Winter is Incredibly Distracting and Other Reading Thoughts

I seem to have hit a major reading slump lately when it comes to actually finishing new and upcoming Summer releases.

Part of the problem, I think, is just having too many expectations of what I want a book to be versus what a book ends up being most of the time. But most of my inability to focus stems from the fact that A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin comes out soon (July 12th!). And the more I think about it, the more I fail to care about anything that isn’t a book I’ve waited about six years to read. Which is sort of annoying. I was planning on holding off on reading this particular tome for awhile yet, but I’ve ended up preordering it instead.

I’m hopeful that I’ll like it and probably will read the first few chapters with my fingers crossed. I also don’t know if Jo Walton’s Spoiler-Free Review on Tor.com assuaged my fears completely or magnified some of them. Mostly because I loved A Feast for Crows and that seems to have been everyone else’s least favorite.

All the same, I expect that A Dance with Dragons will be priority one once I finally get a copy. And I am determined to make sure that reviewing it is the fartherest thing from my mind once I start. And that I stave off thoughts of woe about how long it will be until the next one comes out for a least a few months from now.

In the mean time, I’ve been thinking a bit about what I prefer to have happening in books and my reading habits just in general. Unlike genres of music, I really hate trying to narrow down my bookish interest or offer up a firm NO when it comes to any one type of book because you know never what you’ll end up missing out on. That said, like all readers, I can certainly rank and/or lump them into categories.

Automatic Picks:
I am much more likely to finish these sort of books than anything else.

Action-Oriented Fiction
Adventure-Oriented Fiction
Children’s Books
Classics
Fairy Tale Fiction
Fantasy
Male/Male Romance
Graphic Novels and Manga*
Historical Fiction
Humor/Satire
Noir-esque Private Investigators
Serial Killer Fiction

Perhaps, Perhaps Options:
When books in this section don’t work out, I’m not surprised but often disappointed. I end up feeling like I’m listening to an awesome inside joke but I just don’t know enough to laugh along with everyone else. When one of these books does work out, I am filled to the brim with glee.

Dystopian Fiction
Historical Romance
Horror
Paranormal Romance
Science Fiction
Superhero Fiction
Urban Fantasy
Young Adult Fiction

Rainy Day Fare:
Every once in a blue moon, these genres work for me. Because I visit these genres on such an infrequent basis, the results are usually awesome.

Anything Post-Modern
Contemporary Romance
Memoirs
Modern Fiction
Mystery
Non-Fiction
Reality-Based Fiction
Steampunk
Western

How would you divide up the genres, subgenres, and features of the books you prefer to read?

* Not really a genre so much as a format but still.