Never Apologize!

September 21, 2010

The first law of reading: "Never apologize for your reading tastes."  Betty Rosenberg

Betty Rosenberg was a teacher at UCLA's Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and is best known for her guide to genre fiction, Genreflecting, that was first published in 1982. She was a voracious reader and she read omnivorously. Alumni Sue Kamm remembers Betty's books, which ranged from sexually explicit material to mysteries, to examples of fine printing. Rosenberg's reading interest class was intended to introduce students to genre fiction that they might not otherwise read, i.e., westerns, romance, fantasy, sci-fi fantasy, and mysteries.

Just as the Dewey decimal system classifies non-fiction, fiction has traditionally been classified by genre. And like non-fiction, the list keeps expanding and morphing into new categories. Each genre has its own characteristics and sub-types.

Each week or so, I plan to discuss a specific genre. My hope is that we will "let our imaginations soar", and explore the genres we normally don't read.

How about you?  What kind of books do you NOT read?

Beverly D.
Riverside Branch