What do you mean by “keeping it real”? Does this come back to ethics or are we talking about relating to our audience? Like I said when I ranted a little about authors and ethics, I try to be transparent and talk about what works for me and what doesn’t. I want people to read my blog and get my honest opinion. Sure, I get ARCs and sometimes it feels like the publisher stops sending me books because of a bad review but I think that is just my imagination. The publicists I’ve talked to that work in the book industry have told me that they don’t have a problem with bad reviews, it is about getting exposure to the book and they know that some people won’t like it but at least the book is getting talked about. Now if you are talking about writing material that will keep readers coming back for more then I’m probably not the right person to ask. I like to review all my books and write bookish posts on topics I’ve been thinking about, I love comments but I’m not too worried if I don’t get any. I’ve said this before, this is just a way for me to express my passion for books and if I get readers, that is just a bonus.
So now let’s move on to Children’s/Young Adult Literature; genres that I often struggle with. First of all, children’s books like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Little Prince are wonderful philosophical novels but I don’t know how to write a decent review for them. Then you get great picture books like I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen which I love and want on my bookshelf but when it comes to the book blogging world, I don’t know how to approach them in a blog. I have a love/hate relationship with Young Adult books, I want to enjoy them and for some I have but I really want more from most of them. I’m really getting sick of all the dystopian and paranormal YA novels but people love them and good for them, I’m just personally over them. I know erotica is the new big thing but I think YA (and maybe even NA) will remain big sellers in the book world.
ArmchairBEA is a virtual convention for book blogger who can’t attend Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention. Banner by Nina of Nina Reads and button by Sarah of Puss Reboots
I know this love hate relationship with YA well. For every great YA book there is, there’s a dozen paranormal YA books that I find boring and derivative. But I’m glad YA as a genre is growing, it’s a nice stepping stone for people who don’t read much or haven’t worked out what they like.
I just don’t understand why people don’t take the next step into adult fiction
I think that most people eventually do, especially now that NA has opened up as a genre, but I guess there’s a safety in it as a genre that you don’t necessarily get in adult fic.
I don’t want safety, I want to be shocked
I loved I Want My Hat Back, my sister sent it to me for my son when he turned 1 last year. I do review picture books on my blog but they aren’t great reviews – how do you review a picture book?! I’ve no idea – but I still want to share them around. Picture books definitely deserve a bit more air time!
I’m not able to read lots of YA either. I buy them when they interest me (and sometimes the pretty covers have way too much influence!), but I’m often disappointed by them. I wouldn’t mind all the dystopian books if only they actually WERE dystopian! I hate it when people mis-label, and then suddenly the term “dystopia” comes to mean something entirely different than it used to just because people aren’t taking the time to really understand it (instead, they fit the label to to the books, thus distorting the sub-genre). shrug. It’s a pet peeve.
mislabeling books as dystopian novels is so annoying; a little bit of tyranny is not a dystopian society
Nor is an apocalyptic world just because it’s apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic! That one really bugs me.
Yes, that too
See.. I wasnt a big fan of Alice in Wonderland. Loved the Little Prince though! 🙂
What didn’t you like about Alice’s adventures in Wonderland?
I’m not entirely sure. The writing and creativity was superb, but I was just bored by it in general I think.
Ugh, I am so over all of the dystopia and paranormal books. I deliberately avoid them.
Every now and then I find one that sounds interesting but often I’m disappointed