Reading influences...

On one of the writers' pages I participate in (yes, I get how bad that grammar is) - the question was asked - do you read books that are in the same genre in which you write? For me, the answer is no - I write in several genres - YA, fantasy, mystery, short story, and non fiction. What I read is normally dictated by what is available at the airport because the only time I have to read is on business trips and I buy something to get me through the trip. I know some people fear plane travel because they worry they might crash - not me, I fear plane travel because I worry I'll trapped on a plane for several hours with a book I don't like. 

I know that if I planned ahead then the books I bought would be very different - it seems that all the books at the airports I frequent are in the top 20  best sellers and are either about vampires or serial killers. I don't really like either, but since I can only choose one, I go for the serial killers. If I planned ahead and bought a book at real book store, it would more likely be something historical - more likely set in Asia or in WW2.

I devored Amy Tan's early books and I recently read the fictionalized account of Pearl Buck's early life in China by Anchee Chin and loved that. Of course, my all time favorite book is The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak - I don't expect to ever again read anything that innovative and well written. I also recently read Drood by Dan Simmons. That stunned me because I hadn't realized that a writer could take such bizarre liberties when writing a fiction about a person who actually lived. I don't like what Simmons did, but it was a good read and again, very innovative. 

I expect to start reviewing books very soon and I'll be using a Kindle for that. The Kindle will free me from airport book store choices and it will be interesting (to me) to see what tweaks my interest. 

Do you read in your genre?