Yes, I want a meeting with representatives of all the major genres in fiction novels. I had thought previously that "genre" was one of those words that are not properly pluralized by adding the "s," but I wasn't sure but I went with the plural anyway, as I want as many of them as I can fit in the little meeting hall that is my brain these days. Also, my spell check says it is OK, so I'm going with it.
I h I am calling the meeting because I feel the need for a change. I have been a dedicated fan of detective fiction for a long time, usually with murder as the central crime. Whether it is John Sanford's Lucas Davenport pursuing a serial killer or Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan searching for clues in forensic anthropology to solve murders where bones are pretty much all is left of the victim; or Richard Castle (yes, there really is one--an honest-to-goodness writer who knows a pretty detective very well) helping Nikki Heat lead her homicide team to the guilty party; or Robert Parker's Spenser pursuing suspects as a private detective with "friends" in the local and state police there to take away the killer or killers once Spenser finds them; or the same Robert Parker's Jesse Stone, a police chief in a small town outside of Boston, where he wound up after a fall from grace in the LA Police Department, and a dance with the bottle to accompany him on the way down, solving crimes with an occasional assist from Captain Healy of the Massachusetts state police; or it might be Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar, the pro basketball player whose ruined knee in his first game in the pros left him finding a new career as a sports agent/bodyguard/detective helping his clients solve crimes from kidnapping to grand larceny to murder; or it could be Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, a loner who solves cases new and old in the LA Homicide Division, where he makes his own rules at times to get his man; or it might be John Lescroart's Abe Glitsky, a homicide captain in San Francisco, or Lescroart's defense attorney and sometime detective, Dismas Hardy (and Abe Glitsky's friend, by the way); or Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, a defense attorney who operates his law practice out of the trunk of his chauffeured Lincoln; or yet another John Lescroart series of Hunt Club mysteries solved by Wyatt Hunt and his friends; or Sue Grafton''s Kinsey Milhone alphabet series (A is for Alibi, on up to W is for Wasted, and X ), where Kinsey, a private detective, solves crimes in Santa Teresa, a fictional small[town in California; or Janet Ivanovich's Stephanie Plum, a some time bonding agent, /detective each volume bears a numerical title (I gave up at Fearless Fourteen, when the formulaic on again-off again romances with a policeman and a serious, hunky bonding agent became boring to me);or even J..A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont Series about a long-time homicide detective in Seattle,; or Spenser Quinn's Chet and Bernie series featuring a detective agency consisting of a man, Bernie, and his dog, Chet, the narrator of the stories; or Robert Crais' L.A. detective Elvis Cole and his strong silent partner, ex-Marine Joe Pike; or David Baldacci's Amos Decker, the detective with the perfect injury stemming form a football head-injury received in his first play in the NFL then some lesser-known characters like John Sanford;s Virgil Flowers, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent, and J. A. Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady or Ali Reynolds; I have just gotten tired of it all.
Then there are the political thrillers with or without international conspiracy and intrigue, Rob Shumaker's Richard Schumaker series each one named in similar fashion--fill in the blank--followwed by the words "In The Capital" or Baldacci's Shaw series about the reluctant mercenary, by the name of,--guess what--Shaw--saving the world; or all the Bond spy novels and John Le Carre, or (on and on); or the wandering loner, ex Army MP, homeless on purpose--Lee Child's Jack Reacher; or Alex Berenson's former Army MP John Wells, saving the world and interrupting terror attacks just in the nick of time; or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan stories of political intrigue and international terror, and now the Jack, Jr. series that continues after Mr. Clancy's passing; or Hank Sutherland JAG lawyer, dealing in international crises, or Carolyn Arnold's Brandon Fisher FBI series; I could go on, but I've read so many of them, I leave out whole sets of series (I almost went with series of series since "series" is the plural form of "series," but I settled on sets of series--it seemed less awkward.), zske for example, Robert Ludlum's stuff, including, but not limited to the whole Jason Bourne thing; or Fletcher Knebel's political thrillers, the best of which was and is Seven Days in May. Then don't forget Frederick Forsyth, and his crime/thrillers like The Day of The Jackal.
I've read and then given away many, many others--and don't ask me to recall them all. The important theme here is they are all about murder, mayhem and disaster. Entertaining? Yes, they have been, but I want to hear from a few other genres, especially ones with humor and more pleasant things to contemplate than murder, etc. I want out--give me laughter, people having fun, enjoying life for a little while. I have to specify one exception, Romance novels--sorry, it's just a personal thing, really--they bore me to tears. I've brought this up to a couple of friends, and they suggested histories and another category I'm not sure how to name--the example is Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid. I think this might be a small niche in the memoir genre, because it's more dedicated to humor than anything else, I think. As for history, it is a rare history that will keep my attention, but there have been a few, for example a few years ago I read a fine book on FDR, The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency, but, as I said, there have only been a few that held my attention. I think I'll go with Bryson, even if he isn't his own genre.
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