Between The Pages discussion

Hey everyone! I'm Zitong and I'm one of the moderators of the Between the Pages bookclub. This is just a place for new members to introduce themselves and maybe list a few of your favourite books :) Between the Pages will be reading a YA book each month from any genre with the discussion post being posted on the last day of that month. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to list them below, just remember that will we only be reading YA books(of any genre). Please also follow the rules that have been set out and until next time. Happy reading everyone!

Edit: Here's my introduction of myself I suppose.

I mainly read fantasy, though I do try and read other genres as well. Many of my favourite epic fantasy series are outside of YA, since lots of epic fantasy isn't YA, but here are a few pics(not in order)

- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
- Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
- Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
- Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien
- A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin

Now here are some of my favourite YA books and series, since this is what this bookclub is all about(in no particular order).

- The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black
- Legend trilogy by Marie Lu
- Most of the Cassandra Clare books
- Simon vs the Homo-sapienn's Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan(this is more middle-grade, rather than YA, but it's still awesome).
- Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman.

Other than reading, I also like to play piano and consider myself a history buff. And I suppose that's it.

Hi guys! I'm Sylvs and I am the creator of Between The Pages and a moderator. I used to be the previous discussion leader but due to assignments and stuff, I handed it over to Zitong who is running it for this year. (Btw, I think he's doing amazingly well!). My favourite books have got to be (in no particular order):

-The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
-Simon vs the Homosapien's Agenda by Becky Albertalli
-Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
-Warcross by Marie Lu
-The Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
-Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
-My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton

*I also love Cassandra Clare's books but I don't necessarily have a favourite book or series*

Yay, thanks Sylvs! Assignments suck, and I'll be in your spot in just a few years and I'm not looking forward to it. I hope that you are able to catch up on at least some reading over the holidays! Also thanks for the advice as well!

I totally forgot to put my introduction for myself, so the comment above should hopefully be updated soon.

Zitong wrote: "Yay, thanks Sylvs! Assignments suck, and I'll be in your spot in just a few years and I'm not looking forward to it. I hope that you are able to catch up on at least some reading over the holidays!..."

Yikes. Have fun when you're in the same boat as me. I have a huge TBR I'm hoping to get through these holidays but I still have homework to do nevertheless :(

Sylvs (NOVELty) wrote: "Zitong wrote: "Yay, thanks Sylvs! Assignments suck, and I'll be in your spot in just a few years and I'm not looking forward to it. I hope that you are able to catch up on at least some reading ove..."

Eww, that sucks :(

Zitong wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty) wrote: "Zitong wrote: "Yay, thanks Sylvs! Assignments suck, and I'll be in your spot in just a few years and I'm not looking forward to it. I hope that you are able to catch up on a..."

I know but that's life I guess :(

Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History, so it's nice to break up the nonfiction with a little fantastical stuff. Some favorite books/series:
-A Song of Ice and Fire
-Mistborn trilogy, era one
-Andromeda Strain
-Silence of the Lambs
-the Dexter Series
-Friends Divided
-Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution

Brittany wrote: "Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History, so it's nice to break up the nonfiction with a ..."

Hi Brittany! Another fantasy fan, yay! I like really have not read much romance yet and probably won’t :)

Zitong wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History, so it's nice to break up the n..."

It's not a genre that appeals to me by description. I'm reading an ARC right now that would technically be considered a romance, I think. It reads like a 90's Sandra Bullock rom-com. High on the family hijinks, low on the "intimate" stuff. More up my alley, even if not a go-to. :-P

~Ashley~ wrote: "Hi, I'm Ashley :) I read almost anything ya and don't have a favorite genre. Currently my favorite books are (in no particular order):
- Only Ashes Remain
- More Than We Can Tell
- The False Prince..."

Love the book favourites! *whispers: especially Warcross ;)*

~Ashley~ wrote: "Thanks :) It's such a good book!"

I know! I love every character, Emika, Hideo, Zero... all of them absolutely amazing!! <3

~Ashley~ wrote: "Hi, I'm Ashley :) I read almost anything ya and don't have a favorite genre. Currently my favorite books are (in no particular order):
- Only Ashes Remain
- More Than We Can Tell
- The False Prince..."

Hi Ashley and welcome! The Lunar Chronicles are awesome :)

First of all, I'll go ahead and say that you've been doing a great job. I've also been lurking, I've just been unable to participate in a lot of the readings due to inability to access the books.

I'm not really picky when it comes to books, I'll pretty much read anything. But my favourite genres are sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary and YA.

Some of my favourite books and authors are:

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
- Scott Westerfield's books
- A lot of Cassandra Clare's books
- Folk of the Air by Holly Black
- Simon vs the Homo-sapiens' Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- Rick Riordan's books
- Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman.
- Taran Matharu's books
- Lynette Noni's books
- Melina Marchetta's books
- Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
- Garth Nix's books
- Ghost Town series by Michael Pryor
- Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell

Other than reading, I also play clarinet, am interested in tech and am a generalist when it comes to knowledge

Brittany wrote: "Zitong wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History, so it's nice to..."

I've always been interested in how to get ARCs. How do you sign up to get them?

Bookwithbane wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Zitong wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History..."

I won them in GoodReads giveaways! I enter them when I'm bored at work, and I sign up for a LOT of them. I've won about 12 or so. I had also signed up for Voracious Readers Only, but they're all ebooks, and I just have no motivation whatsoever to read ebooks. It's not a format of reading that I enjoy.

Bookwithbane wrote: "First of all, I'll go ahead and say that you've been doing a great job. I've also been lurking, I've just been unable to participate in a lot of the readings due to inability to access the books.

..."

There’s a lot of my favourites too on that list! So many awesome books!

Bookwithbane wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Zitong wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Hi! I'm Brittany. I love sci-fi and fantasy, but I enjoy almost everything except romance. :-P My own book club is nonfiction early American History..."

I signed up to NetGalley. You can get a few from there too. Other than that, some authors reached out to me themselves :)

Bookwithbane wrote: "First of all, I'll go ahead and say that you've been doing a great job. I've also been lurking, I've just been unable to participate in a lot of the readings due to inability to access the books.

..."

So many good one's there!!

Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "Bookwithbane wrote: "First of all, I'll go ahead and say that you've been doing a great job. I've also been lurking, I've just been unable to participate in a lot of the readings due to inability t..."
Holy crap Sylvia! The last time I hopped on Goodreads, this group had ten members 💀... Great job to you and Zitong!!! I just picked up a few books for the first time in ages haha. Do you still use IAD?

Bookwithbane wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "Bookwithbane wrote: "First of all, I'll go ahead and say that you've been doing a great job. I've also been lurking, I've just been unable to participate in a lot of t..."

Haha thank you! And it's great you are reading again! I'm still on IAD but they are taking a break so the site is down at the moment :(

Hey guys! Long time no see ;)
I'm Jess. I read mostly YA fiction and manga, but recently have been pushing myself further out of my comfort zone to read more adult-fiction. Since studying at Uni I think my reading has been less than frequent, however my goal this year is to read 60 books (although more would be welcome!)
Recently I've been diving into the world of Japanese books. I read my first ever book in Japanese last year, and I want to continue on that track. Sometimes it can take me such a long time to read one that I may as well have attempted one of those 1000+ paged fantasy novels. Yikes!

Some of my fav Young Adult books:
- Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green
- Carousel duology by Brendan Ritchie
- The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
- The Gallagher GIrls series by Ally Carter
- Geek Girl series by Holly Smale
- Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
- Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
- A Bad Boy Stole My Bra by Lauren Price
- Body Swap by Sylvia McNicoll
- Neverland by Margot McGovern
- Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance by Danielle Younge-Ullman

Jessica wrote: "Hey guys! Long time no see ;)
I'm Jess. I read mostly YA fiction and manga, but recently have been pushing myself further out of my comfort zone to read more adult-fiction. Since studying at Uni I ..."

Hi Jessica, welcome!
I'm one of those people that loves those 1000 paged fantasy novels but reading books in Japanese sounds so cool! I actually don't think I've read any of your favourites, which is probably not great of me, but they sound really good!

Ooh nice! I love manga too (and YA obviously). My faves have to be the Given series by Natsuki Kizu (the anime is *chefs kiss*), Your Name and Blue Flag. I wish I could read in Japanese, Japan is a beautiful country and its language equally just. I think it's really cool that you're getting out of your comfort zone by reading a book in another language. I also enjoyed some of the books you put down in your fave YA books like Neverland by Margot McGovern but a lot of the others are definitely on my TBR :)

Zitong wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Hey guys! Long time no see ;)
I'm Jess. I read mostly YA fiction and manga, but recently have been pushing myself further out of my comfort zone to read more adult-fiction. Since st..."

Thank you! ^^
Oh my gosh - one of the 1000 page people?! What a feat! I wish I had that kind of patience ahahaha.
Definitely most of the books on that list are a bit random, and I tend to go for the contemporary fiction side of things so that makes sense. But, I definitely want to read more fantasy, so hopefully this year I can also pick up some of the ones on my shelf. :))

Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "Ooh nice! I love manga too (and YA obviously). My faves have to be the Given series by Natsuki Kizu (the anime is *chefs kiss*), Your Name and Blue Flag. I wish I could read in Japanese, Japan is a..."

Ayyyy nice! Given is so cute! I never read the manga for it, but the anime was a great time. We need more Shounen-ai/Yaoi anime!
Yes! Neverland was amazing!! (Also what is with me abusing exclamation marks all up in here?)
From your list I definitely have to get to the Heartstopper series - I feel like you’re its #1 fan, ahaha. But gosh, it looks so cute and honestly I don’t know if I’m ready for it.

You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it shows off healthy relationships instead of insta-love or infatuation. I cannot recommend it enough! Another one is Given and I think I talked everyone's ear off about that one. The anime is amazing and I must get around to watching the movie (hopefully I can watch it on Crunchyroll in February!). Even the EP is amazing and not to mention the book! I really do ship Mafuyu and Uenoyama with my heart and soul and really do hope Haruki gets his happy ending with Akihiko <3

Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it shows off healthy relationships instead of in..."

bruh i logged in just because yall are talking about given and heartstopper <3
also has anyone watched the promised neverland? i just finished season one, season 2 coming out in 3 days time 🔥

alisa wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it shows off healt..."

Yesss! Love The Promised Neverland. But I can't watch episodes one by one when they come out so I have to wait till the whole season is released. Big rip. In the other Winter releases I'm super stoked for Horimiya and Dr Stone Season 2. Do you watch much anime?

Hi, I'm River (they/them) and pretty new to this group but looking forward to this months book! I love YA, especially fantasy, sci-fi and queer fiction :)

Aghh I'm waiting for season 2 of the promised neverland too... I've mostly watched sports animes (Haikyuu, Yuri on Ice etc.) and my favourite part is reading the fanfics (on ao3) afterwards...

After Sylvia's many raving Heartstopper reviews I finally read them... all three of them in a single day and am in love... I need more queer romance books... anyone have recommendations? I would prefer standalone novels but am open...

I can't really choose a favourite book but two of my favourite authors are Lynette Noni and Amie Kaufman and I'm currently reading 'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue'.

Hope everyone is enjoying the new year, nice to meet you all :)

alisa wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it shows off healt..."

Ahaha we love that! I'm so glad we have more Given fans! Given is my life XD. I haven't watched The Promised Neverland just yet but I heard many good things about it. At the moment I'm watching Demon Slayer and Dr Stone :)

Jessica wrote: "alisa wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it s..."

YESSSSSS Dr Stone! I love Dr Stone too! I honestly learnt all my science facts from there ;)

riv_reads wrote: "Hi, I'm River (they/them) and pretty new to this group but looking forward to this months book! I love YA, especially fantasy, sci-fi and queer fiction :)

Aghh I'm waiting for season 2 of the prom..."

Yessssss Yuri on Ice! That show gave me so many cravings for pork katsu it's not even funny XD. I can't wait for season 2 and for the movie, Ice Adolescence!

AND YESSS!!! You read Heartstopper! I'm so happy! We finally have another member of the Heartstopper cult hehe. And you have definitely come to the right place for queer recommendations because I HAVE A LIST! (brace yourselves)

-Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
-I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
-Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
-Loveless by Alice Oseman
-Date Me Bryson Keller by Kevin Van Whye
-The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
-Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
-They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera
-More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
-The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
-Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
-The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
-The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
-You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
-The Eldest Curses series by Cassandra Clare
-We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra
-The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
-The Love interest by Cale Dietrich
-The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich
-Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
-Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
-Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
-Release by Patrick Ness
-The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
-Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
-Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar
-Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
-Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
-I'll be the One by Lyla Lee
-Music From Another World by Robin Talley

Okay there's probably wayyyy more but I reckon this list is too long ahaha. Also Lynette Noni's Whisper duology is to die for. I got my friend hooked on it! Also the Illuminae files are epic. Illuminae actually is one of my fave books mainly due to AIDAN though ;)

Thank Sylvia I will enjoy this list! I’ve read several but have lots to look at. I enjoyed both the whisper duology and the illumine files (more than once and I own them!)

Hi I’m Jonathan, I’m really excited to be apart of this reading group. Reading and writing are my passions and the thing I’m mostly excited about is reading YA novels. 90% of the time I’m usually reading Horrors/Mysteries/Thrillers/Historical Fictions.
Some of my favorite novels are:
Grapes of Wrath
This side of Paradise
11/22/63
Mr. Mercedes
Dracula
The Book Thief


So hopefully YA becomes one of my favorite reading genre. And my next favorite because book is the next one!

riv_reads wrote: "Thank Sylvia I will enjoy this list! I’ve read several but have lots to look at. I enjoyed both the whisper duology and the illumine files (more than once and I own them!)"

Haha all good I hope you like them! I think I read the Illuminae files twice or maybe three times XD

Jonathan wrote: "Hi I’m Jonathan, I’m really excited to be apart of this reading group. Reading and writing are my passions and the thing I’m mostly excited about is reading YA novels. 90% of the time I’m usually r..."

Welcome Jonathan! The only one of your favourites that I’ve read is The Book Thief, which I loved. Hope you discover some new favourites with us :)

Jonathan wrote: "Hi I’m Jonathan, I’m really excited to be apart of this reading group. Reading and writing are my passions and the thing I’m mostly excited about is reading YA novels. 90% of the time I’m usually r..."

If you are looking to expand your YA knowledge you have come to the right place! You have some classics in that list there like Dracula and The Book Thief (a new classic if I say so myself ;) Zitong and I try choosing books from different genres every month as the BOTM so you'll definitely see horror, mystery and historical fiction sometime soon hopefully :)

riv_reads wrote: "Hi, I'm River (they/them) and pretty new to this group but looking forward to this months book! I love YA, especially fantasy, sci-fi and queer fiction :)

Aghh I'm waiting for season 2 of the prom..."

Hi Riv, welcome! Both Amie Kaufman and Lynette Noni are great authors and my goodness, Heartstopper is fantastic! Glad you love them!

Jessica wrote: "alisa wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it but just know it s..."

uh DO I watch much anime?

im so excited for horimiya as well!!

at the moment im super into the mainstream animes, like haikyuu, bnha, kakegurui and demon slayer. i just watched the demon slayer movie and it was so good that i decided to read the manga. UGH IT WAS SO GOOD. im waiting for the yuri on ice movie and the boku no hero movie. i also really like rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai, ouran high school host club and a bunch more. but i won't go on because i'll expose just how bad my anime and manga addiction is...

alisa wrote: "Jessica wrote: "alisa wrote: "Sylvs (NOVELty Reads) wrote: "You know me too well XD. Heartstopper is amazing and I could go on and on about why it's amazing and why you 10000000% need to read it bu..."

I think we all have an anime addiction. Not gonna lie I played Given on spotify at least a zillion times. Fuyunohanashi is a bop XD. I need to get on top of anime movies but I'm catching up on 2020 releases! My main focus is on binge watching the whole of Attack on Titan season 4 as soon as it comes out!

Hi guys! Sorry for ghosting for the past few months or so, reading has been forced (kicking and screaming I assure you) down my priority list by the sheer volume of incoming work. Anyway, *tries to gather scraps of positivity into a socially passable scrap heap* nice to meet everyone (again or for the first time)! I’m guppy and I will pretty much read anything so long as it isn’t a space opera! Despite this, I often sway towards the fantasy/contemporary side of things, something which may or may not be contradicted by my current favourite books below:

- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Throne of Glass series by SJ Maas
- Folk of Air series by Holly Black
- A lot of Cassandra Clare’s books
- Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
- Wintersong by S. Jae Jones
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

A few fun facts about me:

1. I love movies (the favourite for 2020 is Trial of the Chicago 7)

2. ...and musicals (Les Mis is my all-time fave).

3. If anyone’s interested in MBTI, I’m an INTP and have often been described as being stuck in my own world.

4. My online voice can be completely incoherent due to my overuse of brackets, repurposing of the word ‘however’ to use in lieu of words that contextually make sense and ability to ramble-hop between subjects at warp speed. So let me know if you can’t understand me, as it likely means I can’t understand myself either.

5. I love puns. They are the most punderful little things, even though sprinkling them onto online forums has the p(un)tential to be a little PUNishing, like (word)playing with fire. ;)

Really excited to become a more active member of this group, so see you guys around!

Hi Guppy!

Nice meeting you and yesss it's so nice to see more INTP's around here. I'm an ambivert but I'm more lenient towards my ENTP side than INTP side haha.

Les Mis also is one of my favourite musicals it's definitely up there with Phantom of the Opera. I can fangirl all day if I wanted to about it but Eponine is definitely my favourite character. Just the fact that she loved someone but never had the heart to tell him because he loved someone else just wrecks me every time. It's just something about unrequited love that just makes me ugly cry. Heck, even the song On My Own is a tear jerker.

Puns are my existence too. One time I spammed my social media stories with them and I don't think too many people were impressed by my EGGcellent puns XD.

As for books, you have so many that I know and loved. Mainly the Folk of the Air series which was so twisty, dark and awesome in every sense of the word. Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas are YA classics and I loved their work a lot too :)

I'm excited to talk more about books (and the awesomeness of Les Mis) with you :)

Hola Amigos! I’m POEM, written at 4 a.m. in the darkness of the hour. When sleep was too far. ^_^
Okay Jokes apart, Let me introduce myself. I'm Afreen, a tired college girl, who has a crazy head. I read and write, eat and fight, sometimes. I've got a vast friend circle and they enjoy my company.
Nice to meet you all :))

Afreen wrote: "Hola Amigos! I’m POEM, written at 4 a.m. in the darkness of the hour. When sleep was too far. ^_^
Okay Jokes apart, Let me introduce myself. I'm Afreen, a tired college girl, who has a crazy head. ..."

Nice to meet you too! And aren't we all crazy ;P

guppy wrote: "Hi guys! Sorry for ghosting for the past few months or so, reading has been forced (kicking and screaming I assure you) down my priority list by the sheer volume of incoming work. Anyway, *tries to..."

Hey, welcome!
There are some fantastic books on your list of favs! The Song of Achilles is simply stunning, and I've also enjoyed Holly Black, Mass, Bardugo and, CC's books. Happy reading!

Afreen wrote: "Hola Amigos! I’m POEM, written at 4 a.m. in the darkness of the hour. When sleep was too far. ^_^
Okay Jokes apart, Let me introduce myself. I'm Afreen, a tired college girl, who has a crazy head. ..."

Welcome and nice to meet you!

Lisa wrote: "Hi! I'm an INTJ. I love movies, Netflix and animals. My favorite musical is My Fair Lady."

Hi Lisa, welcome! I’m a INFJ-T :)

I took a test about personality type about a year ago and I just redid it then... I got the same result so it must be pretty consistent

INFJ-T - makes some sense :)

Lisa wrote: "Hi! I'm an INTJ. I love movies, Netflix and animals. My favorite musical is My Fair Lady."

Nice to meet you! I haven't heard of My Fair Lady but it definitely seems up my alley! I'll listen to the soundtrack as soon as possible!

riv_reads wrote: "I took a test about personality type about a year ago and I just redid it then... I got the same result so it must be pretty consistent

INFJ-T - makes some sense :)"

Nice :) Looks like we have lots of diversity with the MBTI in this group ;)