Going Past The Boundaries Of Genres

So many times, people will ask me "what kind of music do you listen to?" or perhaps "what kinds of books are your favorite?" And every time I get asked these questions, I find it very difficult to answer them.
You see, I am one of those people that just likes what I like; there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it at all. In terms of music, I can quite literally be listening to a rock song with heavy metal elements in it one minute, and listening to a relatively quiet and melodic tune the next. I am also this way with books and films. For me, what makes a good book or movie all depends on the interest and complexity of the plot, how the characters interact with each other (and how well the actors do in the case of a movie), and many, many other factors come into play as well.
The bottom line is that the genre of a song, book or movie is not what makes me like it or dislike it. It has to not only hold my interest, but has to make me feel something as well. So, I guess if this short little blog post has any purpose, it's this: don't let the genre of something hold you back from having a new experience. Maybe you purposely have not given a new band a listen to because they are of a certain genre that you typically hate. Or maybe that new book you got for a birthday gift is sitting on your bookshelf right now, collecting dust because you think you hate science fiction books. But why not give something new a try, and put its genre aside? Maybe you'll hate it, but you'll never know until you try! I know that some of the best music I've listened to, books I've read and movies I've seen have come out of me simply being adventurous with wandering outside the lines of the genre's that I thought I liked best.