Genre Benders/ Top 5 Wednesday

Nov. 1: Genre Benders/ Top 5 Wednesday 

For this week's Top 5 Wednesday, we were to pick our top five books that defy genre or that are hard to place in a certain category. Some of the most genre bending books that I have read are magical realism books. Technically magical realism is a genre, but these books are really a mixture between contemporary/realistic books and fantasy.

Top 5 Wednesday is a group created by Lainey of Ginger Read Lainey on Booktube. It is now hosted by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes on Booktube. Here is a link to the group on Goodreads if you are interested in joining.

A few books that I want to read that fit in with genre bending are: 

~ Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore: This book came out this year and I have yet to pick it up yet. It's about a girl that has five different choices to make that will determine the course of her life. I have heard that each of these decisions is a separate genre. It's got a fast-paced spy thriller, a psychological horror story, a science fiction, and a fantasy decision. This is one of the books that I look forward to reading soon. I can't wait. 

~ The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry: I have this book and have been wanting to read it for quite awhile. It's been compared to Friday Night Lights and The Time Traveler's Wife (my favorite book of all time). The genre bending of this book sounds really cool. The main character is visited by an apparition that she calls "Grandmother" and is told that she has to save a young man. This is a time-traveling book set in our contemporary world. What I have heard of it makes me intrigued. I cannot wait to read this soon. 

My Top Five Genre Benders: 

5.) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: Told through a frame narrative, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, has many different tales told from many of his characters. We get a tale from the Miller, the Knight, the Friar, the Squire, the Wife of Bath, and many others. Each of their tales fit into many different categories and genres. The frame narrative fits into historical fiction based in the time of Chaucer. The various stories that are told could fit in the following genres: chivalric romance, myth, Breton Lais (set in the Brittany region of France, they were tales of magic, fairies, and folklore), beast fable (giving animals human characteristics), fabliau (humorous, bawdy tales that could be very disgusting), mock romance, and many others. For those that like historical fiction and short story collections this might be a great choice for you. The tales can be quite good but some of them are also disgusting and childish. What I really enjoy about the idea behind this book is that the stories all fit into the overall frame narrative and that it all deals with a competition to tell the best tale. 

4.) The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: This book seems to be realistic when you are first reading it, but then as the story goes on we see some fantastical elements. It's about a little boy who travels the universe after living on a little tiny planet with just a flower. I was not expecting what I read in this book but was impressed by it. The mixture of genres was interesting and one of the best parts of this. 

3.) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: Set in Sussex, England, where a middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. The house he used to live in is long gone, but he is more drawn to the farm at the end of the road. There he met a girl named, Lettie Hempstock, when he was seven years old. She lived in the house with her mother and grandmother. The man hasn't seen Lettie for decades, but he still sits there at the pond (the pond she said was an ocean). This is where he starts to remember a past that he has suppressed in his mind for a long time. As you read the novel you find out more and more about this boy, this family of women, and the weird occurrences that happened many years before. This is a chilling story that can be quite terrifying at times especially thinking about what this poor boy went through. The whole time reading though I wondered what had actually happened or if this was the imagination of a little boy. It is an example of Neil Gaiman's incredible magical realism writing. The genres blend to create a thrilling story that I believe is an amazing example of Gaiman's talent as a wordsmith. 

2.) My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows: Lady Jane Grey and the Tudor family in general has always interested me since I was around fifteen years old. I found King Henry VIII's story and his whole family to be one of my favorite parts of my tenth grade history class. Really, I have been wanting a book just like this one since then. So, when I heard about this historical fiction novel based on this part of history, I wanted to read it right away. This is part historical fiction, most of the characters are based off of real people and some of the events are similar. It also throws in fantastical elements that greatly add to the appeal of this novel. The humor is my favorite part of the novel and I really loved the blending of genres throughout it. I cannot wait to read the next of the "Lady Janies'" books: My Plain Jane which is about Jane Eyre and also the author Charlotte Bronte. It comes out next year and I'm thrilled to pick it up. 

1.) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: My favorite novel of all time focuses on the love story of Claire and Henry (who just happens to be a time traveler). Most of this book could be considered a contemporary/realistic fiction book. The major aspects focused on throughout the course of the novel are issues that we ourselves deal with on a daily basis. It focuses on how Henry and Claire deal with their normal lives through steady jobs, their good friends, having children of their own, and their relationship as a whole. Another obviously important part of this story is the fact that Henry can travel through time and how this affects their relationship. My favorite aspect though is the writing style where we see Henry and Claire throughout their entire lives in a non-linear format. This style is incredible and is what originally drew me in. Many would say that this is a science fiction novel, but I would not just say that. It is very much a contemporary with a portion dedicated to some science fiction. This is at its heart is a love story with a bonus of some time-travel.