Rated YA-MA discussion

Want to have a non-book related convo with your online book friends? Or just let us know what your thinking now. Here's your thread.

PS: I'm a teacher and schooool's out for summer!! I'm happy now but am likely to be bored in 2 weeks.

Oh how lucky you are!!

My son doesn’t get off of school until the end of July!!

We still have an agricultural calendar in most of the United States. It's not necessarily the best choice educationally, but it feels good right now. My school does not have air conditioning, so I think we turn into raisins if we were in school till the end of the month.

Question of the Week:
Describe a book trope you either love or despise.

I'm a sucker for any coming-of-age tale.

I love a good middle grade with young teenagers saving the day/solving the mystery fighting against monsters (real or supernatural).

I also love time travel, dystopian, gen ships, dragons and stories with travel.

Hello!

The trope I currently hate the most is love-triangles. Just so tired of them being everywhere I turn around!

A trope I love right now is enemies-to-lovers.

Seasonal Reading? You you read more, less, same in the summertime?

Not a lot changes for me in the summer. I read on the train to and from work, and that doesn't change, and I don't do summer vacations. So I would say my reading time is more or less the same.

The only thing that changes me reading habits is really my other hobbies. If I'm doing a show, I'll read less because time is taking up by rehearsals and/or studying lines.

And if I'm crocheting, then that takes the place of reading... and that's usually around birthdays and/or Winter Solstice.

I'm a teacher, so definitely have more summer reading time. I do have a part time job but its' not as time consuming as teaching.

@ colleen the convivial curmudgeon,
I'm the director for our school plays!! I definitely get how time consuming a show can be.

Melanie wrote: "I'm the director for our school plays!! I definitely get how time consuming a show can be."


That's cool! Shows definitely eat up my free time, but I love doing them, so it's a far trade. :D

It really depends on travel plans for me. If we go to Italy, I always have lots of time for eye reading while there. This summer, we are sending our son off to Italy by himself (to stay with his grandparents!) and while I’ll be working, I suspect I’ll have plenty of time for reading. I should probably do other things, but I’m looking forward to no school run and not having to herd the teenager.

QOTW: The most popular book genre is romance. How much romance do you like in your reads? Does the amount of romance matter if the book is labeled YA vs adult fiction?

I can take it or leave it. I do not need romance in my novels but I don’t mind it if it’s well done and tasteful. I prefer my YA to be more innocent, I suppose. That’s probably also why I prefer Middle Grade.

I feel much the same way DivaDiane. I also am turned off when the MC only>/i> cares about their lover and nothing else. And like colleen the convivial curmudgeon I am so over love tirangles.

It's the end of June! Rose and Thorn: share something good going on right now and something thorny.

Rose: I was recently cast in and will soon begin rehearsals for Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, which seems like it's gonna be a lot of fun.

Thorny: My dad recently started dating a woman, not even 6 months since my mother passed in December. There is drama...

Rose: I'm a teacher and it's summer vacation!!!

Thorn: I've had 2 close deaths my family (brother and stepfather) and there is fall out to be managed.

I’m sorry to hear that, Melanie. I hope that the fallout isn’t too disruptive.

Rose: the weather is finally summery in the UK!

Thorn: we are now going in 7 weeks of a 2 week bathroom remodel. We are tearing our hair out.

Question of the Week: Top 5 books you've read this year (so far)!
...bonus if they are YA books :)

In no particular order...

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor- first 5 star rating of the year, this MG book is amazing if for no other reason than it assumes kids have actual brains to use when reading.

Four Minutes: A Thriller- MA book with an interesting spin on time travel by an author team I adore.

Shakedown- an opening space opera novel, again by an author whose other series I enjoyed. It think it stands out because it is very different than that other series.

And 2 stand out non fictions: The End of Everything (recommended by John Green, he and the author also have a podcast discussion the origins of the universe.) and The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (a book I picked up on a whim to fulfill by 10% nonfiction reading goal.


...hmm none of these are YA now that I am analyzing the list.

My top five so far:

Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire
Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor
My reread of the LiveShip Trader trilogy by Robin Hobb
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Patricia McKillip
Tintenherz (Inkheart read in German), Cornelia Funke

Poetry fave: Poetry to See By, Julian Peters

Sorry I’m on the app, so no links. I’ll try to come back and add them when I’m on the browser version.

That was a tough choice. There are a few more books that were contenders. Only Inkheart is YA/MG.

Would you rather... be able to fly or be invisible?

I'd rather to be able to be invisible, so I could escape from awkward social situations when I wanted. ^_^

I saw a thing once that was like, being able to fly would suck if you didn't also have other powers, 'cause it's be cold and weird and you'd get bugs in your face and teeth. LOL

But my ultimate dream would be either to teleport long distances, so I could travel without having to fly... or have force fields/invisibility for the reason stated above, plus being able to impose personal space.

I’m with Colleen: actually neither option suits me, although flying slightly more, but I’d rather be able to teleport.

It ruins the fantasy (lol) when you point out the actual flaws of flight. I choose invisible though 'cause I'm afraid of heights.

QOTW: Please, share an interesting quotation (literary or not).

"Imagination is key to existence."
I believe it's from a play by Tennessee Williams.

The end of July!! What is a rose (something good) and /or a thorn (something in need of improvement) from the month?

rose: Had a summer picnic/ campout with the family yesterday.
thorn: Is summer almost over?! I have a lot of planned projects that just aren't done yet and I'm running out of time.

My son finished the school year on the 17th of July and the weather has improved here in the UK, so I finally feel like summer has started! That’s my Rose 🌹

My thorn is that the remodeling project on our bathrooms is now going on 11 weeks! Ugh!!

Melanie wrote: "Want to have a non-book related convo with your online book friends? Or just let us know what your thinking now. Here's your thread."

i was a teacher of science high school for 45 years. i loved teaching. i am retired now and making up for all the books i didnt have time to read.

i wish you luck in your teaching career, what area are you in

I teach in rural Pennsylvania. English/reading grades 7-12.

My sister taught English at the same grades. Our system calls 7 to 12, High School. I mostly taught seniors 11-12 biology and computer studies. I gave up teaching physics and chemistry to seniors to try something new and did another degree on computer languages etc.

So my hobby other than reading is fixing other people’s computers. I get annoyed with people who tell me their grandchild knows more. Rubbish i still fix my grandchildren's laptops and they are in the late 20's.

English was my best subject at school, but I found I hated arguing over the meanings in various books. Books are to be entertaining I would declare, not pulled to pieces.

Rose: I think I talked my director in letting my get the black/white striped dress from Sleepy Holly as my Mina costume in Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, and I'm very excited about it.

Thorn: Work is just really being a PITA...

That's some kind of special to turn dracula into a comedy, lol.

Melanie wrote: "That's some kind of special to turn dracula into a comedy, lol."

It's very funny, but it's also very, very loosely based on actual Dracula. Like a Mel Brooks/ Monty Python take on Dracula. :D

It's also done by only 5 actors, and I get to play both Mina and gender-bent Van Helsing!

QOTW: What is something you like about GoodReads?

My book friends!!

I concur!!

QoTW: What do you find appealing about YA books?

Sometimes I wonder... LOL

I read mostly fantasy, romantasy, and whodunits. I think I like YA books because they often tend to be more character focused. Not that the plot isn't important, but you really get into the character's heads.

Also, I don't love the excessive world-building of some adult fantasy, especially epic fantasy, and I feel like YA often does a better job of balancing the need for world-building while getting more directly into the story. (Don't need 5 page descriptions of trees, thanks.)

Lastly, I tend to prefer my romance more on the "implied" side. I find long graphic descriptions of quivering members more humorous than spicy. LOL

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Sometimes I wonder... LOL

I read mostly fantasy, romantasy, and whodunits. I think I like YA books because they often tend to be more character focused. Not that the plot isn't important, but you ..."

wow a like mind

I also question sometimes what is classified as YA. Lack of violence and implicit sex !!!! Although i do like complex story lines i dislike excessive description. I am finding a lot of the older authors in the "adult" area are really good

Thanks Coleen for explaining it in a way that makes sense. I totally agree. Though I will confess, sometimes the teenager brains/choices frustrate me (kinda true IRL too).

I whole heartedly agree with Colleen! Thanks for putting it so well.

QoTW: Favorite school subject and/or teacher??

Well, naturally, my favorite school subjects were the ones relating to music: choir and band. Otherwise, French.

As for teachers: I still keep in touch with my teacher from 3rd -5th grade: Ms. Harris. She was young, full of innovation (we had an “open classroom” with no desks and stations for different subjects). She was always so supportive.

Melanie wrote: "Thanks Coleen for explaining it in a way that makes sense. I totally agree. Though I will confess, sometimes the teenager brains/choices frustrate me (kinda true IRL too)."


Oh, yes, absolutely. I just wanna smack them sometimes. LOL