5 Reasons To Step Outside Your Reading Comfort Zone

We all have our comfort zones. We all have those particular genres or tropes that we love and we stick to them in our book choices. I am definitely guilty of this. You may have noticed that 90% of the reviews I post, and books I read, are fantasy! Fantasy is my all time favourite genre but I do have quite a broad range of genres and tropes that I read. If you click on my review tab on the homepage of this blog you’ll see there is quite a range of genres. I actively try to keep my mind open and try to read new things and I have found there’s so many reasons to do that.

1. You Could Start A New Obsession

If you’re like me, you obsess over books. I obsess over so many books and by keeping an open mind and reading something that is out of your comfort zone, you might just find your new obsession. Believe it or not but before I started this blog, I used to read only chic-lit/romance books. I would never touch anything paranormal or fantasy. I just didn’t understand why people would want to read something that was so “out there”. Then the Twilight craze hit and I thought… the movie is coming out, I may as well give it a go. Now, it’s unusual to find me reading anything without fantasy elements in it. It definitely started a new obsession.

2. You Could Learn Something New – Even Through Fiction

One of the things I love most about reading, is learning new things. Even though I only read fiction, you can still find that you learn something new. Whether it’s about a new mythology, or learning new words, it doesn’t matter. I have learnt so much by branching out and reading different things. By reading books by people of colour, I have learnt so much about their experiences and what they go through. By reading some fantasy books I’ve learnt about different mythologies I’d never heard of before. I’ve learnt so much from these books. And that’s not even drawing on coming across words you’ve never seen before. I have a reading app on my phone that has a dictionary installed so you can search for words and save the ones you’ve not heard of before. I love using that, and then looking back on the new words I’ve learnt purely by reading.

3. It Can Open Your Mind in Life… Not Just In Fiction

By sticking to the same genres/tropes/authors… you could unknowingly be closing your mind to so many things. I used to avoid LGBTQ+ books at all costs, as I felt like I couldn’t associate and appreciate the characters as it’s something I’ve never been through. Now, I’ve found that it doesn’t matter that I’ve never been through it… I have learnt about what they go through, and how to be an even better friend by reading those books. And I’ve found that a good book is a good book… regardless of any previous thoughts or conceptions that I may have had. You just have to be open minded enough to give it a go. Now, don’t get me wrong there are some tropes I’ve tried and I just really dislike… reverse harem or harem books to name one… and that’s fine. I have my reasons for not liking them, but I was open minded to give them a go and discovered that myself instead of just assuming.

4. You Could Find A New Favourite Genre

This one is similar to what I said about finding your new obsession but this one is specifically about small genres you may not have considered. I never read horror… because I’m a big baby and I’m not going to start reading it because I don’t wanna terrify myself. However, there are smaller, sub-genres that I love. Like thrillers or romantic suspense books. Another one I recently discovered that I love is historical fantasy. I never knew that that was a thing. I read a lot of fantasy…I don’t read historical but historical fantasy? Turns out I freaking LOVE it. And I never would have discovered this if I hadn’t stepped out of my reading comfort zone.

5. It Can Help You Get Out Of A Book Slump

Book slumps… they happen to the best of us. Usually after we’ve just read an absolutely incredible book and we don’t know what could possibly live up to it. For me, I love genre or trope changes. Read something completely and utterly different to what I usually do and it works so well for me. My most recent book slump came after I read The Crown of Gilded Bones by JLA and then I beta-read another epic fantasy book straight after, and then I was stuck for a month! Then I read a romantic suspense/thriller and I fell in love!! Turns out that’s now one of my go-to genres when I need to read something different. Stepping outside of your comfort zone works!

Books I’ve Discovered By Stepping Outside Of My Comfort Zone

What books have you tried that are outside of your comfort zone?

Follow K-Books on WordPress.com