This is not a post about banned books week. Although I do find the idea of banning books to be pretty abhorrent. No, it’s about reading on the edge of your comfort or interest zone and the surprises that can be found there.
I recently finished The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I picked it up because of a favorable staff review at my local bookstore. I don’t normally buy books this way. Usually if I’m not sure about an author I’ll go to the library first. Anyway, it turned out to be more of a fantasy meets gothic fairytale than I expected. (I don’t read adult fantasy books, though occasionally I dabble in the realm of fantasy YA.) I don’t know if I can say I liked it, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was certainly engaging and fun to read something so different from what I normally enjoy.
Read anything lately that took you out of your comfort zone? Was it something you’d recommend?
Ideas In Things 
leave my comfort zone of books? are you kidding. i couldn’t even get more than 30 pgs into Mrs. Dalloway (my last attempt to leave the aforementioned zone) before turning to Billy and saying – i seriously have no idea what is going on in this book! i think she is going to the store, but why has she been going to the store for 20 pgs?!?!
mind you i was even on a plane (a.k.a. one of the best places to try and read NEW things for me since i am sort of trapped). i decided to read the other book i had brought along instead… 850 pgs later i was sad it was over and there was no more to read.
any advice for breaking free would be much appreciated.
Hmm, 850 pages? Were you reading Twilight?
no a wally lamb book. a tiny step above twilight. that would be a book outside of my comfort zone… no twilight, harry potter, etc. though my aversion to harry potter is only due to the fact that i worked at the book store when one of them was released and i resent the overtime i had to put in