Booking Through Thursday

Which Book Changed Your Life?

The book that changed my life was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  It's not so much the actual book that did it, but more so the meaning behind it.   I picked up Twilight a little over 2 years ago, having no desire to read.  Someone mentioned it to me & I thought, sure why not?  I am not kidding - I did not read, at all.  The thought of looking at several hundred pages in a book exhausted me & bored me.  But something about this one changed all that.  I immediately got sucked in & my passion for reading began to grow.  Since then I have met some pretty amazing friends that I never would have if it weren't for reading.  I've also made a huge decision to go back to school to become a teacher, and that thought would have never existed if it weren't for reading either.  I can't imagine my life without books in it now.  I owe it all to Twilight.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

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Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:
Do you ever crave reading crappy books?

My answer:
It depends on who is defining the book as crappy, myself? or others?  I know people who consider my taste in books to be somewhat "crappy" (mostly because it's YA & I am anything but a young adult! lol - also because it may contain a few vampires or werewolfs from time to time)  For me though.. every once in awhile I crave that meaningless, non-thought provoking book.  I want it simply for the entertainment at that moment.  I have a hard time defining anything I read as "crappy" though.  Yes, I've come across a few poorly written books - but I wouldn't refer to them as crappy.  Just something to pass the time.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

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Don't forget to vote & sign up for my give-away... BEST YA READ OF 2010! (Ends FRIDAY!)

Booking Through Thursday - why do you read YA?

I'm changing things up a bit this week - normally I post a question from the "booking through Thursday" event hosted from another site.. but I didn't really care for this week's question.  After visiting my friend Anna's blog, I decided to carry over her question she's posted since I thought it to be very thought provoking!

Question: Adults, why do you read YA?

(to read Anna's answer visit her book blog here)

I've always felt a little funny telling other adults that I like to read young adult fiction.  Especially if they do not share the same book interests.  It sounds a bit ridiculous for an almost 30 year old woman to be so engrossed in a teenager's life, doesn't it?  Well guess what?  I don't care anymore!  Reading YA takes me back to a time in my life that I enjoyed (for the moment), but would never want to actually re-live again.  It's been over a decade since I've been inside the mind of a 16 year old girl.  Yet I can still remember all the raw emotions that flowed through me then.  It's tough being a teenager, I have to admit.  You think you know it all - yet secretly you also know that you don't.  I was fortunate to have a great group of friends, but not so fortunate in the boy department.  I was shy & unsure of myself.  I never had an actual boyfriend through out high school.  I "dated" a few guys here & there, but nothing really stuck.  If I regret anything, it's my lack of stepping out of my comfort zone & going after that boy I liked.  So what if he turns me down?  But it's that lack of confidence every teenage girl experiences that held me back.

I love reading YA because it gives me a glimpse in to so many different versions of that girl I was, and of that girl I could have been.  I have always been attracted to young love.  That first kiss, that first butterfly feeling, and those first tears - all because of a certain boy.  Even though I do not have epic memories to look back on in the boy department, I still know what it felt like.  As Anna had stated on her blog, "it's the most powerful time in your life & it creates the most powerful & touching literature."  I have to agree wholeheartedly with that statement.  You can cheer right along side these characters, and you can cry right along with them too.  You've been there, you've experienced this, and when you're able to relate to such a piece of literature it really takes a hold of you & pulls you in.

So tell me - why do you read YA fiction as an adult?

**EDIT: per Anna's request, this is me at 18 years old (couldn't find a 16 or 17 yr old pic - but they all look the same to me lol) - Party like it's 1999 baby!!!

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:

It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A. so …
What authors and books are you most thankful for?

My answer:
I am most thankful for Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.  Without it, I'm afraid I wouldn't have started my love for all things YA lit.  I know I've mentioned this before, but growing up I was not much of a reader.  It wasn't until a friend recommended a little known book at the time called Twilight.  I thought - sure what the heck?  As soon as I turned to page 1, I was hooked and then my love for books began.  After that series I became obsessed with finding more like it.  I then turned to the internet for suggestions & that is where I found all these wonderful book blogs.  It's amazing how one book can have such a huge impact on your life and can create such a domino effect.  One thing.. leading to the next! 

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

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Don't forget to vote & sign up for my give-away... BEST YA READ OF 2010!

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:

Who would you rather borrow from? Your library? Or a Friend?
(Or don’t your friends trust you to return their books?)
And, DO you return books you borrow?

 My answer:

I actually don't borrow books from the library.  I'm a fan of actually owning the book & keeping it on my book shelf.  But to answer this question, if I did I would much rather borrow from a friend.  It increases conversation about the book -- which I LOVE to do!  Plus my friends wouldn't charge me a late fee ;-)

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

Booking Through Thursday

It is November 11th, known here in the U.S. as Veteran’s Day, formerly Armistice Day to remember the end of WWI but expanded to honor all veterans who have fought for their country, so … Do you read war stories? Fictional ones? Histories?

My interests in books aren't usually based around war.  However, I am a huge history fan.  I enjoy learning about it & visiting historical places.  I had the privilege of going to Normandy, France a few years ago with my family to visit the Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial.  This is the first American cemetery on European soil to remember & honor those who sacrificed their lives in World War II.  The setting is very peaceful & beautiful, sitting a top a cliff that looks out over the ocean.  I was amazed at the beauty & serenity marking a spot of such devastation.  I'm not sure I could have received the same type of reflection if I were reading about it in a book.  History is something I like to see with my own eyes.

Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country in the military.  I admire each one of you because I know it is something I could never do.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:
I’ve seen many bloggers say that what draws them to certain books or authors is good writing, and what causes them to stop reading a certain book or author is bad writing. What constitutes good writing and bad writing to you?

My answer:

Good writing to me is when an author can take his/her words and turn the story in to something visual.  If I am able to imagine the scene played out in my head while I'm reading, like a movie.. then I know it's good stuff!  Bad writing for me is when an author uses too many words to describe something.  Sounds crazy, right?  I have a hard time following a story when there is just so much description on one certain scene, character, or scenario.  If it goes on for pages & pages, I start to lose interest.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

Booking Through Thursday

In honor of Halloween this weekend:
What reading skeletons do you have in your closet? Books you’d be ashamed to let people know you love? Addiction to the worst kind of (fill in cheesy genre here)? Your old collection of Bobbsey Twin Mysteries lovingly stored behind your “grown-up” books? You get the picture … come on, confess!

My answer:

The obvious answer would be my collection of YA romance novels.  For someone who is almost 30 years old, these books may look a little juvenile sitting on my bookshelf.  I used to be embarrassed to browse the Young Adult section of the bookstore too.  I would flip a book upside down on the counter when purchasing it, because god forbid the cashier see what teenage smut I am reading!  I even asked for a gift receipt once! haha  I've come a long way since then though.  I don't care what people may think of my reading tastes.  It's my guilty pleasure & I love it!

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

Booking Through Thursday

Name a book (or books) from a country other than your own that you love. Or aren’t there any?

My Answer: Even though I have not read this book (it's on my TBR list & I promise to one day eventually!) ... Atonement by Ian McEwan (England).  The 2007 adaptation with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy (swoon!!) is one of my fav movies :-)


Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event hosted here.

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by Joy:
If you could rewrite the ending of any book, which book would it be? And how would you change it?

Hmm.. this is a tough question.  Right now I'd have to say Mockingjay.  Though I think the ending as a whole was fitting for the story, I wish we could have learned more about Peeta & Katniss back in district 12, "finding each other" again.  I think their love story deserved a bit more than what Suzanne Collins gave us.  I also think Gale deserved a better ending than what he was given too.  I would have liked to see him & Katniss make some sort of amends with what all happened in the Capitol with the bomb.  Not saying she should have forgiven him, but at least made peace with him.

♥ginger

Booking Through Thursday

When you travel, how many books do you bring with you?
Has this changed since the arrival of ebooks? 

Depending on where I'm going & for how long.. usually just one book (whatever I am reading at the moment).  But if I know I plan to stay somewhere for awhile, then I'll throw in a couple more.  Usually my current read is with me at all times in my purse.  So traveling or not, I have it handy!  And I have yet to jump on the ebooks bandwagon.  I prefer my book with pages, rather than reading it from a digital screen.


♥ginger

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by Jennifer:
If you read series, do you ever find a series “jumping the shark?” How do you feel about that? And, do you keep reading anyway?

Most of the series I have read, end up being some of my favorite all-time books.  So I usually don't feel like they hit a high point & then it's downhill from there (that often at least!).  But there are a few rarities.  If the ending is predictable & I know "ok this may be as good as it gets so be prepared for major suckage from this point on" I still finish it anyway.  I may just not be picking up the next book in that series (like I did with the House of Night books).
♥ginger