Welcome to Gaia! :: Okay, so what DO you like?

I'm particularly a fan of anything that makes my brain want to explode with its mind-f**k awesomeness. I still have yet to find the Eraserhead of novels, but I am actively seeking.

I also have a particular love for the existentialist absurd-world type.

Kafka tends to delightfully combine the two.

BUT if it's well written and doesn't employ any of my pet peeves (usually the two of which go together, IMHO) I'll probably enjoy it. I can learn more from style than content nowadays.

I like comedy that takes itself seriously, flights of fancy that are grounded in reality, and realistic fairy tales. I like stories that have a moral or message, but aren't preachy about it. I don't care what the characters are so long as they are interesting and believable. I've read a book that had me sympathizing with a sea monster. It's one of my favorites. I love stories that take a different view of old plot lines and characterizations or blur the line of what is right and wrong.

I loved a Clockwork Orange, Kino no Tabi , and just about anything written by Christopher Moore, Gregory Maquire, and Terry Pratchett. Anything with an interesting plot, evenly paced, and witty. I don't really care about specific genre though I don't really go for romance or mystery normally, but so long as it's well written and catchy I'll probably enjoy it. I also like the older classics and poems that tell a story as opposed to ones that are just for emotional release.

I actually like a lot of different things when it comes to books. Variety is the spice of life.

For genres, I mainly read fantasy, but I do enjoy historical fiction and science fiction sometimes.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it's sequel, Through The Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There are both favorites of mine.

I like nonsensical stuff like that, stuff that only makes sense if you're weird. Luckily I'm weird, so most of it makes sense to me.

I also like vampires and werewolves, zombies, and other creatures like that. I like the Twilight series, especially Eclipse. Blood and Chocolate was also a good novel. I tried reading The Silver Kiss once; Epic fail, trust me.

Authors like Tamora Pierce are also pretty cool. And also: Mort and Equal Rites in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Both are Epic wins. I also like Gregory Maguire's book Wicked, and Son of a Witch. However, I wasn't as much of a fan of SoaW as I was of Wicked; it had only half the Epicness to it.

Realistic fantasy is pretty cool, I guess. OH, and I also like superheroes that have to deal with real life stuff too. Characters who can't just use their superpowers to make things like bills and rent magically disappear. I betcha you've never seen Superman get evicted, eh?

Historical fiction, and things that give a taste of fantasy to real history, are both great. I'm trying to right some historical fiction right now, centered around the medieval witch hunting. It's fun, but with death and stuff.

. . .So, yeah, that's basically it. I mean, I can't think of anything else to write, so I've probably covered it all.

I like it when two guys can manage to be friends without turning gay for each other.
I like parodies and crack!fiction.
I like irony.
I srslylove Flannery O'Connor.
Especially "A Good Man is Hard to Find."
I also really liked "The Lottery," though I can never remember who it's by.
Mark Twain is dreamy.
Aldous Huxley, Dante, and Poe aren't bad either.
I like dystopic stories about imperfect societies.
I love stories that end depressingly. It makes me happy when everyone else is sad.
I like stories that are so scary that I'll go without sleep just so I can finish them and stop being freaked out.
I like stories that are about completely normal people (but are still some of the greatest works of literature ever).
I like reading a story, finishing it, and then axually overstanding what the story was about. That happens so rarely, because I am so dense.

I'm someone who prefers to say how shitty everything is without ever extolling the virtues of that which I love, so this thread is difficult for me (especially for me not to turn all my hates into a list of, "I love it when authors DON'T..." which okay I did a few times). Although I will say with all seriousness and no bitchiness intended that Kemeoth_Othyre and I's literary tastes are about as polar opposite as they could possibly be. We should get together over lunch or something.

Anything with odd similes/metaphors, humor, and well-written action. And swearing (don't ask; I have no idea why I like that). My current favorite is Jim Butcher's 'The Dresden Files' series, although usually I like teen fiction.

Irony is up in my lane too, especially if it has to do with seemingly straightforward prophesies.

And (don't hate me) books with female heroines. Not protagonist; actual female heroes. Preferably if they cross dress to meet their goals; it's really humorous when they come close to being discovered.