Gateway Books

Friday 10 April 2015

A while ago, I watched Enchantology's video on this topic, it got me thinking about the books that have opened my eyes to new genres and aspects of reading. I've picked my top five and, as usual, am sharing them with you.





The Hunger Games is what really got me back into reading 'properly'. Ever since I was little, I've always loved books, stories, reading, and everything to do with it, but when I first hit my teens I slowed down on reading. Probably because I was still trying to settle into a new school, and was 'too old' for bedtime stories. I'd seen The Hunger Games mentioned in passing, and at first thought it was about eating disorders and was hesitant about picking it up, then I learnt it was sci-fi and went 'nope never reading that'. But then I saw the film trailer. And let's just say that it changed my life.

At The Sign of the Sugared Plum is what got me into historical fiction. I'd previously read Fallen Grace by the same author and wanted to read more by her, and I received this as a Christmas present. It took me ages to get round to finally reading it, but I'm so glad that I did! I think if I hadn't read this, I wouldn't have such an interest in Tudor/Stuart/Georgian/Victorian historical fiction (which is one of my favourite genres now).

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is an odd one, in that I don't really know if it counts as middle grade or young adult. For this, I'm going to class it as middle grade, as I adored this series - and still do. It made me love fantasy even more because I think prior to reading this, the only fantasy I think I'd read was Harry Potter. I also started reading a lot more children's and middle grade books after this, as I realised that they can be just as good as - if not better than - adult and young adult fiction. I'm now, thanks to this book,  not ashamed to stand in the children's fiction section in shops and browse.

A Game of Thrones shouldn't be a surprise, really; I'll find any excuse to talk about it. But it really did open me up to more mature/adult fantasy. I'm still trying to find another series that I'm interested in/enjoy, but it's opened the door for me. I will admit though, I doubt anything will top this for me.

The Walking Dead had been one of my favourite and most watched shows before I picked the graphic novels up, and now it's one of my favourite series as well. Not only did the first volume open my eyes to the wonderful world of comics and graphic novels, but it also gave me more insight into the world of The Walking Dead.

4 comments:

  1. This is a really interesting post! A Game Of Thrones was one of the first adult fantasy books that I read, but the one that really got me into adult fantasy was Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (yes, I know it's a weird one but that's how it worked out). My first comic book/graphic novel was Persepolis, but the one that really got me into the genre was V For Vendetta by Alan Moore. And then I read the first two volumes of Saga and my love affair began in earnest. That's all the comics I've read so far but I'm planning to read more in the future. Great post!

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    1. Thank you! I've tried Terry Pratchett but it just wasn't for me, but my family is big on fantasy, so I have lots of options and things to explore! I've been interested in Persepolis, but I'm not really sure what it's about because I've only seen vague synopses. V for Vendetta looks great, so I think it'll definitely be on my list for the future! I've started Saga, too, but the second volume wasn't as good as the first, I found. I've yet to continue it though, so I may be surprised. Thanks for the comment!

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  2. The Hunger Games really got me into Dystopia. Since then, I've rep ally enjoyed that genre! Percy Jackson is the only book I've read with mythology, but it also got me interested.

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    1. Funnily enough, I'm not a massive dystopia fan. I find them to be too cliche young adult. Plus, I doubt anything will beat The Hunger Games for me, haha. I highly recommend the rest of Rick Riordan's works if Percy Jackson got you interested! His are really fun, easy introductions to mythology.

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