Don't Fence Me In

My sister-in-law, Judy, recently traveled from her home in California to visit my son and his family in Colorado. They all ended up at Barnes and Noble one day and were perusing books with my son's two children in the kids' section. After a few minutes, Judy looked around and couldn't find my son Seth. After surveying the store, she turned to Ember, Seth's seven year old daughter scouring through the stacks of chapter books.

"I can't find your dad anywhere," she told Ember.

"Check over by the bathroom," said Ember without looking up.

"The bathroom? Why the bathroom?" asked Judy.

"Because that's where the science fiction section is," replied Ember. Sure enough, that's where Judy found him.

We all get locked into genres. Biographies, mysteries and thrillers, romance, you name it. Even Amazon and other on-line vendors think they can nail us on our sweet spot and constantly badger us with very specific reads. Most of us, however, are diversified readers. We don't want to be corralled or stampeded into one corner, whether it be by the bathroom or not. We have varied tastes, for crying out loud.

The same goes for authors. Yes, we're all best at something, and we tend to stick to that genre. Publishers don't want authors to venture out into the wild where anything goes. They want them to stick to the familiar and write more and more of what got them published in the first place.

There are, however, authors who have been quite successful in other genres than the one they are known for. Neil Gaiman and Stephen King come to mind. Gaiman has written graphic novels, plays, short fiction and poetry. King cannot be labeled simply a writer of horror novels. He's also authored mysteries, science fiction and fantasy books. Jacqueline Woodson has won literary awards with both her children's books and adult titles. Margaret Atwood made quite a jump when she penned A Handmaid's Tale. Lucky for us she made the leap.

As a reader, don't be afraid to try an author's lesser known genre fiction, nonfiction or even poetry. It was with a cautious eye that I read Stephen King's book, Fairy Tale, but I'm glad I did. It's not my favorite King book, but I enjoyed it very much, and it gave me knew respect for his abilities. And if you're one of those fenced-in readers, it'll pay to break out once in a while. Even if you're 75 and into murder mysteries only, you will gain a great deal of wisdom from reading a book like Wonder, by R. J. Palacio. Sure, it's a children's book, but I guarantee it'll change your perspective for the better.