Genre Study

I feel like placing books into genres is helpful and hurtful. Putting a book into a genre is going to get people who like that one genre to notice it and maybe read it, but people who don't like or don't often read that type of book might completely pass it up even if they might have enjoyed it. When you put a label on a book, you're just putting it in one category, even if you could possibly fit into more than one. You are squeezing it to fit into just one category, when most books don't even completely fit into one category. But putting books into genres does help people who liked one book find other books that are like it.
My favorite genre to read is mystery or thriller, because they leave you on the edge of your seat and keep you reading. You feel like you have to keep reading just to know what happens in the book. If a book isn't thrilling enough to give me that feeling that I have to keep turning the page, then I'm really likely to just put it down one day and never pick it up again. I lose interest in books really fast if they're not thrilling enough, so my favorite genre is definitely mystery or thriller.
Over the years, I have definitely changed in my reading taste. A few years ago, I was one to read all of the romantic "chick-flick" like books, but I started to grow away from that. Sure, I'll still read one every now and then, and I get more interested in a book if it's got a love to cheer for or that can be related to, but I'm not one to go looking for one now.