As the pages turn . . .

Well, here goes the second entry based on the questions from Booking Through Thursdays

Comfort Zone or Not?
1. We asked last week about what draws you to your favorite kind/genre of book. This week, we want to know--how often do you depart from that comfort zone? If you love mysteries, do you ever read fantasy? If you primarily read cookbooks, do you ever read a good romance?
When I was a librarian at a public library, I did a lot more cross genre reading simply as a survival skill. These days I don’t jump around as much. One reason is I just don’t seem to have the time to invest. There are some times that I have no choice in reading materials. For the most part I have not had many pleasant surprises in required reading. I still don’t care what happens to either mouse & their smelly cheese.

2. How MUCH variety is there in your reading? Do you mostly stick to one type, with just the occasional toe-dip into a different style? Or do you generally read a variety of things, just, maybe more of your favorite style than anything else?
I tend to get into ruts. For a long while it was just science fiction or fantasy. This was followed by my mystery period; which was divided into police procedures, cat mysteries, & historical mysteries. I then spent a lot of time devoted to Anthony Trollope. ‘Tony' was than replaced by breezy non fiction & biographies. There are also writers I revisit on a regular basis, some yearly and a few every three months or so. These include Frank Herbert, Douglas Adams, Norton Juster, John Bellairs and Charlotte Bronte. The one element all these books have in common is strong characterizations.