Five Favorite Books from Five Favorite Genres

Five favorites from favorites genres

Here are five of my favorite books from five of my favorite genres! Five stars all around, and books that I recommend if you, too, love these genres.

 

Classics – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I haven’t talked about many classic books on this blog before, but I love classic literature. What’s great about classics is that these books have stood the test of time. Therefore they rarely go wrong. And even if the book is not to my taste, I can usually at least see why it has earned its status as a classic – which is something I might not be able to say about current Booktok favorites (no disrespect to Booktok or Bookstagram recommendations, I have found some great books that way as well!).

One of all-time my favorite authors is Jane Austen (which really shouldn’t come as a surprise considering my debut novel is a Northanger Abbey retelling). Pride and Prejudice is my favorite of her novels, with Persuasion as a close second. I love Austen’s humor, and her characterization and character development are amazing. Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favorite literary characters with her wit and willingness to learn from her mistakes. I’m planning to reread Pride and Prejudice this July, and I’m looking forward to finding new reasons to love it!

 

Historical Fiction – The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

My second favorite genre is historical fiction. History was my favorite subject at school, and I continue to read a lot of non-fiction history books, so it’s no wonder that I’ve love reading about history in fiction as well! I think my love for historical fiction stems from the same place as my love for classics: both tell us about people living in a world that no longer exists. I read the genre widely, although I must admit that don’t particularly care for historical fiction set in the 20th century and prefer books that take place in more remote time periods that I know less about.

Philippa Gregory is probably my favorite historical fiction author, and The Other Boleyn Girl was the first of her books that I read. The book narrates the life of the sister of the more famous “Boleyn girl,” Anne Boleyn. Mary Boleyn was also Henry VIII’s mistress, and this book imagines her story. I loved learning more about Tudor era England via this book. I’m aware that historical fiction books usually take some liberties with the pure facts, so reading them always leads me to little rabbit holes of researching for more information.

 

Dystopian Fiction – Wool by Hugh Howey

Wool by Hugh Howey

Okay, so I love reading about worlds that no longer exist. But I equally love reading about worlds that don’t exist – yet. And in case of dystopian fiction, hopefully never will (*shudders*). I don’t know what it is about these depressing depictions of the future, but I’m fascinated by them – even if I sometimes end up grumbling about the absurdities of the worldbuilding (unfortunately a problem with some YA dystopian books).

My love for this genre naturally started with a classic – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. One on my more recent favorites in this genre is Wool by Hugh Howey. Set in an underground silo, a group of people try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where they can never go outside. This book was amazing – oh my gosh, the plot twist! This is the first book in a trilogy, and even though the latter two books weren’t as great as the first, the whole trilogy is definitely worth reading if you love dystopian fiction.

 

Historical Fantasy – The Story of Silence by Alex Myers

The Story of Silence by Alex Myers

Historical fiction with a side of fantasy? What’s not to love! Historical fantasy is one of my newer favorite genres and something that I’ve been excited to see more and more books exploring in recent years. The combination of historical details with fantasy elements is what makes this genre so fascinating to me.

The Story of Silence by Alex Myers has a very small amount of fantasy elements (a dragon fight, a cameo of Merlin), but it was my favorite book I read in 2022. Based on a medieval French poem about a courtier who raises his daughter as a boy, the book follows Silence as they try to reach their goal of becoming a knight in a world where women’s roles are severely limited while simultaneously grappling with their gender identity – are they a girl, a boy, or something else entirely? I love that unlike a lot of other books where an AFAB character dresses as a boy, this book doesn’t offer a clear-cut solution (fantasy or otherwise) to Silence’s gender identity.

 

Science Fiction – The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

Now I admit that I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but I’m counting it as one of my favorite genres because the few books I have read have made me want to explore the genre more. On the other hand, the genre scares me a bit, as some science fiction novels are a bit too science-y for me – I don’t think I understood anything that was going on in William Gibson’s Neuromancer…

However, one super-science-y yet understandable sci-fi book is my favorite of the genre. That’s The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. The book (and the subsequent trilogy) is set in the futuristic solar system and follows the master thief Jean le Flambeur as he plots a heist while various post-human factions compete for the dominance of the world. The worldbuilding in this series is amazing and the plot is full of twists and turns – definitely read this if you’re looking for some space adventure. Some science fiction books have an attention-grabbing premise but fail at execution when they don't pay enough attention to the characters and their development, but Rajaniemi's trilogy doesn't have that problem.

 

Connecting the Dots

What connects my favorite genres is that they are all set somewhere else than in the real contemporary world. I don’t find books set in the modern world particularly enticing, although I do read them every now and then. I prefer worlds that existed in the past or worlds that do not yet exist – or worlds with a sprinkle of magic or fantasy. Pure fantasy didn’t quite make it to the list of my top five favorite genres simply because I haven’t read enough fantasy books, but it’s definitely up there in terms of genres I want to read more in the future.