Guest Post: Jenny, The Woman of Many Shampoos

I am currently buried under family members, food, festival, and fun, so some kind bloggers have graciously agreed to guest post here on eclectic / eccentric.

Today, Jenny of Take Me Away discusses the joys and sorrows of eclectic reading.

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Eclectic Reading

Ah, the joys and sorrows of eclectic reading. Sometimes eclectic reading feels essential, but at other times I imagine how much easier life would be if I only read one genre ever.

Have you ever been on a weight loss plateau and realized nothing will help you jumpstart your weight loss again but to eat something totally bad or, at the very least, change up your eating habits for a day?

Or have you ever heard that after using the same shampoo day after day after day after day that mixing it up for a few days with a different shampoo will do your hair wonders?

Well, if you haven’t heard of either of those things try them because they work! And let me tell you, the same is true for me when it comes to reading books. I can’t imagine limiting myself to one genre of book. There’s so much out there to read, and I read for different reasons.

Sometimes I need a true escape, sometimes I need an action packed thriller, sometimes I want to learn something whether it’s about new psychological research or about a time in history. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a good cozy mystery. Well, I could go on, but I’m sure you know what I mean and probably understand. If I read more than 2 books in a row from the same genre I start to feel stuck and need something to mix it up. And the things I love about these genres will quickly become my biggest pet peeve. I might love a good drama but after too many it turns to melodramatic and melancholy for me. I might love a good YA novel that brings me back to being a teen, but eventually the teen angst is too much for me. I even love good mystery/thrillers, but even those turn a little too formulaic for me after a while. And sometimes I’ll read too much brain candy and it rots my brain. And then I need something with a little more depth.

BUT, for those who do have the ability to stick to one genre, well, I admire them. Sticking mainly to one genre probably makes it easier to read more books in that genre than I can for any one genre. Plus it makes them more of an “expert” in their genre because they’ve read so much of it. Those readers probably have a better idea of what elements stay the same across most of the books so they can focus more on the other elements, whereas if I visit a genre I’m consuming those elements that are standard for every book in the genre. And I’ll admit I’m a little envious that some readers are able to maintain a blog about one type of book because the readers always know what to expect. With an eclectic blog, you never know what you’ll find. For some that’s a good thing, but I know some people crave consistency.

So what about you, do you NEED to read eclectically? Or do you prefer to stick to one main genre? And do you prefer the same as your tastes in someone else’s blog (ie. consistency or mixing it up). Btw, do you think I could possibly have said the word genre any more??