction (YA and A)

I love historical fiction. Learning about the past WHILE READING? 2 of my favorite things, yes please!! So why don’t I read it more?

I LOVE All The Light We Cannot See, The Night Circus (which kind of counts), The Book Thief…

I really want to read it more.

Learning about the past fascinates me, and since I can learn it through reading books!? Sign me up!

• YA Sci-Fi

I don’t read much YA Sci-Fi. Illuminae was one of the first I read (and I LOVED it), which makes me want to read more sci-fi, and hopefully adore it and worship it with rituals whenever there’s a full moon. (Oh, you don’t do this with the books you love?)

I love space, but somehow, I’ve never fell in love with space books (other than Illuminae).

The same goes for Sci-Fi. I just haven’t found my perfect book yet! Hopefully, I’ll find one this year that is the gateway to my adoration of Sci-Fi.

• YA Paranormal/Thriller/Mystery

I am a huge scaredy-cat. Like, I get scared WAY TOO EASILY. I have never-and I mean NEVER watched a horror movie. So, I want to work on that! Starting with a scary book will maybe be easier.

Or maybe not. WHO KNOWS.

But I want to give it a try. We’ll see what happens!

• Adult Fiction

What I read is almost all YA. It’s my absolute favorite. So I want to read more Adult novels, and see what I think!

(I’ll probably be back to YA soon after. I just can’t stay away!)

• YA Magical Realism

I haven’t read any magical realism books, I think?… I own The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (which I THINK is magical realism) but haven’t gotten around to it yet. And I’ve heard such great things!

OH OH OH! The Love That Split The World kind of counts as magical realism, right? I really enjoyed that one!

But other than that, I don’t think I’ve read any. THAT MUST CHANGE.

• Classics

I almost NEVER read classics. That should change! Maybe I won’t be a fan. but I’d like to try it, at least.

While writing this post, I realized that geez, I really should read more than just YA Fantasy. I didn’t know my addiction was THIS BAD, ALRIGHT??

So yes. I want to read MORE GENRES. I want to read books that are out of my comfort zone, and books in genres that I just don’t read as much.

If you have any recommendations in these categories, please tell me! What genres do you want to read more in 2016?

Thanks for reading!

Ava