Are We Reading Bizarro? (Part 1)

In recent weeks, in the writer/reader circles that I tend to run in on social media platforms, I've witnessed a call to action to return Bizarro Fiction to the prominence (its "relative" prominence) it once enjoyed. Now, there can be no doubt the genre has been experiencing a decline both in readership and in new material released under the genre label.

Are you reading weird?

But I've read several blog posts, status updates and I have even done a podcast interview on the discussion of what can be done to bring attention back to Bizarro Fiction. In the face of a genre in recession, people are starting to take a positive, pro-active approach and bring Bizarro back from the proverbial dead.

All the "Rah! Rah!" is great. It really is. It needs to continue. But, bottom line, until people start picking up Bizarro books, reading them and talking about them, things simple won't change. Which brings me to what I want to accomplish here.

I've been monitoring for a few weeks now, my Goodreads feeds with an eye on one metric in particular. How many people are reporting that they are reading a Bizarro (or Bizarro "adjacent") title? The fact of the matter is that I'm simply not seeing all the "Rah! Rah!" translating into people picking up Bizarro books.

That is, until today, March 18th, 2020. Today I can report to you that in the past 24 hours I have seen reading activity on three Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent titles. Of course, that is by my definition and parameters. I would say there is one, unquestionable Bizarro title and two adjacent titles of the three.

So, is it progress or happenstance? That's why I'm starting this little blog series. It's all just an idea. I'd like to try to report at least once a week if not more. We'll see how this goes. Let's keep in mind this is pretty anecdotal. I am basing this off my own Goodreads feeds and my own definitions of what constitutes a Bizarro or Bizarro adjacent title.

If you're reading Bizarro or adjacent, please, let me know in the comments. Let me know if you're planning on reading something Bizarro soon. Or maybe you're considering a Bizarro title, let me know about that too!

Happy Ready!