My problem is that it's generally not the general reader who isn't willing to take the risks, it's the publishing industry trying to second-guess what they will or won't accept.

But then when they do take a risk -- Outlander, The Eyre Affair, even Harry Potter -- people gobble them up. You'd think they'd learn...

Random question:

Since we're all Buffistas, I'm making an assumption about our reading tastes that maybe I shouldn't. Most people here do read a fairly wide range of books, right?

I was working at the bookstore last night, and mentioned the musical theater history book I'm reading to my manager. She gave me a rather funny look and then said, "You read such different books! I've heard you recommend to customers titles on everything from early Christianity to the Time Travelers Wife, then science books, and now musical theater?"

Doesn't everybody do this?

Corwood, thanks for the correction (it's been a while) (and if anything, it's ma'am, not sir ... although a lot of people never get it straight).

Doesn't everybody do this?

Sadly, no. But like attracts like, which is why so many of us, are somehow drawn together. We're all curious sorts, I think and open to new experiences. So while many of us are no doubt broadly read, we're also constantly expanding each others' universes.

Personally, I'll read almost anything, up to and including the back of the cereal box.

My fiction tastes are pretty narrow--mysteries, fanfic, space opera--but my non-fiction tastes run the gamut of what has caught my fancy. I own books on architecture, Egyptian history, early Christianity, etc. I guess I skew towards history of people, places, and thought.

and if anything, it's ma'am, not sir ... although a lot of people never get it straight

D'oh! I didn't realize. Many apologies.

Personally, I'll read almost anything, up to and including the back of the cereal box.

My parents didn't let me bring a book to the table at breakfast, not even schoolwork, so cereal boxes were the only thing to read. I got really good at sounding out the various ingredients on the side of the box.

She gave me a rather funny look and then said, "You read such different books!

A *bookstore employee,* READING?!?

My god, what's next? Doctors, doctoring? Veterinarians, vetting? SINGERS, SINGING?!?!?

Kathy, I totally read the hell out of the cereal boxes. I used to read way more than I do now. I've been trying to get back into it, though, and I think my string of catching up on graphic novels has helped me get back into the reading thing, so now when I finish something, I'm itching to start something else immediately. If I wait too long, I won't get back to it, so I need to keep the momentum, always have something To Read Next, just like I do my TV shows.

Hee!

And the manager's a published author, too. I think she just sticks with her genre (rather dark fantasy), since I've rarely heard her give recs in other parts of the store, other than generic "this is what other people are reading" advice.