My Favorite Books by Genre

by Sophia Chen

As a reader, I dabble in several different genres (mostly fiction though), and in each genre I've explored, there are inevitably some good ones and some bad ones. On this blog I've mainly focused on realistic or semi-realistic fiction, but I thought it would be nice to recommend some books of other genres, for the folks who aren't into that.

So, without further ado, my favorite books in a few different genres:

1. Historical Fiction - Stacey Lee, Under a Painted Sky

It's difficult to choose a favorite book out of the ~400 I've consumed over the years, and so I ordinarily avoid the question when it pops up in conversation. One definite contender, though, is Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee -- more specifically, the audiobook version.

I first read Under a Painted Sky while rifling through my sister's stack of library books (I had a penchant for stealing from her when we were younger; I really don't know why). I couldn't tell you what about the book appealed to my sister, but for me it was the book cover. I'm a sucker for really vivid sunsets -- whenever the sky gets colorful, really.

Whatever it was that drew my sister to this book in the Teen section (I read it in fourth grade), I'm glad for it, because this book is wonderful. More specifically, the audiobook version, which I borrowed about a year after the hardcover inevitably returned to the Teen section, is wonderful.

The premise of Under a Painted Sky is as the cover indicates: two girls, living in 1849 St. Joseph, Missouri, escape the racist institutions of the police and Hotel Lobel by disguising themselves as men on the California Trail, where hundreds of thousands of so-called Argonauts seek a new future in the form of gold. The main character Samantha's father has just died, and she's just killed her landlord; her new compatriot, Annamae, is looking to escape the bonds of slavery. Conveniently placed at St. Joe, the Gateway to the West, the border between cruel white society and freedom is too close to resist. So they run.

The rest of the novel is a collection of adventures on the American frontier, full of cholera and survivor's guilt and love and guns and livestock -- trials all faced alongside a group of three friendly (?) cowboys whom the girls meet early on. Overall, it's safe to say my weird and misplaced sense of nostalgia for 19th century came solely from this book. Some bits are a tad cringey, but without cringe you can't have romance, and without romance you can't really have melodrama. And I love melodrama.

Another thing I love, by the way -- the audiobook. I don't think I've stressed that enough. I kid you not, I have listened to this audiobook for over 150 hours. Don't believe me?

6 days, 6 hours, 59 minutes. To my calculations, that's 150 hours and 59 minutes total. My point is, I love this audiobook. Something about the narration, it just... calls to me. I don't know.

(Honorable mention for The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, I guess)

2. Science Fiction - None.

I don't like science fiction.

I mean, I guess if you count anything set in the future as "science fiction," then my favorite science fiction books are the Red Queen series, by Victoria Aveyard. Though I count that more as dystopian, which is why I'm putting it as dystopian (see 4).

3. Realistic Fiction - Abdi Nazemian, Like a Love Story

Technically, I guess this could count as historical fiction, because I sure wasn't alive at the time, but since the author was (and most of our parents, too, I suppose), I won't.

Like a Love Story is, told simply, a book about the AIDS epidemic in the States. All three main characters (Reza, Judy and Art) are involved closely in the matter in some way: Reza is terrified of it and thinks it's God's way of punishing the homosexuals or something, Art is involved in activism, and Judy's uncle is HIV positive. Side topics include fatphobia, cheating (?), compulsory heterosexuality, internalized misogyny, photography, filthy rich stepfathers, filthy rich friends, Reza and his family's Iranian identity, and most importantly, Madonna.

I won't harp too much on what I like about this book. It's funny, and also very sad, and it honestly taught me a lot. (I didn't like Art much, though.)

4. Dystopian - Victoria Aveyard, Red Queen

I don't care what anyone else says. Red Queen is superior. That's all.

No, but really. It's extremely good. I mean, the main character (Mare) is kind of annoying and self-centered, and so are like 99% of the other POVs, BUT I live for the side characters, the lore, the representation, and especially the multitude of different storylines happening at once.

I suppose I should provide a summary. Set in the former United States some centuries after our present day, Red Queen presents a society divided into two classes: those with red blood, and those with silver (who coincidentally also possess supernatural powers).

Mare, a Red, impoverished like most other Reds in Norta (their country), comes to the royal palace as a servant at the behest of the crown prince, Cal, from whom she stole in some backwater tavern while trying to scour up the funds to save her friend from conscription in the military. While at the palace, she's in the perfect position as a spy, and the Scarlet Guard -- a Red revolutionary organization -- recruits her. The rest of the series follows the struggle for freedom and equality for the Reds.

The plot twists, too, are surprisingly unpredictable, which lends to a more engaging reading experience.

5. Fantasy - Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Cycle

Highly recommend this series for anyone who enjoys stuff that is just. Really weird. The Raven Cycle is my personal favorite series of books -- I love the characters, as well as the weird way the author plays with time and clairvoyance and folklore. Not to mention, the writing is phenomenal. Really weird, but phenomenal. And the audiobooks? I may hate the way that Will Patton pronounces "human," but otherwise his voice really suits this type of aura in a book. Additionally, there's some fantastic music written by Maggie Stiefvater herself in the beginning and end.

I couldn't give this series a summary if I tried. I would have no idea what to start with because there really is no discernably most-important plotline. But that's fine, because I'm not here for the plot (which is confusing anyway). Read TRC for the vibes.