Reading an unfamiliar genre

In the post today I received my prize from youngwriters.co.uk after I won July's book review competition, having submitted a review of Undone by Cat Clarke. I wasn't aware of what book or even what genre I would be receiving so I was really looking forward to seeing what arrived. Upon opening the parcel I discovered a copy of The Cabinet of Curiosities by Paul Doswell, a novel that, up until that moment, I had not heard of.

According to the blurb, the novel follows the story of of a boy called Lukas who has been summoned to Prague (in the year 1598) and apprenticed to work for the reclusive Emperor Rudolph II. The emperor collects wonders from around the world which he keeps in four incredible rooms, his Cabinet of Curiosities. But not everyone appreciates his eccentricity, and when a group of diplomats arrive, sent by the King of Spain, Lukas senses danger. If he is to protect the great Bohemian city from tyranny, Lukas must quickly learn the true meaning of trust, honour and friendship.

So in case you hadn't guessed, the novel is of historical fiction - a genre I am very unfamiliar with as I am yet to recall ever picking up a book of the sort. This is due to the fact that the genre in no way interests me. I wish I could give you a valid reason for that but I can't, it's just not my cup of tea. However when I found this book in my parcel I was rather excited by the prospect of reading something that 1) I had never heard of and 2) was of a genre I had very much avoided.

I mean it's something different isn't it and the point I'm trying to make is that I think it's important for us to try something different now and again to shake things up a bit. Yes, okay, reading a book of a different genre is nothing exciting to most but if I find myself liking this novel then it could open up a whole new genre for me to enjoy and fall all too in love with. And if I dislike it then at least I can say I've tried something different.

There's just so many books of the same nature around nowadays that I think branching out of a reading genre that you're comfortable with such as fantasy, crime or even something like YA literature as a whole, is important. There's no point in avoiding something because you assume you won't like it without having even tried it. It's like my mother always says, don't knock it until you've tried it.