Reading, Writing, Ranting and Raving

Rave about Reading
Let’s see, how can I say this nicely?
Hmm …  I don’t think I can, so I’ll just come right out and tell you that I dislike  hate — no, that’s not strong enough — abhor, loathe, detest, despise(!) paranormal fiction.

I’m not interested in werewolves or vampires, and no, I didn’t even read Twilight.
Vampires leave me cold. Werewolves make me howl. And as far as I’m concerned, demons can all go to hell.

I don’t read paranormal.

I’ll say it louder: I DON’T READ PARANORMAL!

At least, I didn’t. Until quite recently (like this week), I had read exactly one book that might be considered — okay, is — paranormal. My friend Linda Robertson writes an urban fantasy series, and I read one of hers.

To my surprise, I enjoyed Hallowed Circle, not because of its other-worldly creatures, but despite them. Linda’s writing is entertaining and witty, well worth the $7.99 or so one of her books costs. Still, I had no intention of repeating the experience any time soon, not even for her. (Sorry, Linda.)

So, you can imagine my surprise when I got hooked into Soulless by Gail Carriger.

You see, I recently started a new position at my library that requires me to be cognizant of a variety of genres. Though there’s no rule that says I need to read them all, I find I want to. Hence, the Soulless experiment.

To my shock, I loved this book. I started listening to it on audio, and fell into the story immediately. Then, when my CD player refused to play the (brand new, unmarred — grr!) disc, I went out and bought the book instead of waiting for another copy of the audiobook.

I’m a sucker for quirky characters, and Carriger’s book has them in abundance. Like Linda, her writing is so clever I was able to ignore the fact that many of the best characters were vampires and werewolves.

So, will I become a paranormal or, to be more exact, an urban fantasy fan? Probably not. But, reading Carriger’s and Linda’ books reminded me that good writing transcends categorization. I need to quit judging a book by its genre.

Having written the above, I realize that once again I’ve lied to you. I also read all of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series and am eagerly waiting the next installment. I began the series because it’s full of mythological references but to be honest, I kept going because Hearne’s writing is just so darned funny.

Maybe I’m becoming an urban fantasy fan after all.