Sub-genres
Urban fiction is definitely one genre with which I have zero experience. But from the few patrons I've had ask about it, I can recognize one or two names. Deja King comes first to mind, who wrote the Bitch series which features a young ambitious woman willing to do whatever it takes to gain the power she wants and protect the family she loves. Another Urban fiction author I've heard of is K'wan, who exemplifies the social aspect of the genre: he began writing as a form of therapy, and now works as a motivational speaker, mentoring at-risk children. And finally, I have discovered Sister Souljah, whose novels about a young man named Midnight are among the most popular in the Urban Fiction genre. Also a hip-hop artist and activist, Sister Soujah uses her novels to engage with serious issues of poverty, race, and violence in American ghettos. In general, I've learned that this element of social commentary (or at least a gritty realistic portrayal of the urban lifestyle) is one of the most prominent hallmarks of the genre.
Within the subgenre "comic fantasy" stand three major authors whose names came up quick and often: Terry Pratchett (who wrote the Discworld series as well as Good Omens with Neil Gaiman), Douglas Adams (who wrote Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy) and Piers Anthony (who wrote the Xanth series). Writers in this genre are famous for their puns (the name Xanth apparently is a play on the author's name, Piers Anthony), and often include parodies of other famous fantasy works, which result in a plethora of "inside jokes" that form the basis of these books' appeal. But reading this genre is also an opportunity to enjoy the imagination of fantasy without the accompanying weight of serious content - I get the impression that they are almost the "beach reads" of the fantasy genre.
The final subgenre I chose to explore was Supernatural Romance, and J.R. Ward was an obvious choice to typify this genre - it seemed like every other book we have was written by her! The Black Dagger Brotherhood series was not only humongous (14 novels with #15 set to appear in 2017), but its storyline combines the intimate interactions of individual characters with the larger-than-life events they are caught up in. The world politics of vampires and vampire slayers reminded me of the war between vampires and werewolves in Twilight, and it seems like a mainstay of the supernatural romance genre. My second author, Nalini Singh, I recognized from our audiobook collection, where she has nearly an entire shelf to herself! Her Guild-hunter and Psy-Changeling series introduce original beings such as the archangels and the Psy, a contrast the more common vampire stories. A final familiar name from this genre is one I've mentioned before: Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her books are world-building romances, set in a universe which (like J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh) deals in supernatural politics as well as individual passion. This seems to be a trend among the titles I've looked at, and is perhaps one of the main draws of the subgenre.
Mash-Ups
My first mash-up is Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I came across this title both when I was looking up urban fiction and when I was researching supernatural romance! This genre-bending mystery takes place among the competing vampire street empires in an alternate-universe American city. While investigating a series of murders committed by vampires, Anita Blake, a vampire hunter, falls in love with master vampire Jean-Claude, and eventually helps him upseat the current master vampire of the city, making her new lover king of the streets. Urban fiction, supernatural romance, mystery...what genres doesn't this book dip into??
In a very different vein, more genre mash-ups can be found among the works of Vannetta Chapman, who wrote two Amish mystery series. Both series combine the very specific setting and daily life and customs of an Amish village with the plot and pacing of a whodunit. One series - the Shipshewana Amish Mysteries - even centers on a pair of quilt-makers, which hearkens to another, albeit slightly different, mystery sub-genre: the knitting mystery.
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