Should We Read Outside Our Favourite Genre?

Recently, my monthly book club chose a fantasy/magic-based novel. I read it. I finished it. I was open-minded and willing to be transported to another world. The problem? I simply didn’t enjoy the book.

This made me think about genre comfort zones. These days, I’m firmly drawn to crime fiction and psychological thrillers. However, when I was younger, I read much more widely. Classics, historical fiction, science fiction, literary novels — a much broader range than now. Somewhere along the way, my reading tastes narrowed. I can’t decide whether that’s a good or bad thing. There’s value in knowing what we like and don’t like. But should I step outside my preferred genres occasionally? My book club is certainly making me do that. Maybe next month’s choice will be a novel I actually enjoy.

Reading different kinds of books can stretch us. Expose us to different structures, voices, settings and ideas. As a writer, that matters too. Even a book I don’t enjoy can teach me something — about what works, what doesn’t, and also simply about my own preferences.

But there’s another argument too: reading is not homework. Most of us have limited time and energy, and probably a pile of unread books silently judging us. Is it really necessary to force ourselves to read genres that don’t give us pleasure, just because we feel we should? My gut response is ‘no’.

Perhaps the answer is balance. I’ll continue to read mostly the fiction I enjoy, with a monthly foray into something different courtesy of my book club. Maybe I’ll eventually discover a novel, and an author, that opens up new horizons for me.

What about you? Do you read widely across genres, or do you tend to stick with the novels you know you’ll enjoy?

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