The Readers Dilemma

A horrible thing has happened - I've burnt myself out on young adult novels!

That might sound a little melodramatic or weird. However, if you are a bookworm like myself, than you'll understand. I loved a genre and read it to death. There has been one too many dystopia fantasies. One too many fairytale retellings. One too many love triangles.

Now at the end of the day, when I yearn to curl up and loose myself in a story, I can't get into anything. I grab a book and my mind begins picking apart the plot and analyzing the character depth. New genres aren't holding my attention or offering the same level of escape.

I'm not sure what to do about it, but there has been some interesting side affects.

First, its got me thinking about what kind of book I would write that doesn't fall into the typical story molds. I haven't quite decided yet, but its been fun to think. It even has me reading more about plot development. I would love to take some creative writing classes.

Second, I've been forced out of my comfort zone. While I may not have found anything to replace my first genre love, I have found some very enlightening reads. I just finished "Memoirs of a Geisha" and loved learning about Japanese geisha during the Great Depression and World War II.

Emily Dickinson (source)

I am also halfway through a book of Emily Dickinson poetry. How have I missed the awesomeness of Emily Dickinson? Maybe I just needed to be older and wiser to truly appreciate her. It definitely helped that I recently read a fiction piece about her life as a teenager [young adult genre, of course :)]. It made her more relatable. Now when I read her poems, I can hear her voice as a woman, and not just lines on paper. They are full of wisdom and intelligence. Some are little puzzles that take me a little while to figure out. The one below isn't a puzzle, but one I find inspiring:

It shouldn't be surprising to enjoy one of America's most famous poets, but I never thought of myself as a poetry person. This new revelation that I like poetry, has been mind-blowing to me. It opens a new world of literature to explore.

I'm still sad that I've burnt out my favorite genre, and I will continue to read in hopes of being surprised again. I will also be adding to my reading list some new genres and authors.

I love book recommendations, feel free to share :)