Hi all,
I've hit my annual mid-year reading slump HARD this year. In previous years, I'd ride it out. Mostly because I had other things going on to distract me, like a new job taking up all my mental energy. But that's not the case right now.
Another of my methods is reading a book outside of my comfort zone. I think that's what might've caused this year's slump: a combination of burnout from reading the same genres and the typical overwhelming desire to read all the books I still "need" to get to this year.
Here are some examples of genres out of my comfort zone, or rather, ones I just don't gravitate towards that often.
Middle grade
Science fiction
Nonfiction
Dark romance/erotica
Romantasy
Grimdark fantasy
Cozy fantasy or cozy science fiction
Cozy mystery
Poetry
Horror
Mysteries
Thrillers
Any suggestions?
by Bookish_Butterfly
6 Comments
Ok, there’s this Chinese fantasy series called **Heaven Official’s Blessing**. I swear to you it’ll get you out of your comfort zone. I was in awe when I read it because it was totally new for me. There’s adventure, there’s romance, there’s war, there’s redemption, there’s family & friendship, there’s everything in this book. Nothing is missing.
It’s the story of a god who have fallen from grace.
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon (science fiction)
Spell of the Yukon by Robert Service (poem)
Gaudy night by Dorothy Sayers (mystery)
Andrew Solomon’s *The Noonday Demon (published 2001)*, and *Far From The Tree (published 2012)*.
Beautifully written, but laden with legit human discomfort.
Enjoy!
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. It’s a fun and easy read with great characters.
Curious to know what you normally read? Shameless plug for my own book All the Jagged Edges by Talara Tate which is a dark romantasy Alice in wonderland retelling 👀
**Science fiction:**
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
**Nonfiction:**
Being a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Bonk by Mary Roach
The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Being Seen by Elsa Sjunneson
Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
An Immense World by Ed Yong
Pigeons by Andrew Blochman
The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
Hunger by Roxane Gay
Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
Being Heumann by Judith Heumann
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
Pretty by KB Brookins
The Year of the Tiger by Alice Wang
City on Mars by Kate & Zach Wienersmith
Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin
**Dark Romance/Erotica:** (please check trigger warnings)
Catalysts by Kris Ripper
Prey by Amanda Richardson
Glitch by Brianna Michaels
For Real by Alexis Hall
Her Soul to Take by Harley LaRoux
The Architect by Nikki Sloane
Hideaway by Penelope Douglas
**Romantasy:**
From Blood & Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
King of Battle & Blood by Scarlett St Clair
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
The Dark King by Gina L. Maxwell
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St Clair
**Cozy Sci-fi/Fantasy:**
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater
The Wisteria Society for Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
The House Witch by Delemhach
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzie Lee
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
**Cozy Mystery:**
The Quiche of Death by MC Beaton
The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater
Shady Hollow Mystery by Juneau Black
**Poetry:**
Citizen by Claudine Rankine
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith
**Horror/Mysteries/Thrillers:**
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
**Middle Grade:**
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairy Land in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente