What are you reading outside your genre?

[alternicity]

Apparently its good for writers to read outside their chosen genre. So what, if anything is anyone reading that is different in type from what you want to write, and are you doing this to make you a better writer/more literate etc .. ?
Also what non-genre would you most highly recommend to aspiring sff writers?

Ok thanks.
Heres mine:
I just bought 'The Collector' by 'John Fowles' and 'Written on the Body' by Jeanette Winterson.
I'd recommend 'The Warlord Trilogy' by Bernard Cornwell for fantasy aspirants and 'The Bloody Chamber' by Angela Carter to sf aspirants, and 'The Gambler' to anyone.

regards
StuartD

 

[Talysia]

Myself, I've been reading historical fiction quite a bit recently, and I write strictly fantasy. I find that it helps me to get my mind thinking about the proper time settings of the worlds I'm creating - trying to keep my own writing realistic for the era it's set in. Because I draw essences from Japanese culture in some of my stories, I've been reading Japanese historical fiction, too. (I have a thread here about it, in fact. It's a favourite of mine).

I'm also fond of old reference books of myths and legends. They're always useful and inspiring to me.

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

Does non-fiction count? I guess it doesn't...

In fiction, I am reading La Mandragora (The Mandrake) by Niccolo' Machiavelli, a comedy of character.

Because of the 'human body' shape of its root and its narcotic and poisonous effects, from ancient times this plant, also known as 'Devil's herb', was believed to be an aphrodisiac and to have magic and medical properties. In 1518, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote the famous Italian tale 'The Mandragora', underlining the 'medical' use of a Mandragora potion for infertility treating.

 

[iansales]

I am a big fan of Lawrence Durrell and Anthony Burgess, I also like John Fowles (although I've not yet read The Collector). I've also read some Bernard Cornwell and Angela Carter.

This year, I decided to read each month a "classic" mainstream novel. I've cheated a bit on the selections, picking ones that looked interesting - for example, for January I read The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. This month, however, I'm going to read Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls.

 

[Pyan]

After the sad loss of the author, George MacDonald Fraser, recently, I'm working my way through the whole of the Flashman novels, in chronological order.

Highly recommended.

 

[Ghost of Harrenhal]

I've been reading some historical fiction like Jack Whyte's Knights of the Black and White and the sort of thing Andy McNab writes about his time in the SAS.

I write fantasy and this is as far as I've branched out so far.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I've always been quite an omnivorous reader -- it's only since joining this site that I'm become more involved in SF and Fantasy. My favourite other genre authors include Evelyn Waugh (Decline and Fall and A Handful of Dust being two favourites) and P.G Wodehouse (especially Imperial Blandings stories). The classics are great, too. I love Wuthering Heights, The Secret Garden, Tess of the D'Ubervilles, Far From the Madding Crowd...I don't know if these would particularly help in writing, but all of these I would highly recommend, they are some of my all-time favourite books.

Recently, my course means that I read a lot of books from other genres. I've been reading books from the early twentieth century, like Mrs Dalloway, The Power and the Glory, The Secret Agent, The Grass is Singing, Ulysses, Homage to Catalonia. Books such as these are particularly interesting because they are often fragmented, use stream of consciousness, consciousness-hop through a selection of characters and are great for showing how a novel doesn't have to a linear storyline (as confusing as Ulysses is, its form is very interesting; or with The Secret Agent, where the main event happens halfway through, then goes back to describe the things that led to it, and then finally has the dramatic climax).

I mostly write fantasty and horror stories, and prefer writing short stories. I don't particularly read outside these genres to benefit my writing (well, it's said that generally reading all that you can helps anyway, so I guess in that respect I am...) but really because, as said, I will read and enjoy most genres.

 

[ctg]

Just nearly anything I can find, technical manuals, IRC chats, BBS posts, biographs, womans magazines, news articles, alternative news articles, blogs, white papers, graduation jobs ... anything. The one thing that I dread most is the hospital waiting room reading material, as it is almost always out from the date, and aimed for people who don't have a brain.

 

[Tillane]

Well, recently I've been reading quite a bit of Cormac McCarthy's stuff (after much prompting from my dad); No Country For Old Men - which is extremely good - and The Road are currently favourites. I've also just started Haruki Marukami's After Dark, and I've got Norwegian Wood on my "to read" pile. Aside from those, I read a fair few old-style detective novels (think Chandler and Hammett), as well as a lot of non-fiction - mainly politics and physics.

My writing has tended to be mostly SF, though this seems to be changing - or at least, the ideas I'm having these days are mostly more general fiction than SF or Fantasy.

 

[j d worthington]

Does non-fiction count? I guess it doesn't....

Pardon the bluntness, but... HELL, YES, IT DOES! Anything that is well-written, can help you learn how to hone your abilities as a writer, or argue a point well in prose (or even verse); teaches you a better way of using the language to convey any ideas or images you wish to convey, sparks an idea... literally anything you read with any of these or a million other qualities, counts.

Frankly, I'd recommend reading a fairly good proportion of standard literature, for one thing. There's a reason why these books remain viable long after they're written; part of that is that they crystallize varying aspects of the human experience better, perhaps, than anything before or since; another is often their use of prose, which -- though much of it may seem old-fashioned and a bit long-winded by today's standards -- nonetheless helps you learn to think the language much more precisely, clearly, and cogently... if you read them closely. An aspiring reader should not just read, but read -- go over what they read with a magnifying glass, so to speak, and examine the writer's use of language, the way the writer structures what they've written, the techniques they use to convey character, adumbrate themes, sketch in emotion, use varying types of prose to give a feeling of leisurely thought or intense action, etc., etc., etc. So reading the "classics" helps you in many, many ways to improve your own writing.

Also, read as broadly as you can, as the more you know, the more open your mind is to ideas... and any writer needs to keep a limber mind, to stay fresh and open to anyplace ideas can come from. "Mental greed" to use E. Hoffmann Price's phrase, is a definite asset for any writer. Read non-fiction, fiction, science, literary theory, criticism, the news (both old and new).... But read attentively, and with the mind open for ideas....

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

Pardon the bluntness, but... HELL, YES, IT DOES! Anything that is well-written, can help you learn how to hone your abilities as a writer, or argue a point well in prose (or even verse); teaches you a better way of using the language to convey any ideas or images you wish to convey, sparks an idea... literally anything you read with any of these or a million other qualities, counts.

I meant "Do they count here, in this thread", referring to the question.

In non-fiction, I am reading Giordano Bruno's The Shadows of Ideas, and treatises on magic, and anything about Indonesia, because I am writing a book with a fellow Chron, and this book is set in Jakarta.

When researching your topic, books are better sources than the Internet alone.

 

[j d worthington]

I meant "Do they count here, in this thread", referring to the question.

My reading of the first post was that he was looking for what people were reading "that is different in type from what you want to write, and are you doing this to make you a better writer/more literate etc .. ? [...] Also what non-genre would you most highly recommend to aspiring sff writers?", and he didn't specify fiction, so I'd say you were very much on-topic with the idea of non-fiction there.....

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

So we agree, J.D.

 

[j d worthington]

So we agree, J.D.

Eeeeee-yup!

For my own reading: a lot of the older works for the past few years; reading my way through some of the Victorians (currently working on Wilkie Collins, for instance), as well as various things such as Washington Irving's works; anthologies of early sf and fantasy; litcrit; volumes of letters by various writers; dips into philosophical essays by such as Edmund Burke, Arthur Schopenhauer; etc., etc., etc.

 

[Wiglaf]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes and "The Purpose of Propoganda," an excerpt from Mein Kampf. I am also looking to read either Leviathan, Two Treatisies on Government, or an affordable book on macroeconomics focusing on non-Keynesian models primarily fiscal policy. (I found one book but it was $196)

 

[jenna]

I don't write in one particular genre, my main project at the moment is fantasy, but my story idea folder contains ideas from sci-fi, historical fiction, historical fantasy, modern literature, trashy romance, horror, and even a non-fiction history book that I'm sure I'll never get around to writing! So in turn, I read everything.. the most recent one is called Codex by Lev Grossman, an easy but cracking read that I've finished in 2 days (they were 2 holiday days though!). Not the sort of thing I would write, but I've loved it, it's kind of a mystery involving rare medieval books and computer games.. lots of fun!

 

[Culhwch]

I've always read across a broad range of genres. I went through a period where I read mainly crime/thrillers, and I still do read a few of those (Stuart MacBride being one of my current faves). I like to get in a few non-fiction books - recently read Zodiac, and am currently reading A World History by Paul Kelloway which is, well, a world history. And I'm enthusiastically working my way through my library's graphic novel collection, being on Y: The Last Man at present. But generally anything that looks interesting I'll give a shot.

 

[Dragonlady]

I tend to read anything that stands still for long enough- I recently read a book called 'The buddha, Geoff and Me' which was a present, and 'the time traveller's wife' which I found in a charity shop. I read anything that is recommended, so long as it isn't pure romance, which I have tried to read and found difficult to stomach...

In addition to fantasy I gravitate towards historical detective fiction- Lindsey Davis, Candace Robb and an author I can't remember the name of. These can be quite useful as they accustom you to a legal, cultural and governmental system that is not our own, even if it is related. I also read Alexander McCall Smith, which are great as they focus primarily on the detail of people's lives, and Ian Rankin.

I'm also reading a lot of theology at the moment, simply as it interests me- it makes a change from all the philosophy I read for my degree- and you could say it hones the critical analysis skills so useful in any writer!

I've found it very useful to ask people to give me as presents/lend/suggest I buy books they enjoy- even if you wouldn't read another one, it's useful to challenge yourself and make sure your style isn't infulenced by a narrow range of sources.

 

[dustinzgirl]

Well I'm not reading much lately, but I did get my 1 yr old niece to put down her silly babysitter club books and pick up the hobbit. Score one more for sf/f!

 

[Rosemary]

I've been reading about the natural history of the UK. I'm trying to work out which kinds of flora and fauna are native to the land or when they were introduced.