Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Genres and Reading What We Want
I am in my early 30s. Fine...I'm in my LATE 30s and I read a ton of YA. Sometimes I get flack for it but you know what? I don't care. At all. As a matter of fact, I think that if more people gave it a chance, they'd enjoy it. There no age limit to a well written story. I don't care if the characters are 12 or 18 or 38 or 68. I just care that I like them and that I am interested in what happens to them.
I think that it is a shame that we have reading "guilty pleasures"...sounds like we SHOULDN'T like something. Whether you enjoy Christian fiction or go to the opposite end of the spectrum and erotica does it for you, does it really matter what you read or does it matter that you ARE reading?
I wish more of us cared less what other people thought of our reading choices, and spent that time finding really great books to read instead.
Talk back to me. Do you ever get grief for the type of books you read? That you DON'T read?
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Amen sister! Free range reading. Read whatever you want, whenever you want. Enjoyment should be the #1 factor.
ReplyDeleteI love your free range reading tag line. I just worry about what people think too dang much. I feel bad for not reading books I "should" read as much as worrying about books I "shouldn't" read. One day I'll get over it!
Delete100% agree! Books is about enjoying yourself, so it doesn't matter what you read. I don't give a damn about what other people think. I read whatever I want to read :D
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
I hope you are enjoying your vacation Mel! I wish I had your attitude about not caring but I do...too much. Getting better about it though. Working on it for sure!
DeleteI was just talking about this with a friend. She gets a lot of flak from her family for reading YA books. They want her to read classics. I get grief every now and again from one friend about romance novels. I just tell him to shove off. Read what you want.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We really should read what we want and not worry about what everyone else thinks. I'm working on it!
DeleteI used to worry more especially about reading YA at my age. No longer, I don't care! I'm shouting my love of it from the rooftops! I just read what I want to read and roll my eyes at the doubters, they don't know what they are missing.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting there, Trish. I really am. Glad that I wrote this post and got the responses I did. Makes me feel like I am not alone!
DeleteI read a lot of thrillers, the murderous gory variety. I used to get a lot of strange looks when I had to explain to people that I don't read romances and that I prefer murder in my books. I've gotten over it through the yeas, but I still sometimes feel as if I "should be" reading more women's literature than I do (not really my cup of tea)... I've read a limited amount of YA books ... Although I find myself intrigued by a lot of the newer YA book descriptions, it's still something that I have a slight stigma about purchasing, I am in my late 20s and feel strange going into the YA section at a bookstore. I know this is ridiculous, but it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of your favorite thrillers? It used to be one of my favorite genres but then I started in on YAs and haven't really gotten back to it. I understand about the romances. I just don't enjoy them usually. Not much story and almost always the same. I get most of my books from the library and the librarians think it is awesome that I'm so knowledgeable about YA. And to ease your mind...I'm closer to 40 than I am to 30 and I love YA.
DeleteWell said! I am 31 and the majority of what I read is YA. I have absolutely no problem telling people that, or reading a YA book in public with nothing covering up the cover and title. I have no problem going to the library and searching through the YA shelves and checking out the YA books in full view of others who give me odd looks. It is funny to me that the adults are the ones who look at me funny and like I am doing something wrong, but the actual young adults smile and talk to me about their fave stories and my fave stories and have zero problem with my age. They think it is awesome! I will be 60 and still reading YA and going to the library for YA, and still not be embarrassed or ashamed, because there IS NO REASON for it!
ReplyDeleteBecause I'm constantly reading reviews and seeing upcoming releases, I actually know just as much as the YA staff person at my library branch. She has asked me what the reviews are for several books she is considering adding to the collection. I think that it is probably my favorite genre!
DeleteI used to pick up and try to read books that I'd heard great things about. Book like The Time Traveler's Wife and The Stone Diaries. I never did manage to finish them, so I stopped reading altogether. Then I read The Hunger Games and discovered my problem - I was reading the wrong genre! Now that I've discovered Young Adult and New Adult, there isn't a book that I've quit reading mid-way through. Very happy to have found these genres!
ReplyDeleteEspecially since I started reviewing the books I read, I've learned what I like and what I don't like. I try to read outside my usual genres so that I can learn new things but mostly stay in those that I enjoy...like you said. No need to read things I don't like when there are so many things that I do. ;-)
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