Like myself, many voracious readers will have a comfort genre that’s always easy to get into, whether your go-to is crime, fantasy, romance, or one of the many other genres available at the library, there’s just something about being able to pick a book from a shelf in a particular genre and being able to know that you are likely to enjoy it. My go-to is anything fantasy, I know I’ll generally love whatever I pick up in this genre, but I’m wondering if maybe I’ve almost...overdone it a bit too much recently.
So, this year I’m consciously trying to challenge myself to read more outside of my genre comfort zone, and if you are so inclined to challenge yourself to step out of a genre that you’re very committed to, then look no further!
This list is designed with a few over-arching genres that may be new to a lot of people, with then a few book suggestions for that genre underneath that are available in our catalogue.
You can work your way through the list and pick and choose a book where you think you might be interested. Or, if you’d really like to broaden your reading scope, then perhaps you can challenge yourself to read one book from every genre listed below.
Happy reading, and I hope that you find a new genre that you enjoy!
1. A romance novel by a black author:
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Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert - Also available in Large Print
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The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa - Also available as Large Print and eAudiobook (Borrow Box)
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Snapped by Alexa Martin
2. A true crime book by a woman:
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I’ll be gone in the Dark: one woman’s obsessive search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara - Also available as MP3 Audiobook, CD Audiobook and eBook (Libby).
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Dancing with the octopus: the telling of a true crime by Debora Harding
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The Five: the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold- Also available as eBook (Borrow Box), eAudio (Borrow Box), and MP3 Audiobook.
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Unsolved Murders: true crime cases uncovered by Amber Hunt
3. A memoir or autobiography by a trans/non-binary author:
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Girl, Transcending: Becoming the woman I was born to be by AJ Clementine
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Uncomfortable Labels: My life as a gay, autistic, trans woman by Laura Kate Dale
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Over the Top: raw journey to self love by Jonathen Van Ness
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Gender Games: the problem with men and women...from someone who has been both by Juno Dawson
4. An essay collection by a new-to-you author:
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A mouth full of blood: essays, speeches and meditations by Toni Morrison
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Can we all be feminists?: seventeen writers on intersectionality, identity and finding the right way forward in feminism edited by June Eric-Udorie
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Will my cat eat my eyeballs?: big questions from tiny mortals about death by Caitlin Doughty
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How to fall in love with anyone by Mandy Len Catron - Also available as an eBook (Borrow Box)
