I love all the reading challenges going around, but for me, if I want to make it till the end of the year reading a book a week, those books have to be crime fiction, thrillers, mysteries, and mysteries.
I will be reading other stuff, but every time I read a literary novel, I need time to digest it, or even read it as slow as possible.
If you are like me, and want to be able to do reading challenge, here's the list I will follow this year. I mean in the next six months. Let's face it, we need some re-evaluation halfway through, see what is working, what's not, what we missed, what we want. This list is for 6 months, or if you want to take it slower, read a book every two weeks and be done with it. Because it's already one week in, there are 25 books, not 26, it's my favorite number anyway.
I would love to hear recommendations, you can send me messages on my Facebook page, Instagram and here of course!
For writers there's something great about reading thrillers. While literature can get away with meandering, following its own path, the fastest way to grip the reader, is to follow a known narrative structure. Reading these books teaches you pace, structure, endings, dialogue, cliches and editing. Meanwhile it doesn't fill your head too much, it won't touch your own style, influence your use of language, etc.
Of course there are thrillers that push boundaries, and some of my favorite writers do, but still there's a familiarity that makes reading a thriller almost like meditation, the mind is still and very active at the same time, but it is not burdened, it stay light, energized.