Blog survey for writers: 8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?

So, I guess I'm back from a year's hiatus. I didn't plan it, and I have no other excuse than I didn't feel like blogging. My last year of university was eventful, sometimes a little too much so, and my attention was everywhere else but this blog. But, I have graduated now, with a master's degree in theology. Maybe I will write a couple of blog posts about last year, to finally process what has happened, but this time I'm starting with something simple and totally inside my comfort zone.

So, continuing my old survey:

My favorite genre to write and read falls somewhere in the realm of speculative fiction. It's fantasy-esque, SF-esque, historical-esque, mystery-esque, and preferably more like an exploration of characters and relationships, often a little lighter on the plot side (not always) than a fast paced and action packed thriller. I enjoy freedom and room for interpretation with things like time and place, but am meticulous with characterization and interaction.

I guess I could just call it fantasy, but that would be misleading. Because I'm not necessarily into it for the things most often associated with the fantasy genre. Sure, I sometimes enjoy world building, but I prefer to let it a bit more (sometimes a lot more) loose than most fantasy does. And I love magic, but my attention is more in coming up with everyday uses of it, small and handy stuff, than epic world shaking spells. That being said, I do go against these preferences from time to time.

I guess my genre could be called something like "elaborate fairy tale". Haha. Since I don't know if there is an actual word for the subgenre I mostly write in. I would guess no, since I don't think I find books like mine sitting on every other corner. Or maybe I am always looking from the wrong places. I would like to read more stories from this narrow category... In that aspect I'm pretty simple. I like to read what I like to write.

Here's a picture from my most fantasy-loyal story, to describe what most of my stories are like. The character is the only clearly defined thing, and the focus of the story. Everything else is the background, symbolic, up for interpretation and even surrealistic.

If you have any books in mind that sound like this, would you please be kind enough to point me in their direction? Thank you!