Book Junkies discussion

WELL, I messaged Abhishek, but it seems he is not a Goodreads junkie like the rest of us and hasn't responded. Which also means he hasn't chosen a theme for October.

Sadly, the theme seems to be a month off. Witches would have been perfect for October, no? Oh well. That's why I'll be picking the theme. I chose Young Adult, because, hey, why not? It is a rather broad genre, so we'll probably bring this theme back a few times in the future.

ANYWHO: If you have any YA nominations for our October Themed BotM, go right ahead and post a comment!:)

ok so how about James Patterson's Witch and Wizard Since it did not make it for Sept? This is his YA series. Orrrr there is Christopher Pikes Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Dice, and Red Dice series. Its more like a volume, with those 3 books in it, And there is also 2, 3, & 4.

The Knife of Never Letting Go. It was simply amazing and would provide a plethora of discussion topics.

Artichokes Heart would show the cruelty of peers and what young adults face that older people don't notice. plenty of opportunity for discussion here.

I nominate Beautiful Creatures

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!!

by Jessica Sorensen
by Jessica Sorensen

Alicia wrote: " by Jessica Sorensen
by Jessica Sorensen"

I just downloaded The Fallen Star from Amazon yesterday!! That'd be a good one to read then. For me, at least.

How about Evermore by Alyson Noel?

I'm going to go with the theme and with something seasonal for my first pick:
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury.
The Halloween Tree

And one more suggestion:
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
The Devil's Arithmetic

I recommend Rebecca Royce's Warrior series. I suppose we should start at the first with Initiation. I should warn you, they are highly addictive.

- Im looking for a good excuse to read this one. ;)

And - its a great series, the first was published year 1987, and the last book will be released next year.

Hud-c wrote: " - Im looking for a good excuse to read this one. ;)

And - its a great series, the first was published year 1987, and the last book will be r..."

Flowers in the Attic is on my TBR pile:D

by

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

Faize wrote: "Flowers in the Attic is on my TBR pile:D "

I just added it today although I've seen it months ago and been wanting to read it. But some secret forces of the universe had stopped me from doing so. So if it wins the poll, then, hurray - will definitely read it.

Illumine

By Alivia Anders

Looks great :-)

Evermore. It's been in my tbr pile for some time.

Shadow and Bone!! Getting it in about 2 weeks.

By John Green and David Levithan

Flowers In The Attic is one of the few of the V. C. Andrews books actually written by V. C. Andrews. But I've never really thought of this book as YA.

How about . It's the first in a series and it's slightly Halloween ish. October is a good month to do YA for a theme because their are so many good books that fit for Halloween and YA. It is so hard to choose (and this one was the first i thought of).

II'm newer to the group so you may have already had this title for the BOM Young Adult category, but it is a real personal favorite of mine.

I loved The Gaia Wars By Kenneth Bennett

David wrote: "Flowers In The Attic is one of the few of the V. C. Andrews books actually written by V. C. Andrews. But I've never really thought of this book as YA."

YA fiction has broad definition. It can refer to the target market or the theme the book focuses on - a child, juvenile problems, etc. If we used the second definition, then the book falls in YA category.

Maybe a mod can help us clarify things. :)

Flowers in the Attic is not really YA fiction but saying that - when it came out, the only people I have ever seen reading it were young adults. I can never remember any adults reading the series. It was one of those books that was passed around at high school because of situation and the strong sexual situation. The sequels were interesting as well.

Keith wrote: "Flowers in the Attic is not really YA fiction but saying that - when it came out, the only people I have ever seen reading it were young adults. I can never remember any adults reading the series...."

I see. I get your point. So how do we draw the line which is a YA book or which is not?

To be honest, I think the line is too thin to really distinguish as alot of the YA fiction deals with very mature themes such as The Hunger Games, Unwind and even the underlying saving yourself for marriage that is displayed throughout most of the Twilight series.

Flowers in the Attic was racy when it came out but I have re-read it a year ago. I remember loving the series when they first came out because of its shocking content. To be honest, it is pretty tame for today's standards. If it was a film it would be R (18) when it came out and probably a PG now (15).

I would like to say that it depends on the sensibilities of the reader. The Hunger Games is coming under alot of fire because of some its themes and I am sure if Unwind makes it to film, that its themes would probably start offending parents as well.

So, keeping this all in mind, I think if the majority agree than Flowers could be considered YA fiction because there is no swearing, sexual situations are not over described (Twilight series were more descriptive) and it deals with children in a dire circumstance trying to overcome the odds, then it should be included in YA fiction. As a book, Flowers in the Attic, I think fits this market.

The rest of the series, probably not as sexual content becomes more explicit.

Keith wrote: "To be honest, I think the line is too thin to really distinguish as alot of the YA fiction deals with very mature themes such as The Hunger Games, Unwind and even the underlying saving yourself for..."

I can agree with that Keith. I guess when that came out there really was not a YA theme as we know it today. I too read it within the last year and it seemed much different to me than when I read it the first time.

Lotsa great suggestions!! And most of them are already on my TBR pile. Gonna be so hard to choose!!

At the time Flowers In The Attic came out, there were definitely books marketed to Young Adults, even if the category wasn't called that at the time. And maybe it was called that, but it just wasn't on the adult radar screen yet. I'm pretty sure Flowers In The Attic was marketed to adults.

I think the major difference today, since the coming of Harry Potter, so many adults are willing to read YA fiction. Before Harry Potter, you just didn't see adults reading, or even being aware of, a series like the Hunger Games.

So, I think there's a valid argument to say Flowers is not YA.

That said, I've always been a firm believer that genre is all about marketing and what shelf to put the book on. So, if everyone here wants to move Flowers In The Attic to a different shelf, I'm cool with that.

I just downloaded Smokeless Fire by Samantha Young for free on Amazon. It looks interesting.

I picked the one that I already own but I thought there were so many great nominations! I added quite a few to my to read list!

Can I nominate my own? It's a YA Paranormal Romance. I would be honored if you considered it :)



Faded

Firelight?
Delirium?
Scorpio Races?
Divergent?
The Brotherband?
The Ruins of Gorlan?
etc.

I liked the Evermore series alot but around the 4th one it gets a little boring(just my opinion)

Martha wrote: " is one I recommend.
There are no sexual descriptions.
Its brilliant."

I really want to read that!=)