Manga, Manga, Manga.....and Graphic Novels Too!

I have been reading manga and graphic novels for quite a while now. And most of the choices on the reading list for reader's advisory were very different from the type that I normally read. The only one on the list that I would have picked up myself was Cardcaptor Sakura, a series that I have been considering collecting. I enjoyed the anime when it was on television, and the first volume of the manga seemed like it would be just as good. 


As for the other three, well, they weren't really my type. I have tried to read Treasure Island before, and I didn't enjoy it either time, even with pictures included this time. I didn't really enjoy the artistic styles of Treasure Island, Smile or American Born Chinese. Which is a big reason for reading a graphic novel in the first place. That's not always the case, since some of the series that I read get different artists for different volumes, such as Sandman or Lucifer. But in those cases, the textual material is so fascinating that it compensates for graphics that I don't find as appealing.


With Cardcaptor Sakura, I enjoy that classic manga style, and I have a lot of series that are drawn like that. What I like about it is how it's not a 'realistic' style, like Treasure Island was. Nor was it a little too cartoony, like Smile and American Born Chinese. 


I did however like the story of Smile, especially the fact that it was the author telling her own true story through the medium of a graphic novel. I thought that was just brilliant, and I loved it for that fact. But I wouldn't have looked at it based on the visual elements, because it would not have appealed to me. 


For me, I very much judge a book by its cover, especially when it's a graphic novel or manga. I read them half for the story and half for the visual appeal, so if it doesn't catch my eye and intrigue me, or make me want to spend hours just looking at the art, then chances are I won't read it.


Does that make me a manga snob? I'm not sure, and it's hard to explain, but there it is. And I'm okay with that. 

Oh Genre, My Genre!

When I was a child, a very young one, I didn't really think about genre all that much. I simply read what interested me. The older I got however, the more I began to lean towards the fantasy genre, with a bit of sci-fi and light horror/supernatural.


I think what I liked about those types of stories was that they transported me to a different world. Whether that was a literally different world, like for fantasy, or if it was a different time and setting on Earth, it didn't really matter to me. I loved following the characters through their journeys, journeys that I could never have except for within the pages of those books. I also loved the use of magic in the fantasy genre. To me, fantasy realms just seemed so much more exciting than the real world.


I still love fantasy; it's my favourite genre. It's definitely my preferred reading as well as my preferred writing realm. Probably for the same reason: I get to immerse myself in another world for a time, and when I'm writing it's exciting to get to create my own world and all of its back story.


But as I've grown older I have definitely expanded my reading to include most genres. I have never been a big fan of mysteries, and I'm still not, but every once in awhile I'll find a good author or series that I enjoy. The only really horror/supernatural ones I read are Christopher Pike's and the occasional other series involving angels and demons. Sci-fi catches my eye slightly more often, but nine times out of ten when I'm going to make a reading choice, it's going to be fantasy.