I"m going to copy a comment by a reader "Alice"
"This reminds me of a concept my daughter’s 5th grade teacher taught this year– Books as windows or mirrors (based on the work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop). Mirror books are ones we can see ourselves in, while window books give us a view into someone else’s life. Both are valuable! Mirror books can validate our feelings, beliefs, and who we are. Window books help us see different perspectives, open our eyes to new situations, and help us build empathy for others. There are different times that I gravitate to or need one of those types."
So I have a hard time thinking about what "genre"of book I relate to, but there were definitely phases I have gone through, and its fun to think of what these phases mirror in my life, though a bit hard to articulate, they are appropriate!
in my 20s... I read all of the Tony Hillerman mysteries, Amy Tan stories, any of the Jeeves stories by PG Wodehouse, and various collector adventures by Gerard Durrell, Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, and all the vampire books (a la Ann Rice)!
... in my 30s... Books about food and travel abound... everything by MFK Fisher, Brillat Savarin, Bill Bryson, Peter Mayle, Michael Pollan. Lovely stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Also the Game of Thrones series and Dirk Pitt stories by Clive Cussler.
Now in my 40s... I am also in the memoir style (fiction or non) by primarily women authors... those beautiful arching windows into the entire lives and histories... (Homegoing Yaa Gyasi , Educated Tara Westover, so many great comedian memoirs). Reflections on the natural world like The Canon (Natalie Angier), Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer). and a ton of YA fantasy/sci-fi books.
