The first actual grown-up novel I ever spent my own money on was purchased from a drug store. It was a kind of super-drug store that aspired to retail grocery chain-dom, but still, it was a drug store. The title that I purchased is irrelevant — actually, “embarrassing” is the word I’m looking for, here –  but suffice it to say that it was your average generic fantasy novel, tenth in a series, and my eleven year old brain thought it was pretty cool.

As time went on, I discovered book stores and their wider selections, helpful staff, and the distinctive smell that single-product retail locations seem to possess. (You know: shoe stores always smell like shoes, flower shops always smell like flowers, and book stores always smell like coffee shops.) Being a recent convert to tacky paperback novels, I spent as much time and allowance money as possible in the B. Dalton’s at the local mall.

The problem was that my family didn’t really hit the mall that often — just for back-to-school and Christmas shopping. I may not have been a voracious reader, but I went through books a little bit faster than that. The library helped somewhat, but again and again I found myself drawn back to the over-blown drug store across the street where I had bought my first adult (I mean, non-juvenile) novel.

It’s kind of become a pattern that’s defined my adult life. I’ve moved several times since the old days, and I’ve got a job and a car now — but I still don’t get down to the book store very often. If I’ve got something specific in mind, I’ll order it from Powells, but I still like to browse for books. (And by browse, I mean fondle. When it comes to nonthreatening inanimate objects, I look with my hands. ) I just don’t get to do it as often as I’d like.

The thing is, I’m at the grocery store at least once a week, because I need food to live. And, lucky me, they have books there! Specifically, they have a wide selection of thrillers, mystery, and romance novels. I’ll let you guess what  three book genres I am least likely to read.

It’s not that I don’t respect these genres: I don’t dislike them out of some overabundance of specious genre snobbery. I just don’t feel well-equipped to pick a good one out of all the choices I’m given. I haven’t done the work to develop the background knowledge required to make an informed decision. I mean, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to read about the saucy millionaire’s secret reluctant pregnant wife and/or mistress — but how should I know?

There may be hope for me, yet. I’ve noticed some few sci-fi and fantasy titles encroaching into the shrinking bookspace at the supermarket, lately. And the latest Oprah-approved trade paperbacks have established a strong beachhead right next to the magazines. That’s where I picked up copies of Middlesex and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. Also, that’s where I saw piles of copies of The Road, before the pocket paperback with the movie cover came along. (They were even selling The Road at Best Buy a while back, right when I was simultaneously  having an existential crisis and in need of a new hard drive, so that was lucky.)

But it’s selfish of me to hope that grocery stores will start carrying my favored genres, just so I can feed my body and my brain without having to drive all over town. So, I’m trying to expand my horizons a bit. I picked up Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 a few months back, and it effected me profoundly. First it made me paranoid and depressed, and then it made me want to go and liberate the Soviet Union — but in a good way!

So now I’m sniffing around the thriller and mystery genres, hoping to slowly get as comfortable with them as I am with science fiction and non-genre stuff. I’m even looking into that whole romance thing, though I’m trying desperately not to make the same easy joke about such books because I don’t want to write off a whole genre of books just to score a cheap laugh. Again.

Suggestions welcome, even though it’s not anyone’s job to do my homework for me; still, it’s an opportunity to advocate for a favorite book outside of Twitter, Facebook, or a million other forums and blogs designed for just that purpose in the first place.