Nov
6
2014

I Wear Genre Goggles

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

I Wear Genre Goggles

Are you more critical of some genres than others? Put another way, are there some genres that you love so much that, when reading, you find yourself more accepting of flaws? I think I do this when reading Fantasy - overlook things that I may otherwise criticize in another genre. I call this phenomenon my "Fantasy goggles" - similar to the concept of "beer goggles", my love of Fantasy makes books appear better than they are.

If I had to wager a guess (because I am too lazy to look up actual numbers) I would say that I rate the majority of fantasy books that I read at 4 or 5 stars. Granted, the majority of my ratings in general are 3 stars or above but I definitely find myself being kinder to Fantasy. It's true that I genuinely enjoy these books if I am giving them that rating but I often find myself reading more critical reviews and conceding to that reviewer's points. Like, "Yeah, I could've done without that insta-love" or "It was definitely a slower-paced book" and "I couldn't find the plot either" ... "But I still loved it!"

Does anyone else find themselves doing this? If so, which genre is your Achilles heel? Is there anything wrong with genre goggles? Did I just destroy all my cred when it comes to Fantasy? (Did I have any to begin with?)

divider

Comments (5)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
Haha, I love that term! I also wear fantasy/fairytale goggles. So many things that would bother me in other genres, doesn't really seem to matter. I'm more critical to contemporaries and I'm not easy when it comes to reading them.
Don't worry, you only destroyed like 2% of your cred. (kidding!)

I honestly don't know if I wear genre goggles. I do think I'm harsher on romance books because I don't read them as often/have a general feeling that they are all the same sometimes. I don't know. lol This is such a good question to think about. If I come up with a better response I will let you know.
My recent post November Book Prescriptions: If You Liked Throne of Glass...
Pam@YA Escape's avatar

Pam@YA Escape · 542 weeks ago

Hmmm…I don't know if I do that. I think it can cut both ways. If I love a particular genre, I'm already biased for it, but at the same time, I probably already have 5 star reads that I'm comparing it to. Does that make sense? I wrote a post about rating books more by genre. So if I'm reading a dystopian, I'm comparing it to The Hunger Games or Divergent. I love that genre, but at the same time, there are big shoes to fill. And if I'm reading fantasy, I'm comparing it to Throne of Glass. A light and fluffy contemporary, I'm comparing it to Anna and the French Kiss or The Distance Between Us. Etc. I am loving fantasy right now, so if you have any good recommendations, let me know!!!!
My recent post Stacking the Shelves (68)
For me I think my genre goggles are sci-fi books and contemporary books. They're just so awesome and gahhh. It's sooo cool to go to outer space which is why I love sci-fi books, and for contemporary books, I could relate to them which makes me love them. I think I'm harsher on historical fiction and fantasy (sorry!). Historical books just bore me, and fantasy books has all these names I have to remember (i.e. different kingdoms, long/uncommon character names).
My recent post Review: Fables, Vol.2: Animal Farm (Fables #2) by Bill Willingham
Hmm. You know, I really don't have a specific genre that I gravitate toward - more so I'm very picky about the romance, and it if it's something I won't like (love triangle, cheating) I won't read it, no matter the genre. I guess I gravitate more towards contemporary, because it seems to have less love triangles than fantasy.

Post a new comment

Comments by

Copyright © 2014 The Quiet Concert
Template and Design by New Chapter Designs