What's Your Type?

I was recently asked to name my all-time favourite book. As you can imagine, it was not an easy question to answer. I pondered for quite some time, trying to come up with a system through which I could compare the many books that I have placed on the top of one of my bookshelves. My favourites are always bunched together, a shelf full of literary wonder and fond memories.

I’m not going to tell you what my answer was. It’s quite arbitrary, really. Like any other form of art, the appreciation of literature is subjective. Sure, you may meet a kindred spirit with whom you share similar tastes, but for most people, various texts will appeal to them – and certainly for different reasons.

We always try to define our literary taste through genres. Am I a science fiction girl or a romance boy? Do I have a collection of classics or non-fiction titles about the philosophy of life? For me, it reaches beyond genre. My bookshelves are appalling when it comes to categorization. I read an eclectic mix of books and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Still, there must be something that draws me to a book. Sure, I don’t particularly like every book that I read, but even the ones that make it to my “favourites” shelf seem completely different from one another. They don’t really belong in a collection – and yet there they are.

For me, I’m in love with fairy tales. I particularly love modernized fairy tales. I appreciate it when a writer can take a classic formula and create something new from it. Fairy tales have a dark undertone – I like when that’s explored. I’d hardly classify “fairy tales” as a genre though; the books on my fairy tale shelf cross many typical genres (and you would never find them sitting beside one another in a bookstore).

Failing a fairy tale theme, I am also intrigued by character development. I could skip any type of plot and read an entire book about the thoughts of a character. I like exploring how a single moment in time affects an individual, watching them go through the motions, changing when necessary. I think this desire to learn about a character applies to all storytelling mediums for me. I think this is apparent in the other articles I write on this blog.

As I continue to study literature and publishing, I’m always trying to figure out how these preferences differ from person to person. And so, reader, leave a comment below and let me know: What’s your type?