Reading Profile

 As a reader, I enjoy a few different genres, but the overlap of tones and writing styles amongst those genres is largely similar. For nonfiction, I tend to read about nature and morbid medicine, with common tones of impassioned and thought-provoking, with engaging and compelling writing styles. Some of my favorite nonfiction reads from the last couple years have been The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell, and Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. 

In fiction, I mostly read science fiction and fantasy, though I have been reading less of it than I used to. The tones I enjoy in these two genres are dramatic, moving, and thought-provoking, with engaging and compelling writing styles. It’s interesting that the titles I looked at for this profile across nonfiction and fiction share compelling or engaging writing styles and thought-provoking tones. It would certainly make suggesting new reads easier, as I have a clear preference for the kinds of books I like to read. A few of my favorite science fiction books from the last few years are On the Origin of Species and Other Stories by Kim Bo-Young, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, and stories by James Tiptree, Jr. I’ve moved away from the fantasy genre as I’ve gone on, but my enduring favorite is Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The genre that I have been reading the most for the last two or so years is romance, specifically LGBTQ. I tend to enjoy books in this genre that are atmospheric, suspenseful, and steamy in tone, with, once again, compelling and engaging writing styles. Some of my favorites have been A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian. The overall themes of these books have little in common, as they range from mysterious fantasy to Chinese fantasy fiction to historical fiction, but their common tones and storylines reveal the general kind of romance book I like to read. 

Overall, while the content of what I like to read across my favorite genres differs widely, my favorites share tones and writing styles. Dramatic, moving, thought-provoking, steamy, atmospheric, and impassioned are my most common tones, with writing styles that are engaging and compelling. Although this does not necessarily make it easier to recommend storylines or plots, if the tones or writing styles match the common trends of my favorite books, it is likely that I will appreciate the book that is recommended to me. The biggest challenge to this generalization is pacing, which Saricks says “is often the reason a reader likes one title and not another with a similar plot” (Saricks, 2009, pg. 25). For example, I really enjoyed the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, but did not enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, despite both containing fantasy elements, worldbuilding, and heists. The pacing of Lynch’s novel was simply not right for me, though fully explaining why would be difficult.