[ViaxobbimeVar]

Cheers!

You know, Ahmed, for me, I read a lot of crime fiction, history/biography, sports writing and random bits of literature. I used to read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi but am just lost when it comes to navigating my way through other genres, I'm lost. And I just don't go for series - like, one look at those Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books gives me shivers.

To tell you the truth, I'm picky about the stuff I know well, too. Like for crime fiction, I absolutely cannot stand cutesy detective novels. And I cannnot stand posturing macho-fake-Quentin-Tarantino-bullshit. Like Dennis Lahane and George Pelicanos? Unimpressed. James Lee Burke, on the other hand, Jim Crumley... I guess, for me what it is, is the prose. Many fans of genre fiction are willing to overlook mediocre prose if the genre is in a style they like. Not me. I like good reading, plain and simple. If that takes me to Trevanian, Cormac MacCarthy, those excellent Aubry-Maturin novels, whatever, that's where I go. I just love good writing - and, as a parting blow, I'd like to add that just because something is literary doesn't mean it's good - spare me the precious Iowa Writer's Workshop-type writing, I got no use for it.

I basically like virile Lit., adventure stories, history, sports stories or thrillers that are well-written. Why didn't I say that in my first sentence?