Genres I Typically Avoid: Christian Books

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Religion, more specifically, Christian books.

I’m agnostic/spiritual. While I think there’s an order to the universe, I don’t think any one religion got it exactly right. Almost all faiths have a grain of truth residing in their core belief systems that is worth finding and exploring. However, the politics of organized religion can readily obscure that.

**This post is a bit long so if you want the TL;DR, skip a bit**

My father wanted me to be Catholic like he was but it never stuck. He tried to take me to church but it was just a boring obligation where I couldn’t read and didn’t understand what was going on. I think he may have expected me to just inherently have the faith he did without having to do much of anything to explain it to me. Clearly, this plan did not work.

I wound up going to a Catholic high school because the public schools sucked and the nondenominational private schools were hella expensive. Obama sends his kids to one of them to paint you a picture. The only classes that were mandatory all 4 years were English, math, and religion. 10th grade was church history and Odin’s eye did that backfire on me. The crusades, the Borgias, the woman pope, and the fact that the Catholic church controlled most of Europe for the better part of 1,000 years soured me on the inherent divinity of that faith. Not long after this the priest sexual abuse scandal in Boston broke and all my respect for the Catholic faith was stone dead.

Between a Catholic high school and comparative mythology class in college, I noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the Bible. The two main narratives in Genesis don’t line up. Some of the ‘thou shalt nots’ contradict each other. Hell, the Old Testament and New Testament contradict how God behaves. Did he create Zoloft in between?

How about all the books that were left out by the massive editing committee of papal authority? Where they less true or divine or did they just not fit the correct political image necessary at the time? And can we please acknowledge, for once, ever, that someone, somewhere, may have fucked up a translation? It’s been a few thousand years so can we not rule that out?

What really sent me running from the faith and it’s literature wasn’t the history or politics but the people. Jesus was a nice guy who had a lot of important things to say. Some of the modern people might want to go back and reread them because something clearly got misinterpreted. Let’s modify What Would Jesus Do and replace the verb with Bomb, Torture, Rape, Kill, Shoot, Deport, Judge, or Hold a rally against?

**TL;DR start below**

Even on a smaller social scale, I have met so many Christians who are the most holier-than-thou, judgmental, and generally useless wastes of carbon. My mother worked with someone who would bog down everyone’s mail box with daily blessings full of bad gifs and clip art. The same woman wanted her house to be so Martha Stewart perfect her husband didn’t live there. She was so obsessed with her stuff that she had it written into her will that her kids can’t throw out any of her things until she’s be dead for a year.

A woman I used to work with would blast her gospel music all day, every day. If I asked her to turn it down, she ignored me and turned it up. It would have been less annoying if she didn’t constantly snap her fingers, tap her feet, and sing along. Did she care that it bothered me and distracted me from doing my job? Nope. Worshiping her god at work was more important than the comfort of others. She was just one of many catty ‘good Christian’ woman in that office who didn’t like me. One who stopped just short of openly hating me had a book about how to be a good Christian wife!

The only thing I did wrong to those woman was not tolerate their BS. The only reason they turned the other cheek was so they could gossip about other women who weren’t as devout/nice as they were. Other than church, gossip, and bad reality TV, I don’t think there was anything else that interested these women. I can think of several other examples but we’d be here all day.

I have known and currently socialize with several people of faith. It is a part of what makes them such high quality human beings. But no amount of awesome on their part can redeem the faith to the point where I’m jumping on board. I’ll respect it and be kind to those of faith who are kind to me but the sour taste runs deep.

I can’t get past all of the ugly history and horrible people tied to the Christian faith. I found a book that really spoke to me in Barnes & Noble once but seeing it labeled as Christian Fiction made me put it down. I eventually came back to it but I dragged my feet. Dear Mr. Knightley was a lovely book and it was mislabeled as Christian Fiction. Faith was only a small part of the story and by no means dominated.

Once again, I ask you, internet, if you know any Christian fiction that has plenty of story going on and doesn’t beat you over the head with Jesus?

Genres I Typically Avoid: Romance

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Romance novels.

I dislike romance novels because the characters and stories are very predictable. Two unlikely people meet, intense attraction occurs, they fight it, they give in, romance ensues, obstacle occurs, couple separated/splits, the obstacle is overcome, happily ever after. Mix and match stock characters and places as necessary.

It’s about big strong men wooing women in trouble or those men converting angry, if not bitter, women into someone likeable. Of course the woman has to soften. No self-respecting man could actually want to be with the Head Bitch in Charge as she is, right? All women are superhot and in desperate need of some good loving, right?

I have never seen the cover of a bodice ripper and thought “There’s a man who will respect her opinion” unless that’s a really creative euphemism. The man isn’t there to care about what the woman in the story thinks just as she isn’t there to do an abundance of thinking in the first place. Falling for the hot pirate/soldier of fortune/cowboy who kidnapped you isn’t love, it’s Stockholm syndrome.

Realistically, how many billionaires, tycoons, and royals think “I’d rather be with a plain teacher/librarian/secretary/student instead of a super model/lawyer/diplomat. It’s fun being with someone who doesn’t understand my life or obligations. There’s no way this is a walking PR disaster waiting to happen.”

I read most genre fiction I can get my hands on and I find a walking, talking tree and a raccoon with a gun fetish more believable than a lot of romance story lines. I like character development, depth, and a believable plot trajectory. More should be happening in the story than just the relationship between two characters. Life is more than getting laid, despite what cable TV says.

Since I’ve got to find a book that is from a genre I typically avoid, I need a good romance. I skimmed Harlequin’s latest titles and my rant appears to remain true so I turn to you, the internet, for help. I need to find a story about love and romance that won’t make me roll my eyes so hard they fall out of my head.

Previous love-centered stories I’ve enjoyed are My Name Is Memory and Water for Elephants. Any suggestions?

Genres I Typically Avoid: History

There are three big genres I avoid and since it’s coming up on time for me to address that category, I’m going to go over why I’m not a fan of those three genres. This week? Histories.

Fiction is my first love. I enjoy being told a story about what happens to someone as events play out and relationships change. I adore the fantastical element of genre fiction since it takes me out of this world and somewhere more interesting and diverse. I also enjoy memoirs because they have a similar narrative flow to fiction. There is a voice, a set of emotions, to engage me as a reader.

I’ve always found nonfiction histories to be very dry and unexciting. It’s a similar problem that I have to popular science books. It’s interesting and there’s something new to learn but the lack of narrative makes it more work for me to engage as a reader. The lack of narrative doesn’t captivate me as much.

Historical fiction? Definitely. Let’s begin this adventure. Actual history? It already happened and we know how it ended so the journey seems less exciting going in. My reasons here are simple in that I have just not enjoyed this genre of books. My reasons for the other genres are a bit more personal.

So internet, do you know any histories that have more excitement and narrative than your average tome?

Richer Reading Life Activity #5

On Friday, I talked books with someone I’d never talked books with before: my MRI tech. I had to have a scan done (nothing serious, I’m fine) but he asked about college and I told him I’d studied English. He asked what my favorite authors were and I said I favored genre writers like Neil Gaiman.

My tech was actually a fan of poetry. His favorites were Lewis Carroll and Edgar Alan Poe with his all time favorite being the Jabberwocky. He was impressed Carroll committed enough to make a lengthy poem about nonsense. I told him I adored Alice in Wonderland and that my favorite Poe poem was The Raven for how rhythmic it was but Masque of the Red Death was excellent as well.

After I was done I recommended Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series since it has dealings with Lewis Carroll and other classic literature. It’s relationship to Poe is very unique. He even let me in on a little secret. When I put my earplugs in wrong, he offered to do it for me since the machine is quite loud. Normally, he just leaves them but there was something about me he liked. It was a very pleasant experience, all things considered.

Richer Reading Life Book #4

For an LGBT author, I chose Patrick Ness’s More Than This. I discovered it at the National Book Festival while it was still on the National Mall. There were several copies but one had the door intact. This made it special so I took it home.

How I had to hold the book to read it eventually led to the door popping out on its own but I am so glad I acquired this book. The writing and the world is wonderful. It deals with death, family, loss, grief, love, connection, and the future of the world. Much like life, not all questions are answered and not all mysteries are solved but you are left satisfied. I think the greatest part about this book is that Ness leaves you with plenty of things to think on and ponder.

I can’t tell you too much because anything I reveal will be a spoiler. It starts with Seth, a teenage boy, drowning and dying. This is what happens after he wakes up. From there he finds more questions than answers and more mysteries that need solving. I found the ending curious but not objectionable. I highly recommend this work, especially if you have depression or feel alone because it reminds you that there is always more. 5 out of 5 stars.

Richer Reading Life Activity #4

I like doing trivia and learning new stuff. Like, did you know there were concerns about airing Bob the Builder in Japan because he's only got 4 fingers? Folks were concerned about yakuza associations since poorly behaved mobsters often lose fingers. I learned that from a book from mental_floss

Despite that fun tidbit, I have 6 books from them that I've had since 2009 and never read. While I'm sure the contents are great fun, I've had long enough to read them so I'm culling the books that have been in my TBR the longest. Finding a new home will be:

1. mental_floss Forbidden Knowledge
2. mental_floss Cocktail Party Cheat Sheet
3. mental_floss Scatterbrained
4. mental_floss What's the Difference?
5. mental_floss Genius Instruction Manual
6. mental_floss In the Beginning

Richer Reading Life Quarterly Update

Since we have finished the first 25% of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to see how I'm doing overall on having a richer reading life.

Reading

By a woman - The Bell Jar
By a POC - Bad Feminist
By a LGBT+ person
Deals with Mental Illness
Woman in Politics
Author over 65
Author from Africa
Takes place in Asia
Indie press - Pedal Zombies
Translation
Poetry
Published before 1850
Genre I typically avoid
Award Winner
Audiobook
Recommendation

I'm just shy of the 25% mark. While I could have counted The Bell Jar for Mental Illness, I didn't want to. There are other books about depression that I'm very interested to read. At the same time, finding a book by a woman on my shelves is not difficult. However, books in Asia, African authors, and authors over 65 are a bit sparse.

I've started on poetry but I've always viewed poetry as a small dose thing that has to be digested over time. You don't fully experience it if you binge. I've got a few things earmarked for some of the remaining categories but we'll just have to see what happens. I'll try to up my game in the next quarter.

Activities

Ask a local librarian for a recommendation
Ask someone I respect for a recommendation and read it right away
Read outside
Read a book that looks like it will make you uncomfortable
Read out loud to someone I love
Dog ear a page - Never Open Desert Diner quotes
Write in margins
Give away a book that's been in my TBR a long time
Cull 10 books from my collection and don't bring any home for a month
Attend a reading event near me - This Is Why You're Single sketch show and book tour
Read the book, watch the movie, debate which is better
Listen to an audio book of a physical book I DNF
Listen to a podcast about books - Dear Book Nerd and BookTube
Memorize a poem
Read one page of a holy book of faith I was not raised with

Have a conversation about books with someone you've never talked books with before
Not ideal. All of my friends are readers so it's something we talk about with some frequency although there are a few I haven't talked books with before. We've got a road trip coming up in May so it's the perfect opportunity.

I plan on accomplishing the cull by not procuring any new books in the month of April. I cull well over 10 and don't need anymore in the immediate future. I've started on reading outside but I do it pretty rarely so I want to do it a few times before I finally cross it off. It's just starting to be the time of year where I can do it.

I'm waiting on some of the others like When a Monster Calls by Patrick Ness coming to theaters this fall. Failing that, there's always the last Hunger Games movie which I haven't seen yet.

Books

1. Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
2. This Is Why You're Single by Laura Lane & Angela Spera
3. Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken & Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
5. Sisters of the Revolution edited by Ann VanderMeer

I'm at about 30% of my final 16 for the year. Staying within that limit is not looking good but my money situation is helping keep my book purchases down. Hopefully my plan for a no-buy April will give me an edge since a lot of what I want to get comes out this summer.