Biographies: I don’t want to find out bad stuff about people I admire. I read a biography of James Herriot which nearly ruined his books for me, because it pointed out that his stories had been slightly fictionalized where it would improve the tale. Also, they might not all have actually happened to him. Also, Siegfried and Tristan weren’t quite as wonderful as they’d been written, etc.
Romance: My grandmother has roomfuls of Harlequin paperbacks. As a kid, I picked them up several times because I knew if liked them, I’d have reading material for years! Unfortunately they never took. I don’t mind romance in a book that has other stuff going on, but if the lovin’ is the whole story, I’m bored. Plus, I would be embarrassed to be seen reading them. (If you’re a romance reader, I’m sorry. You can laugh at me when you see me reading children’s books, though.)
True Crime: I love horror novels, but no matter what happens, I can deal with it because it’s just a story. Shit that really happened? That’s going to stay with me and upset me for a long time.
I may post more later, but I’d like to hear some of yours.
I read far less fiction than I used to, in favor of biographies, biohistories and histories. I gave up on sf as a genre a number of years ago. I refuse to read the “superhero lawyer” genre, meaning that whole weeks of the NYTBSL pass me without a candidate.
I don’t read books on politics or by politicians. Very little history, very few biographies. Almost no romance, except for Georgette Heyer, who, with her wit and humor, is more like Jane Austen light.
I don’t read bludgeony type horror or most thrillers or true crime, though I love a good ghost story and a good mystery. I don’t read as much sf or fantasy as I used to, because I don’t like the direction the genre has taken. But I still find gems. Don’t read musicology or art criticism or architecture. But I do read just about everything else.
The whys of what I don’t read? I don’t want to programs horrors into my brain. Or bore it, either.
I will not read romance, fantasy, sci-fi, westerns, anything about animals (something tragic always happens, no matter how happy the book ends). I’m not fond of chick-lit. Don’t care for most “classics” especially Jane Austen. I like horror/suspense but it scares me so I don’t read it much.
Within the very broad field of fiction… I never read anything found in the Romance section, and rarely read anything in the Western section of a Barnes & Noble (though some of my favorite novels, like ***Death Comes for the Archbishop *** or ***Emma ***certainly COULD be classified as Westerns or Romances).
Generally not Romance, but I am okay with the classics, like Georgette Heyer, or Elswyth Thane.
Cozy mysteries make me insane. I realized recently I’ve lost patience with just about any mystery series, especially the police procedural type. They all blend together for me. I’ve realized when I’m in the mood for a mystery I should pick up Sayers again.
I generally avoid True Crime, especially if it strikes me as particularly sensational. I will read ones that seem to be bringing some elevated analysis or insight to events, like Dave Cullen’s Columbine, which was a BRUTAL read, but found it substantial and thoughtful. It’s probably a little insulting to call it True Crime because it really wasn’t a genre book, but you know what I mean. It was about a crime and it was true.
I like history, but will stay far away from anything in the realm of the currently political. It’s too much.
Oh, or anything that is about an animal if it looks like the sort of thing where we’re supposed to be inspired by this animal and then it probably dies in the end. Stuff like Marley and Me. I took one look at the cover and knew to never, ever even glance at this book again. My (adult) brother called me in the middle of the night, crying because he finished that stupid book and I was all “what were you EXPECTING?”
Zombies and vampires. I just do not understand the love for these genres.
I would add Westerns, but then again there are some that are not exactly shoot-em-up-cowpoke stories that are not horrible.
Not being a huge fan of sports, I am also not all that interested in autobiographies of any sports figures, nor a fan of stories involving underdog teams winning some big game or whatever.
Romance and erotica – and if a mystery or thriller includes unnecessary romance or sex, it gets dumped.
Westerns – although I love novels set in the American West of the 19th century. Lonesome Dove is a western.
Novels where the focus is a disintegrating marriage/relationship or careers in decline, especially if the characters are urban sophisticates – I just can’t relate to navel gazers and angsty whiners.
Memoirs of people who haven’t been alive long enough to have anything to remember.
Self-help, chick-lit, steampunk, hard SF, and horror written in the last fifteen years (it’s all torture porn).
True crime, horror, and most mysteries that have recipes or other cute stuff between chapters. And I agree with Anaamika and Dung Beetle - no animal abuse whatsoever.
Similar to this, I’ve nearly given up on modern mysteries, because of the number of them that think “sex crime” equals edgy and interesting. No, actually: there are few lazier and more cliched ways to elevate the reader’s gorge than to have a rape-murder or two. Indeed, it’s pretty common for me to put a book down if there’s some gratuitous hackneyed sex crime in the first few chapters.
I don’t read romance for the most part, and it’s rare for me to pick up poetry. I loathe reading pundits’ self-aggrandizing bloviation, and I think self-help is a waste of wood pulp.
But there’s plenty of excellent SF and fantasy out there, and I’ve read some powerful horror in the past few years, stuff that doesn’t rely on sex murders.
I don’t read romances or Westerns. I also avoid whatever genre it is that Tom Clancy and John Grisham write in. Action/suspense/thrillers? I’m not a fan of “military” novels, regardless of era, particularly when the bulk of the content is lengthy narrations of large-scale battles.
I avoid biographies, though I will confess to reading and enjoying Steve Jobs’ bio.
Self-help books: Don’t want. I will confess that this is largely a reaction to my former roommate, whose reading material consisted almost entirely of self-help books. I found it impossible to converse with or relate to the guy because to my eye he was a walking, talking conglomeration of “techniques”. It’s hard to have a conversation with somebody when you have the distinct impression that everything they say is calculated to elicit a particular response.
Romance - it just bores me if the romance is the whole point. I don’t mind a little bit in an otherwise good book, but mostly I just want the characters to get on with whatever adventure they’re having and leave out the muchas smooches.
Erotica - Ditto, only more so. I don’t like reading sex scenes. At best, they make me giggle. At worst, they’re annoying.
Westerns - Just not really into the genre.
Politics - booooring.
Poetry - I like some poems, but whole books of poetry would put me to sleep in a hurry.
I don’t read a lot of nonfiction unless it’s on a topic I’m specifically interested in.
Mostly I read horror, urban fantasy, that kind of thing, plus whatever category Chuck Palahniuk falls into. Just finished an enjoyable occult mystery. I haven’t read a lot of true crime stuff lately but I do usually enjoy it.
