BTT: Trends

(From 5 June 2008): Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?
I read much more fiction these days than non-fiction. In years gone by, I read a great deal of non-fiction books, largely concerning my favourite band, The Beatles. I have roughly 60 books about The Beatles. You wouldn't think there could be that much new information in each one, but there are a lot of different aspects to write about.

I have books by The Beatles themselves, books about them as written by the people who were closest to them, such as (ex-)spouses, (ex-)managers, sisters, record producers, friends etc, and by people who weren't close to them at all! Then there are books concerning the writing of their songs and the production of their albums. I have pictorial books, books detailing where they were and what they were doing on a day-by-day basis and other books solely full of interviews and quotes. I have books concerning bootlegs, the 'Paul is dead' conspiracy, tourist books of Liverpool and London, and books concerning their post-Beatles career. Almost all of them offer something new and interesting.

The Beatles story from beginning to end is truly fascinating and I never get tired of reading about it. That said, I haven't read any books about them for a few years. I've been on such a book-buying binge that I have a ridiculously large number of fiction books waiting to be read and I can't afford to re-read a lot of others that I would like to.

I also used to read a lot of non-fiction regarding all aspects of the paranormal - mostly on UFOs and aliens, but also ghosts and anything else concerning the paranormal. It was a great passion of mine which, sadly, I don't have much time for anymore. I think I've also grown a little more cynical so I'm not as interested as I used to be.

So these days, my reading almost entirely comprises of fiction, with the occasional non-fiction book thrown in, usually in the form of a history book. One day I hope to even it out a little more. I mostly read a lot of classics, which can be heavy-going at times. I never read light and fluffy chick-lit - I have a bit of an aversion to the genre, although I must admit I do have Bridget Jones' Diary on my TBR pile. I try to balance my heavy classics with some light reading though, usually in the form of young adult fiction; there's a lot of great stuff out there. I never really read how-tos, mysteries, or romance, although I suppose a lot of my books have those aspects in them.