A couple of months ago, I did a post on my Favourite Character Types, which proved to be quite popular. I did think about doing a second part to that post, but in the end I decided to go with a spin-off. My favourite genres. Enjoy. 😀
Historical Fantasy

My all time favourite genre! These are books that are set or were written in historical time periods, and take place in the real world, but still incorporate fantastical elements. It’s basically the historical counterpart of urban fantasy. Some of my favourites in this genre include: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, King of Shadows by Susan Cooper, The Story of the Amulet; The Phoenix and the Carpet; and Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. My own novels Jihi and Shokan are both historical fantasies. I’ve read quite a lot in this genre, but I don’t necessarily remember the names of them all.
High Fantasy
This is the genre we think of when someone says “fantasy”. They tend to involve epic quests, swords, knight, European fantasy lands, elves, dwarves, dragons and lots of clichés. Despite its many failings, I love, and will always love this genre, mostly for its epic proportion and battles featuring good vs. evil. Some of my favourites in this genre include: The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (this list wouldn’t be complete without him!), A Cast of Stones by Patrick Carr, The Magician’s Daughter by Justyn Walker, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Book of Three and its sequels, by Alexander Lloyd.
Historical

I am a complete and total history nerd. I love anything to do with history, and that, of course, includes books (and movies, and musicals and music…). It’s interesting to note what makes a historical novel, well, historical. A writing book called The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Christian Fiction by Ron Benrey (it’s an awesome book, by the way) classified historical fiction as being a novel set before 1950. If it’s set after that, it’s considered contemporary fiction. It’s also interesting to realise that some books which we might consider “historical” fiction–such as Pride and Prejudice–are actually contemporary novels, since they were not set in the past at the time they were written. Some of my favourites in this genre are: The Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, Justin Morgan had a Horse and Misty of Chincoteage by Marguerite Henry, Twice Freed by Patricia St John, The Camels are Coming by W.E. Johns, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman and basically any book by Michael Morpurgo, particularly The Elephant in the Garden.
Steampunk/Old Sci-fi
Steampunk and I have a love/hate relationship. On one hand, I’m delighted by the pseudo-historical aspects of it, and on the other hand, I’m horrified by the way Steampunk authors blithely twist history, to come up with these ridiculous and downright impractical inventions and whatnot. By old sci-fi (that was the best term I could come up with), I mean authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I don’t really like modern sci-fi, but again I love the historical aspect of the works of those authors. Some of my favourites in this genre are: Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, Here be Monsters by Alan Snow, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Journey To the Centre of the Earth and Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
Retellings

I just love retellings. Retellings of everything, whether that be fairy tales, bible stories, classic novels, it doesn’t matter. I enjoy it. Unless it’s ridiculous. Then I don’t. My favourites always include clever twists on the original tale, and also the taking of a tale or novel that isn’t very well known. How many more Peter Pan, Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast retellings do we need? Give me a Les Miserables, a Scarlet Pimpernel, a Wild Swans retelling! Some of my favourites in this genre include: Anything and everything by Marissa Meyer (she’s practically the queen of retellings), Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin and Barefoot on the Wind by Zoe Marriott (Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, was also a hilarious, satirical retelling of The Phantom of the Opera). Come to think of it, I haven’t read very many things in this genre, even though I love it.
Biographies/memoirs
I love learning about the lives of other people, getting inside their heads and walking in their shoes (as Atticus Finch would say). It’s a fascinating process and I have a whole shelf of biographies/memoirs. I enjoy both autobiographies and biographies, because I like the different perspectives on one person that they can give. Autobiographies can be biased, or the author may not know every detail of a situation, that happens, and so biographies by an unbiased author who has the privilege of looking back on an event and gaining the perspectives of multiple people, can often provide a larger look at the picture. However, I value autobiographies, because no one but the person themselves can ever truly know what it’s like in their mind. Some of my favourites in this genre include: God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew, Joni by Joni Eareckson Tada, Through Gates of Splendour by Elisabeth Elliot, Jungle Pilot by Russell T. Hitt and Steve Saint, At the End of The Spear by Steve Saint and Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis.
Classics
I don’t know if classics really classify as their own genre but hey. I love them too, and a lot of them don’t fit into any other category I’ve listed thus far. These are the books that have stood the test of time, the books that we admired a hundred, two hundred, or even three hundred years ago and that still speak to us today. They are the books that have stood the test of time, and I’m so grateful that they did. Some of my favourite classics are: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (you didn’t see that coming, did you?), Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (I haven’t read this in ages, I should do a reread), The Princess and the Goblins and The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald, Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and The Little House in the Big Woods as well as its sequels, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
There you have it! Do you enjoy any of these genres? What are your favourites?
I am a classic, mystery, and fantasy person.
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I definitely enjoy many of the genres you have here! Mostly historical fiction and classics, for me, though. I really want to get back into the love of high fantasy that I had a few years back but alas, I haven’t found the right book to spark that interest again!
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Great post! I like a lot of these genres as well. I used to think of myself as a purely fantasy person, (I practically lived off of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia for several years) but then I realized that my tastes were actually broader than that. I like a lot of classics (including Les Miserables and Little Women 🙂 ) and historical fiction too. Have you ever read The Sherwood Ring or The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope? I think they would both qualify as historical fantasy, and they are some of my favorite books.
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Ahhhhhh, Rosemary Sutcliffe! Yes!! I didn’t know she’d written anything besides the Roman Britain Trilogy; will have to check this out. 😛
And yep, your list of favorite genres coincides perfectly with mine. 😉 Thought I have to say I don’t know if I’ve ever read historical fantasy…
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Ahh I love BASICALLY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE BOOKS THAT YOU MENTIONED. *flails* ah man. I just love them allll.
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Those are all really cool genres! I’ve never been really into mystery, but I do love Sherlock Holmes! Thanks for commenting 😀
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I love historical fiction! I used to read more than I do now, but its still one of my favourite genres. I’m really picky about the fantasy I read, because I dislike all the clichés that you often find. But there are definitely some really good ones out there. one of my favourites that I’ve read lately is A Cast of Stones, I definitely recommend it!
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Yes, she’s written quite a few! I haven’t actually read the one I had in the picture yet, its been on my shelf for ages. I feel a bit ashamed :D. She has some others, Song for a Dark Queen, Capricorn Bracelet, Black Ships Before Troy, and another one which escapes my memory but I know I’ve read it before.
Historical fantasy is really cool 😀
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Will definitely have to check those out. They all sound fantastic and if they’re half as good as her other stuff…
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Yes, I used to survive solely on fantasy and historical fiction, but my tastes have broadened quite a bit since then! Classics are awesome, particularly Les Miserables! A few people have recommended Elizabeth Marie Pope to me, but I haven’t been able to find her anywhere. if I do, I’ll definitely check her books out.
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I have always enjoyed her books, the Capricorn bracelet in particular was quite interesting and had a very different form than I was used to. *looks back at previous sentence and realises it sounds very strange* *shrugs*
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AH!!! You have good taste in books it seems!!! 😀 Thanks for commenting!!!
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I have always loved fantasies. I grew up loving Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter and continue to love fantasy. As for mysteries, I do not know when I started loving them, but I do remember reading “And Then There Was None” in high school and loving the book, which started my love for Agatha Christie. As for the classics love the works of Cervantes, Dickens, and Hugo
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I’ll definitely give it a shot! I haven’t come across a high fantasy novel that I thoroughly enjoyed in a really long time so hopefully that one’ll do it for me! Thank you for the recommendation!
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How is it possible that I’ve read all of these genres and loved them??? You have good taste, my gurl.
THAT CLOUD PICTURE IS GOALS BTW
and so is that origami let’s pretend I’m good at origami and not a flailing mess of creases that turns out to be a crumpled up piece of paper not a work of art in the end oh well…
~Sam https://redheadwithabook.wordpress.com/
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Strangely enough, I’ve never been able to like Agatha Christie. My love for mysteries pretty much stops at Sherlock Holmes. Fantasy is awesome, though! I’ve never finished the Harry Potter series, I should do that!
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THAT IS SO COOL!!! I’m a very diverse reader, but these are just some of my favourites, the genres I always come back to after spending time trying new and scary things (like contemporary novels! Those things scare me).
WHY THANK YOU 😀 I quite liked it as well. It’s very unique.
Hahaha. The first of the paper cranes I made, because I wanted to take pictures with them, literally ended up inside out and upside down. I still haven’t worked out how I managed to stuff it up so bad. They’ve got better since then, but I usually only pick out my best ones to take photos with.
Hey, practise makes perfect!
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Much of my love for mysteries is Agatha Christie. When I reached high school at year 12, I read “And Then There Was None” and that is where my love for the author began.
I love Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia and some stand alone fantasies.
As for classics, Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Don Quixote, and Les Misérables are among favorites. Right now reading Hunchback of Notre Dame and feel like the plot hasn’t kicked off yet so I do not if I like that book or not
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I really need to read A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist, but I haven’t yet!
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No worries! Thanks for commenting!
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Hopefully you will
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Heyo, blogger friend, I am back!
Actually I am here to inform you that I have nominated you for the Liebster Award and if you want to answer the questions they are on my blog. I would love to read your answers but feel free to decline! Blogger lives are busy and sometimes there isn’t space for being interrogated. 🙂
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Ooh thanks. I must be famous because this is the second time I’ve been tagged! However, I have pretty much no idea what I’m going to do for next weeks post, so I’ll do this. Thanks for nominating me 😊
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Indeed, your fame has stretched far and wide. 😉 Yay! I am so happy! You’re welcome. 🙂
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Well, at least to two people, which is pretty much the same thing 😉
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Great taste my lovely 🙂
If possible, please suggest me some good biographies and suspense thrillers.
Keep inspiring and Happy Reading!!
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I enjoy reading the biographies of Christian figures or historical people–such as the Wright Brothers, athletes and missionaries. I don’t read suspense thrillers, so I wouldn’t be able to suggest any good ones, but I’m sure there would be other bloggers who’d be able to do that.
Thanks for commenting, 😀
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Thank you for your suggestions 🙂 Have a lovely day ahead!!
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