Genres

“Never apologize for your reading tastes.” – Betty Rosenberg

A simple question, “What genres do you like to read?” sent me scurrying to find out more about genres. Much to my surprise, I discovered categories I was not aware existed. Here are a few of them.

Steampunk is speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. It concerns works set in the past, or a world resembling the past, in which modern technological paradigms occurred earlier in history, but were accomplished via the science already present in that time period. Books by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne fall into this genre.

Hardboiled is crime fiction distinguished by an unsentimental portrayal of crime, violence, and sex, such as books by Mickey Spillane, Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton.

Frame Narrative is a genre whereby readers are lead from the first story to smaller ones within it, such as Canterbury Tales and One Thousand and One Nights.

Urban Fantasy are novels set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings, where magic or paranormal events are commonly accepted to exist. Nation by Terry Pratchett, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and the Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling fell under this category.

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on high tech and low life. Examples are Frank Herbert’s, Dune and Isaac Asimov’s, Foundation.

Matron Lit is a genre where the heroine is between the ages of 45-65. Books by Joan Medlicott fall into this category. I was surprised to find Larry McMurtry listed under this genre as well. I also ran across reference to Matron Lit as Hen Lit. I’m not sure which sounds worse.

Baby Boomer, also referred to as Chick lit for the AARP crowd, is written by boomers for boomers. The Botox Diaries, by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger and The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer were listed in this category.

Airport novels (yes, this seems to be an actual genre) are fast-paced novels of intrigue or adventure, like those by Dan Brown or John Grisham that are typically offered by airport kiosks for travelling readers.

Helpful sites I visited for genre lists were Wordsmith Extraordinaire and NationMaster.com along with Wikipedia.

Next time I am asked the question of which genres I enjoy reading, I will not hem and haw. I’ll answer truthfully, “Quite a few of them.”

What genres to you like to read or write?

Thanks for stopping by.


Tags: Wells, Rosenbergt, Verne, Grafton, Rowling, Medlicott, McMurtry, genre, Dan Brown,