Hi there, I'm Lee

[Lee]

Hi. My name is Lee, I'm 18, from Ireland, and currently in college studying to become a teacher.

I'm not exactly well read when it comes to books, still clinging to some of the YA series that I grew up with. Recently I've been on a Game of Thrones binge after ploughing through books 3.1 and 3.2 in preparation for the upcoming season but I'm trying to hold myself back and not read book 4 because I want to get through some older books I own but haven't read yet.

I'm hoping that with this group I can expand my library and find some good books that I wouldn't necessarily pick up otherwise, as well as chat to some like minded people about whatever really.

Anyways, happy to be here :)

[Ashley]

Hello and welcome! We're going through the same thing! I just left the YA section about two years ago. I really love the ideas in the YA section but the stories began to not hold enough depth for me so I made a promise to myself that I would never go back! It has helped me expand a lot an I'm very glad I did it. I def recommend making the full jump :)

[Lee]

I won't say I'll never go back, but there aren't that many YA that I'd be interested in anyway. I'm just in the process of finishing the final His Dark Materials book because it's been on the shelf for years and I always felt bad about not reading it, but after that I reckon the only YA I'd read would be Harry Potter simply because it's a series that I grew heavily attached to.

I think the hardest bit of transitioning to more appropriate books would be simply finding the 'right' books to read if that makes any sense

[Philip]

Hey, Lee
I too am looking into becoming a teacher I'll be going into secondary schools UK. What age range are you aiming for?

Also how do you think you'll be able to encourage reading in the class room?

I wouldn't worry about still enjoying YA fiction I still regularly re read Artimis Fowl and The Ranger's Apprentice series which are both aimed at 9 year olds and I'm 20

[Lee]

I'm on my way to becoming a secondary school teacher as well, but I'll be a technology teacher (metalworking, technical drawing, small bit of woodworking) so encouraging reading won't be a priority for me. I'll still try to get some students interested though but it will only be with passive comments about certain books I've read as I can't really dedicate proper class time to it

[Philip]

Like wise as a secondary maths teacher it wont be a massive priority for me

[Ashley]

Ah yess, I didn't mean it in such a dramatic way haha, Not NEVER GO BACK, just more of a 'try not to get stuck in it'. I'm currently on book 4 of the Harry Potter series. I missed out on many of the more popular YA series and I plan on going back to them once I get through my mound of to-reads.

[Philip]

Yeah I couldn't imagine you meant "you're too old no more YA for you" but I too missed out on many YA novels due to not being interested in reading at that age. Alas too much work at the moment to have much time to read the pile of books awaiting me.